Unwavering heart

by Proxy4818

When an an ordinary university student named Audrey finds herself unable to buy groceries, she ends heading to a public library where she chances upon a fantasy novel which sends her to another world to defend it as the legedary bow hero. Now with her life on the line will she struggles to survive in a world that is crueller than she could have ever thought.

5. True extent of the waves

Here's the fifth ch of unwavering heart first I want to thank all those you gave suggestions on what kind of bows to give Audrey it'll definitely help down the line.

Anyway I hope you're all ready to encounter the first wave of the story because it's not going to play out the same way that it does in cannon.

---

A roar sounded throughout the air as a saber tooth black leopard lunged at Audrey prompting the bow hero to leap into the air allowing the monster to pass underneath her whilst she quickly summoned and shot three arrows in quick succession into the leopard's back causing it to screech in agony before Bluebell ran up beside it and stuck her rapier through its neck killing the monster right then and there.

Audrey exp 71

Bluebell exp 117

"Well it looks like that's the last of the monsters in the area." Bluebell announced.

"Meaning the mission we took on is complete." Audrey replied before using her scouting skill upon jumping atop the branch of one of the taller trees in the immediate area and making sure that was the case before following up saying "let's head back." After her skill confirmed there were indeed no more monsters in the area.

"Okay." Bluebell replied before glancing at a notification she received. "Well it looks like I made it to level twenty seven. How about yourself?"

Audrey checked her status screen.

Audrey Alethea level 29

Weapon: legendary bow "locked"

Equipment: leather armor: defense up(small) enchanted amulet: fire resistance (very small) slash resistance (small) Hp restoration (very low)

Hp: 1029/1236

Sp: 523/654

Sta:201

Def: 67

Agi: 358

Dex: 291

Skills: quick dash lv3, scouting lv1, transport bow lv1

"I made it to level twenty nine." Audrey answered. It was only one level but it counted, every status boost counted, even the smallest contribution meant a better chance at surviving the upcoming wave.

It had been a week and a half since Audrey and Bluebell began working as a party. In that time Audrey refined her skills when it came to using the bow in a fight to the point where she could now do so with great ease and leveled up all while unlocking more bow variants from any new monsters she fought in the process but so far save for the new skill "transport bow" she only got stat boost out of the deal.

On top of all that she purchased a few basic books that Bluebell recommended so that she could begin to learn reading this kingdom's language. It was unsurprisingly proving to be something of a struggle to accomplish but in spite of that she was making some progress even if it was only a little at a time so it was a start, she was just barely able to make out basic words. However a part of her did wish that she could speed things up a little more so she could learn item recipes along with magic as well as level up her quick dash skill even further.

Bluebell had informed Audrey before that she'd be able to learn magic instantaneously if she used specialized crystal balls but the trade off was that she'd never be able to improve on them. Since that was the case Audrey decided she'd rather learn them from books so she could truly understand the ins and outs of the individual spells she learned so she had the payoff of being able to improve them instead of utilizing the easy way only for it to potentially come back and bite her later on down the road.

The only thing that didn't turn into a long term goal was registering at the dragon hourglass thank god though Audrey really could have done without meeting the nun watching over the place at the time.

Flashback

Audrey and bluebell entered the church with the former wanting to simply be done with this business within the absolute shortest timespan possible. Hopefully without meeting any religious officials considering what their viewpoint likely was when it came to the four heroes.

Unfortunately for the bow hero a middle aged nun that was walking by took notice of her and approached. "I didn't know we would be graced by a visit from one of the three heroes."

And that confirmed the church's view when it came to Naofumi considered the nun said "three heroes".

Repressing a groan of annoyance Audrey replied. "I'm here to register at this dragon hourglass so I can tell when the wave is coming."

"Of course, right this way." The nun said leading Audrey and Bluebell further inside the church to another room.

It seemed Audrey was receiving fair treatment from the church at least. Perhaps they didn't hold the fact that she sided with Naofumi at the trial against her? The king certainly did which he made clear when he decided she would no longer receive monthly funds and the citizens while they didn't do anything to actively decimate against her like they were doing to Naofumi they were whispering about how they couldn't fathom why she would associate with the shield hero considering his (fabricated) crime and that she should have had more sense.

Within the other room was an hourglass that was somewhere around three meters long with gold dragon shaped ornaments wrapping around it. The hourglass had four sections instead of the traditional two but what stood out the most was the blood red colored sand inside giving the hourglass itself a rather ominous feel.

For a moment Audrey was about to ask how she was supposed to go about registering before a notification appeared in her HUD.

Register at this location? [Yes/no]

'Well that answers what I was about to ask.' Audrey thought before selecting "yes".

Registration complete

Next wave: 11:17:40:29

"So did you manage to register here?" Bluebell inquired.

"Looks like it, I have a new timer showing in my HUD." The bow hero replied.

"I see. How much time do we have before the second wave arrives?"

"Around a week and a half, eleven days if you want more exact estimates."

"I'm glad we still have more time to prepare."

"We'll have to make sure that we make the most of it."

"That goes without saying."

Audrey turned to the nun. "Thank you for letting me register here."

"Of course, humanity needs the protection of the three holy heroes in order to save it from the waves of catastrophe."

"Alright I'll be heading out then." Audrey announced as both she and Bluebell turned in the direction of the building's entrance before the nun interrupted their attempt to depart.

"Before you leave lady Audrey I have one more gift to give you."

The bow hero resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow before it clicked in her mind that the church wasn't trying to be fair they were trying to suck up to Audrey in the same manner the adventures provided by the king did. All things considered it really shouldn't have been surprising at this point. Whether it derived from being blind in their religious faith or the hospitality was simply another form of false flattery was hard to say. Either way Audrey was a bit wary of this offer, on one hand she really didn't want any involvement with the church, on the other whatever the gift was in question might help her and those close to her survive this entire ordeal with the waves.

"Okay."

Upon hearing this the nun smiled and produced a small vial containing a red powder like substance. Audrey was momentarily confused by this until she realized what the substance in question actually was upon being handed the vial. "Sand from the hourglass." She mused.

"Precisely, this sand will bestow you with an ability that will further help you safeguard all of humanity."

"I'll be sure to make use of it."

"I'm pleased to know that but….." The nun's smile faded. "While it is pleasing to hear your words there is one more thing myself and many others including the king were hoping for."

"I'm listening." Audrey replied having a feeling she wasn't going to like where this conversation was going especially when that shitty excuse of a king was mentioned.

"You should come to your senses and repent in your beliefs."

Now even Bluebell was growing uncomfortable with how this was playing out whilst the nun continued.

"You must realize that the shield demon is evil, he doesn't deserve your compassion. The crown will once again support you in your endeavors providing you with everything you'll need and far more."

Audrey stared at the nun with a look of indifference whilst repressing a look of disgust from surfacing. So this was the church's goal, they wanted to manipulate Audrey by tempting her with the resources she would have of she would fall in line the way Ren and Motoyasu have.

"Maybe so but I don't need the crown's help, I can take care of myself." Audrey said before turning to leave the church along with Bluebell.

End

"Hopefully this is good enough to stand up to the wave." Bluebell said earning a look of confusion from Audrey.

"I thought you would have a more positive outlook than that."

"In most situations I would but the waves are an entirely different matter from the monster's we faced so far."

Audrey's expression became more tense. "Are the waves really that powerful?"

"Yes, when the king informed you that the knights could barely hold the last wave back he wasn't lying."

"Is there any detail you give to paint a more accurate picture of what we're going to be dealing with."

"Only a few things, first was that the first wave appeared at one of the few demihuman settlements destroying it in the process."

Audrey listened intently in silence as her companion continued.

"Local adventures and a few villagers did what they could to hold the wave back but the onslaught of monsters was unending. By the time the knights actually arrived the village was already destroyed and most of those who lived there were either dead or forced to flee."

"And then what happened?"

"From what I heard, the knights had a hard time holding the wave back with more than half of their forces being lost in the process. The wave only came to an end when they brought down a monster that was significantly stronger than the rest."

That last part caught Audrey's attention. If the wave was stopped when the strongest monster was put down did that mean that it was a boss type? If so did the rest of the waves work the same way?

"Rumor has it that the knights were barely able to bring the monster down and they were only able to accomplish it because the monster was already weakened before hand."

"Meaning that if the upcoming wave works the same way there'll be an exceptionally strong monster we'll have to take down in order to end the wave." Audrey mused harboring mixed feelings about this new information.

On one hand assuming the info was indeed accurate it meant that Audrey now had an idea about how to bring the wave to an end meaning she wouldn't just be left so far in the dark that she'd be forced to simply fight the wave endlessly until she either got lucky or somehow figured everything out during the fight.

On the other hand it also meant that whatever the boss creature was that it was not going to be any type of pushover, it could very likely make for a hard pressed fight which wasn't something Audrey was eager for since it meant the risk to her life would be very high and her highest priority was her survival as well as that of those close to her.

Perhaps she could leave it to the other heroes? Maybe not, two of them were insistent on believing everything to be a game which meant that neither of them were taking the situation seriously which could easily lead to them underestimating the danger the world posed too much and losing their lives as a result and Noafumi was at another disadvantage altogether thanks to the crown's efforts to oppress him and keep him from leveling up properly. While the idea of the sword and spear heroes dying did not appal Audrey all that much since Ren wasn't someone she particularly cared for and when it came to Motoyasu, to put it vaguely his death wouldn't be one that Audrey would ever grieve especially after what he pulled at the trial.

But Naofumi she could say without a doubt that she did not wish to see him lose his life, but she wasn't entirely sure she could protect him from that fate. Things would be a lot easier if it wasn't for the whole weapon interference factor Audrey could simply be in the same party as the shield hero and they could level up together but the reality was that beyond giving him any materials she found from the more exceptionally strong monsters all she would ultimately forced to entrust his fate in the hands a child.

The bow hero truly hoped that Naofumi and Raphtalia were both okay but for time being she had her own priorities to focus on.

"However powerful the wave might be we've leveled up as much as we were able to and refined our skills as a team and individually so it has to count for something." Bluebell said.

"You're right." Audrey said smiling at her companion's reassurance of the situation. While there was no telling how dangerous the wave would truly be it went without saying that the duo had a few cards up their own sleeves and held a better chance than any run of the mill soldier the kingdom had. "Guess the best thing we can do in the meantime is return to the guild and give them our report then up with Erhard and get better equipment for you."

"What about yourself? You need whatever defense boost you can get."

"I'll look into it some other time." Audrey said. Even though she couldn't deny Bluebell's claim, the truth was she wasn't sure what type armor she should go for. The situation with her budget had become better since she and Bluebell were able to take on various freelance jobs from the local guild to make money which was what the duo had been doing just now when they were clearing monsters out of the area, still she needed something that would effectively boost her stats, not hinder her best asset which was her agility, and not cause too much of a dent in her finances.

Bluebell sighed. "Ok but please don't put it off too long."

"I won't."

With that the two headed back to the capital and from there the guild after Audrey used a healing potion to restore her health. "So you're back. I assume you two succeeded?" The owner of the building asked.

"Yeah." Audrey said pulling out some material from the saber tooth black cat as proof that she indeed carried out the mission.

"Good, the apothecary owner will be grateful that they're able to gather herbs again." The owner replied giving Audrey the reward of seventy silver coins.

"Come again when you need more work." The owner announced as the duo left the establishment.

Audrey was more than a little grateful for the guild's existence since it meant she had her own means to make money without the support of the crown. Still it felt surreal for the establishment to be there since many of the jobs that involved guard duties, taking out certain monsters, and collecting certain materials, basically tasks you'd typically find in a standard RPG type game setting which prompted the bow hero to remind herself that the world she was residing in was real.

The only thing she really didn't like about the guild was that those working there as well as the various adventurers who took on the various jobs had bought into the rumors about Naofumi much like everyone else aside from Erhard, in fact Audrey even heard a rumor that Naofumi had initially tried to find work there only to be refused by the owner and forced out of the place by the adventures.

Hearing about this a part of Audrey wanted to make the owner and adventures pay for their mistreatment towards the shield hero but ultimately she couldn't since she needed the work the place offered to make money and she didn't have the slightest inkling as to who the adventurers in question were.

"So any idea what type of new gear you believe I might need?" Bluebell inquired.

"Well in my opinion I think a new rapiar might be in order since now that you've leveled up your current one is dulling at a rather fast pace."

Bluebell glanced at her weapon and sighed. "I've noticed." The rapiar Bluebell was currently using was the same one she had since she had began fighting alongside the bow hero and the weapon had indeed started to dull at an abnormal pace, in fact the duo had just paid Erhard to resharpen the blade two days ago and it already had chips in the side and she could already tell the tip was dulling thanks to the effort she was forced to exert when killing the final monster on their previous job.

Audrey recalled what Erhard had told her and Naofumi about using weapons that matched the user's level and his explanation about what would happen if someone tried to use one that was either below or above their current level. Seeing the state of her teammate's weapon the bow hero could tell that Erhard wasn't joking.

"While we're on the subject let's look into getting a new shield for you."

Bluebell shot Audrey a curious glance. "Are you sure? My current shield is still holding up just fine."

"Yeah I want to make any preparation for the wave we can while we still have time." Audrey answered.

During the time the two had spent preparing for the waves. Bluebell had since switched out her wooden shield for a buckler which was still holding up well but regardless her playing the role of a tank was far from being Bluebell's specialty but she currently had to fill the role until Audrey could find someone more suited to it since her partner had better defense than the bow hero herself.

Still at the very least Audrey could make certain that her teammate had every advantage she could possibly get.

"If you insist." Bluebell conceded whilst thinking. 'But it would be wiser if you also got better armor for yourself.'

While the two of them were on their way Audrey decided to check the hourglass timer she had in her HUD to see how much time was left before the wave.

00:01:12:43

The bow hero let out a sigh which didn't go unnoticed by Bluebell. "I assume you just checked how much time we have left?"

"Yeah. We got a little over an 1 hour."

"I see."

Within the next few minutes the two reached Erhard's place which they had immediately entered and greeted with the sight of Naofumi seemingly being chewed out by a young woman just barely into her adult years.

"Master Naofumi that's all well and good but if you don't start worrying about your own wellbeing you're going…." The woman in question pulled a sword laying on the counter out of its sheath before holding the blade in front of her whilst narrowing her eyes at Naofumi. "To die." she warned.

Naofumi just sighed before glancing at the open doorway to see who came in. "Audrey?"

Audrey was about to greet the shield hero but the lady who was previously chastising him spoke up first. "Lady Audrey its so good to see you again after all this time!"

"Um I'm sorry, who are-" Audrey Stopped in mid sentence when she got a closer look at the other lady in question. She had features like that of a demi human but what really caught the bow hero's attention was how familiar her ears and tail looked. "Raphtalia?"

"Of course, don't you recognize me?"

Audrey sweat dropped. "Well it's not so much that I forgot what you look like but…."

"I'm guessing that you're as far in the dark as your fellow hero about how the bodies of demi humans work." Erhard stated seeing how confused Audrey was with this entire situation.

It wasn't so much that Raptallia's overall appearance had changed it was just that she was now much older to the point of just about being around the same age group as Noafumi and Audrey herself when the last time the latter had checked she wasn't even in her teens which begged the obvious question.

How on earth did Raphtallia go from a mere child to being fully grown in a merely close to two weeks? "Apparently." Audrey admitted.

"Well if you're wondering why the shield hero's partner ain't such a pipsqueak anymore it's because of her current level."

"What do you mean?"

Raphtalia decided to answer in the weapons shop owner's place. "You see when we level up as children our body rapidly matures to match our level."

"So basically you went from being a child to an adult in a really short timespan because you leveled up?"

"Yes."

Audrey took a quick moment to appraise Raphtalia and saw that she had it up to level twenty two before glancing at Naofumi and discovering he was up to level nineteen.

Personally she had hoped that Naofumi's level would be higher or at least around her own but considering what Myne and the crown had been pulling since summoning the heroes it couldn't be helped. At the very least Naofumi was on track when it came to getting stronger.

"Ok that's...surprising. But that aside what exactly are you two arguing about?" Audrey inquired.

Naofumi opened his mouth to answer only to be beaten to it by his companion when she reacted faster. "So get this, master Naofumi brought me here to buy new gear for me."

"Okay. I think he's just thinking about your wellbeing."

"And I appreciate the thought but he needs to take better care of himself before he loses his life."

Bluebell sighed upon hearing that particular statement which Erhard did not fail to notice. "Something wrong young lady?"

"No, it's just I found out that lady Audrey is not the only hero who is being reckless with their life."

Raphtalia's ears practically twitched once Bluebell had finished that sentence and Erhard managed to snag her attention when he spoke up next.

"It started to sound like your hero hasn't learned from what happened on her first day."

"What do you mean?"

"When her and the other heroes first started heading out to fight monsters and level up the bow hero came back with a bloody arm which I had to patch up for her."

"For your information I do carry healing potions on me now so I can use them when the need arises."

Bluebell groaned. "Be that as it may you and the shield hero from the sound of what Raphtalia told us about him should both get new gear yourselves."

"I told you I'll look into it in the future."

Raphtalia pointed an accusatory finger at Audrey. "That's not acceptable, you're acting just like master Naofumi."

"I'm fine with what I have."

"I highly doubt that! I've noticed the tears in your gear." The racoon demihuman pointed out causing Erhard to scrutinize Audrey and confirm what Raphtalia had said.

"You had a few close calls haven't you?"

Audrey became embarrassed. "Well I mean not so much today….."

Bluebell chose this time to put her two cents forward. "She's not so reckless as if to run blindly at every monster but she does tend to occasionally find herself under attack. Today we luckily didn't run into any enemy that was significantly stronger than us."

"Have you since pairing up and forming a party?"

"No but Audrey did have a close call with a monster right before I met her, I ended having to use I high quality potion to heal her injury."

Raphtalia narrowed her eyes at the bow hero. "It sounds like another reason why you like master Naofumi need to get new gear."

"She right you know." Bluebell chimed in causing Raphtalia to shoot Audrey an expectant look who in turn could do little more than sigh in defeat when she realized that Raphtalia was more than a little determined to get her point across.

"What do you have available?" Audrey inquired to the shop owner.

"For the shield hero I have a set of chainmail….."

"No." Naofumi immediately said drawing a confused look from everyone present. "No chainmail." The shield hero said before looking away with a pained expression.

Audrey was about to ask Naofumi what he had against chainmail before she recalled the trail and more so the theft that Myne and Motoyasu committed against him and realized that chainmail only brought the memories back to the surface.

Erhard sighed before scratching the back of his head. "Well in that case the next two best things would be a full set of plate armor or a special custom order."

Both heroes glanced at one of the plate armor sets and saw that it would definitely be a major step up from what the shield hero currently had in terms of defense but the problem was that it would hinder his movement and mobility.

"I think I'll go with a custom order. I'd like something that won't make it hard to move around."

"Alright I'll be able to come up with something but you need to provide the materials."

"That won't be a problem." With that Naofumi produced numerous pieces of ore. "Can you work these into something I can use?"

"Yep, these'll work, it'll take two days however and I'll expect payment when it's done."

"Alright."

Erhard turned to Audrey. "So what type of gear does our lady hero want?"

"Something that's along the same line as what Naofumi is going for in terms of not slowing since my best asset in a fight is my agility while getting whatever boost I can in my defense since admittedly I need it even more so than he does.

Naofumi placed a hand on his chin. "Now that I think of it I remember telling you me at one point that your defense was your weakness."

This caused Raphtalia to face palm. "It's starting to sound like you're actually even more reckless than master Naofumi."

"Like I said before, I carry healing potions."

"You need to take better care of yourself." Came the tanuki demi human's rebuttal.

Audrey sighed before turning back to Erhard. "So what do you have available?"

"Nothing matching what you want at the moment unless you yourself want the chainmail I was about to offer the shield hero, otherwise the best I can do is a custom order like with the shield hero or refit your current armor with a stronger material.

"Then it looks like the latter of those two other options you offered is what I'll be going with."

"Alright but it'll take around an entire day to do."

"That'll be fine. I'll drop my gear off tomorrow."

"You should do so now while you have the chance." Raphtalia said.

"The wave is going to come in another hour so I don't have time right now."

Upon hearing Noafumi's eyes widened considerably. "How do you know?"

"Let's head to the church, now." Audrey said confusing the japanese college student

"What why?"

"We need to get you registered at the dragon hourglass so you can see how close the wave is to arriving."

"We're able to do that?"

"Hasn't anyone told you? You can register at this country's dragon hourglass so you can see when the next wave's coming." Ehard informed Naofumi who simply sighed.

"Nobody's told me anything like that until now."

"Considering everything's the king's pulled so far it's not surprising, I only found out thanks to Bluebell." Audrey said before turning to Bluebell. "Please hurry and find a weapon that'll help you in the upcoming fight."

"I've already decided on one." Bluebell replied as she took a rapiar with a cross shaped handguard off the rack along with an iron shield which she took to the desk.

"So you're going with magic coated steel huh? Along with the iron shield the cost is going to come up to one hundred and seventy five silver coins."

Audrey immediately produced the said amount and handed it to Erhard before selling Bluebell's old weapons for forty silver coins and turning her attention back to the shield hero. "Let's hurry to church."

"Right."

With that both parties left the establishment and headed for their next destination. Audrey had hoped her previous visit to the church would be her last and in all honesty she didn't even want to bring Naofumi there considering the church's views on him for being the hero of the shield but unfortunately there wasn't much of a choice.

At the very least the bow hero had hoped that she wouldn't encounter anyone she didn't want to this time, there was already enough on her plate having to fight off the wave that would soon show up as well as having to likely see the other two heroes which certainly didn't help matters.

Thinking back on everything that had happened up until now did nothing to increase Audrey's lacking enthusiasm about this entire ordeal in fact a part of her found herself questioning why she had to fight to protect any of these people when they went out of their way to backstab one of the very people they needed.

Of course there was one obvious answer which was that it was for the sake of her and her friends' survival but even still were the people of this kingdom really even worth saving?

"Is this the place?" Naofumi asked with a scowl present on his face as the group arrived and he looked at the symbol which lacked a shield.

"Yeah."

"Let's get this over with." Naofumi said as the group went inside.

Much to Audrey's relief there was no one present at the moment making it easier to lead her fellow hero to the dragon hourglass itself without any unwanted delays. "This is it."

"It kind of creeps me out with the red sand."

Audrey perked up upon hearing that. "On yeah that reminds me, Naofumi after your done registering have something to give you."

"Alright, and on that note I also have stuff I've been saving for you. One second."

After taking a few moments to register at the hourglass Naofumi glanced at the new timer within his peripheral vision.

00:00:51:41

'It looks like Audrey was right.' Naofumi thought before he opened his item inventory to find the materials he had been saving for her however before he could produce them…

"Oh is that really you Audrey?!" A voice belonging to someone that neither of them really wanted to see.

Turning to the entrance of the room everyone was greeted to the sight of the hero of the spear, along with him was the hero of the sword as well as both of their own respective parties and amongst them was the person that besides the king the bow and shield heroes hated most, Myne Sophia.

"So what have you been up to?" Motoyasu asked the bow hero.

"Simply leveling up as much as I could."

"I see, so you're level twenty nine? Well you're better off than Naofumi but you might want to sit out the wave so you don't get hurt, there's no need to worry, I'll protect you."

Audrey groaned in annoyance. Seriously did this son of a bitch seriously believe he could fool her into believing he was the equivalent to your stereotypical knight in shining armor after he casted his lot with the king and Myne during the trial, just how conceited could he get?

"I'll decide on my own what I do when the wave shows up."

Ren chose this moment to speak up. "Yeah well you and Naofumi better not slow us down."

Audrey shot Ren a short glare but beyond that said nothing though she had to admit that the sword hero's sense of self superiority was becoming increasingly annoying but once again Motoyasu was proving to be the worst of the two by a very large margin when he turned his attention to the shield hero.

"Don't tell you're seriously intending to fight with such cheap gear, how desperate can you be?"

Naofumi stayed silent and walked toward the entrance prompting Myne to jump in the conversation. "Hey lord Motoyasu is talking to you."

Naofumi just continued towards the exit until Motoyasu finally took notice of Raphtalia. "So cute." He chimed before he stepped in front the racoon girl clasping her hands.

"Hello I'm Motoyasu Kitamora, the hero of the spear. Might I know your name?"

"Um it's Raphtalia."

Myne looked over towards Motoyasu with her expression souring for once. "Lord Motoyasu, why are you admiring a filthy demihuman?!" She demanded only to be ignored by Motoyasu as he continued ogling Raphtalia until he noticed her weapon strapped to her hip.

"You have a sword? That won't do, come with me and I'll protect you from here on out."

Upon hearing both the shield and bow hero grew visibly annoyed.

Raphtalia yanked her hands free from the spear hero's before backing away from him. "I am the shield hero's sword."

Motoyasu eyes widened upon hearing this. "You mean you're with Naofumi of all people?!"

"Yes."

The spear hero made another attempt to grab Raphtalia but she was quick to react backing up out of his reach.

"You need to leave him now, nothing good will come of you staying by his side!" Motoyasu exclaimed.

"I am sworn to fight by his side."

"But he's the scum of the earth, you'll be in danger if you stay with the shield so just leave him and come with me already."

Motoyasu was about to make another grab for Raphtalia before Naofumi stepped between the two much to the spear hero's chagrin. "Get out of the way Naofumi."

"How about you back off?"

"And leave her with a criminal like you? Not happening!" Motoyasu declared before Audrey walked up beside Naofumi and grabbed his hand.

"Bluebell, Raphtalia common we're leaving." She announced whilst pulling Naofumi towards the entrance of the church whilst their companions followed.

The bow hero had simply wanted to end the entire right then and there but unfortunately Motoyasu had other plans. "Why are you still siding with Naofumi? You know he's only a worthless shielder and that he's going to do the same thing to you that he did to Myne and he'll do it to Raphtalia too."

"Because I know who the real scum of the earth are and also you're not fooling me with your little act." She shot back.

"How am I putting on an act? If anyone's doing that it's Naofumi, both you and Raphtalia need to stop letting him fool you."

Audrey felt her resentment towards Motoyasu boil over. First he takes advantage of the trial to steal the chainmail that rightfully belonged to Naofumi and went joined the king and Myne in framing him, then he tries to take the first true party member that Naofumi has simply so he could make her part of his harem and now he was seriously trying to convince Audrey that Naofumi was the bad person in all this? Just how far was this guy going to go to hurt Naofumi?

Did he simply think that anyone and anything Naofumi had was his for the taking? Considering how he zeroed in on Raphtalia of all people it was safe to assume the answer was yes, granted Raphtalia was undoubtedly beautiful but so were the woman in Ren's party as well as Bluebell but Motoyasu didn't seem to notice them, his only interests were Raphtalia and Audrey herself if his continued attempts at convincing her to turn her back on the shield hero was anything to go by.

Before Audrey came to this world she actually actually doubted she would meet a guy that was actually worse than the one who all but ruined her high school days but boy did the hero of the spear managed to prove her completely and utterly wrong.

Audrey positioned her hands to summon her bow from her back to them but before she could do so she felt someone gently place their hand over her own causing her to glance in their direction to see it was none other than Naofumi who shook his head.

Seeing this Audrey calmed herself down enough to think straight and realize that as terrible of a person as Motoyasu was he wasn't the enemy though at this point Audrey had a hard time seeing him as an ally but still the wave was about to come and that was what they needed to worry about for the moment.

"Let's just go." Naofumi said before he and the others left leaving the other two heroes and their parties alone.

Motoyasu just stared at the entrance as they left before growling. "Dammit why can't Audrey see that I'm only trying to protect her from the monster? And now that other girl won't leave him either."

Myne placed a hand on Motoyasu's shoulder. "Don't worry lord Motoyasu I'm sure the bow hero and that other girl will see you for how amazing you are in the future."

"Yeah, I just gotta show them that I'm the one they should be with."

"Of course you are." Myne said encouraging the spear hero's belief in himself though in reality she didn't care for it in the least.

It was rather hilarious how easy it was to manipulate the spear hero, Myne had done so with other people in the past but Motoyasu by far had been the easiest, so much so that Myne didn't even have to put much effort into it.

When it came to the two girls Motoyasu had his eyes on Myne didn't care for the bow hero anymore, if anything she simply hoped the bow hero would fall along with the shield hero to the waves.

And has for the other girl….well assuming she didn't die off during the upcoming wave only being at level twenty two Myne would arrange for the girl to be taken away and maybe sold on the slave market to make some money off of her. She may have been nothing but a lowly demi but at least she'd be worth a decent enough amount of money as a potential sex slave for numerous masters.

XXXXX

"Thanks for stopping me." Audrey said once the two parties were away from the church earning a shrug from the hero of the shield.

"We didn't have time to be fighting with that clown when the wave is about to show up." Naofumi said.

"Yeah I figured as much."

After letting out a sigh of exasperation at what had previously transpired at the church Naofumi produced three different materials and proceeded to show them to Audrey "Here these particular materials should help you out a good bit." Naofumi said confusing Audrey a bit.

One of the materials looked to be a chunk of meat likely from a monster of some kind but what really threw the bow hero off were the other two which were a piece of pipe and rope.

She figured the monster meat would likely give her a good status boost but the rope and pipe would likely be minimal at best still it would count in the long run so she was definitely grateful, but a part of her couldn't help but wonder why Naofumi would make it sound like they were especially valuable in terms of potential weapon variants they might unlock.

"The meat is from a two headed dog that Raphtalia took down on her first day and the pipe and rope both unlocked two new skills for me when I unlocked the corresponding shields so I thought that they do the same for you."

"I see." So that was it. The two materials aside from the dog meat would potentially give her new skills. If they did do so then Audrey at least hoped that they would help her directly in a fight, she had the quick dash skill which allowed her to utilize an effective dodging method when her normal reflexes weren't enough on their own but the bow hero wanted something that would give her a new offensive option.

She may have become an exceptional archer in battle thanks to her training but at the moment beyond equipping the silver bow for an attack boost she didn't have any method of attack aside from using run of the mil arrows she summoned. "Alright thanks."

"Think of them as repayment for the help you've given me."

Audrey absorbed all three materials and unlocked the following bow variants and was surprised by what she saw on her status screen.

Rope bow unlocked

Stat bonus: agi + 5 def + 1

Equip effect: rope ensnare

Skills: chain arrow lv 1/10

Pipe bow unlocked

Stat bonus agi + 3 atk + 4

Equip effect: none

Skills: rain arrow lv 1/15

Two headed dog bow unlocked

Stat bonus: atk + 20

Equip effect: dog bite

Skills: none

Audrey had to admit this was very pleasing, she finally had more skills at her disposal and the two headed dog bow gave her a nice attack boost on top of an equip bonus that could prove useful.

"Did they help?"

"Yes." Audrey answered with a smile before pulling out the remainder of the red sand she still had left from unlocked her transport bow. "And before I forget I meant to give you this."

Taking the vial from the bow hero Naofumi inspected the contents before raising an eyebrow. "Is this sand from the dragon hourglass?"

"Yeah. One of the nuns gave it to me the last time I went there to register myself, it gives us the ability to mark up to three places we have been to before and teleport there when we feel the need."

"That'll definitely make things easier down the road."

"I thought so too though I haven't really had the chance to use it just yet."

"You haven't been traveling around a lot?" The shield hero asked out of genuine curiosity.

"Not really, since it's just me and Bluebell I've mainly just been taking on freelance jobs around the field and occasional caves fighting off monsters."

"I thought you would have been to more places."

"I very likely would have if my position was better." Audrey admitted.

While she didn't plan on staying near the capitol forever the bow hero at least wanted to make sure she had better mode of transportation or at least more companions before she ever started traveling throughout the land and maybe even leave this terrible excuse of a kingdom terrible excuse for good preferably along with Naofumi if she ever got the opportunity to do the latter.

"Well if you're ever interested there's a nearby town called Lute, you can find some decent ore there."

"Alright, thanks."

With the conversation done Naofumi turned to walk away wearing a downcasted expression. Audrey didn't fail to notice this but remained silent.

She could easily guess why Naofumi's mood was so gloomy, that run in with the other two heroes along with that lying cunt Myne only served to dig up bad memories and it didn't help that the spear hero had blatantly tried to take the only companion Naofumi had simply out of the combination of his own ego and carnal desires.

Audrey wanted to say something to try console Naofumi but she wasn't sure what she could tell him. Even if she redeclared her resolve to always be on his side like she did after the trial the underlying truth that would always remain no matter how much time passed was that it could only amount to so much even if Audrey didn't want to accept it. What Naofumi needed was someone who could truly fight alongside him through all of his endeavors to let him know that they'd always be with him through these hard times.

"Master Naofumi." Raphtalia called out suddenly causing everyone to look at her whilst she stared at Naofumi with a resolute look in her eyes.

"Back when I lost everything and had no hope. You saved me and gave me a purpose, a new reason to go on living and for that I am forever grateful."

placing a hand on her chest the tanuki demihuman continued. "Wherever you decide to go know that I will alway be by your side."

Naofumi looked taken aback by this before smiling ever so slightly. Bluebell also smiled glad that the shield hero had found someone to truly fight alongside him.

The bow hero Audrey however felt oddly conflicted. A part of her was filled with joy and relief now that she knew that Naofumi had the companion he needed, someone who believed in him wholeheartedly and wanted to fight by his side supporting him on his journey. But at the same time Audrey felt as a sense of discomfort, as joyest as it was that Raphtalia would give Naofumi the support he needed it also somehow served as a reminder of what the bow hero couldn't do in spite of how she may have wished to.

Audrey shook her head. There wasn't time for such thoughts, this was a happy occasion and besides the wave was still coming up, speaking of which.

00:00:14:38

"Just over ten minutes." the bow muttered to herself loud enough for her teammate Bluebell heard.

"Is that how long we have until the wave starts?"

"Yes."

"Then I suppose there is nothing more we can do aside from wait."

Audrey was indifferent towards the prospect of simply having to wait it out but as her teammate said there wasn't anything more they could do. Still Audrey couldn't help but wonder about the different possible factors of the wave.

If she was forced to fight some type of boss monster would she be strong enough to stand up to it? And what about the wave itself, would it even show up near where the Heroes were currently located? It might be convenient if it happened in the correct way but that scenario could also be rather dangerous for the heroes if at least not tedious to deal with.

Simply put, it would be one thing if Audrey and the others were just outside of the area where the wave would initially spawn to give the group breathing room but if they were right in the middle of the area it would only make things needlessly difficult to deal with. The last thing Audrey wanted was to be forced to deal with monsters spawning right next to her, she had already played a first person shooter game on steam at one point where hordes of enemies were simply spawning out of nowhere and even in the same room as Audrey's character if she tried to go inside of a structure to gain a bit of breathing room which ruined the entire experience altogether.

That was something the blonde haired hero really didn't want to be forced to deal with here since it would be far more dangerous since the option to simply retry wasn't there and she and the other heroes didn't have multiple lives, if they were killed that would be the end of it right then and there.

Another scenario to worry about was if the wave took place somewhere far away, if that ended up being the case it might mean the danger would be initially reduced by a large margin. Still it wouldn't do any good if everyone had to set out just to find where the wave was. The entire process could take anywhere from days to weeks depending on how far away it was which would only give the wave time to do even more damage and likely build up its numbers that much more if the monsters simply spawned without end until the the wave itself was stopped.

While thinking about this along with other potential factors of the waves the bow hero glanced at her timer.

00:00:03:21

'Three more minutes.' She thought to herself while waiting for them to pass by and taking a brief moment to read over the explanations for her newly acquired skills.

Chain arrow: a special arrow that morphs into a group chains once it hits a target wrapping around it and restraining its movements.

That would definitely help, even if it didn't hurt an enemy on its it could create an opening when the need arose.

Looking at her other skill the blonde college student turned hero was pleased to find that it was along the lines of what she wanted.

Rain arrow: shoot an arrow above a target to cause numerous arrows to rain down on them from above or shoot arrow above self to create a hail of arrows to attack any number of enemies within close proximity.

Audrey glanced at her timer and saw it was almost reaching its end mark.

00:00:00:05

Time seemed to slow down as the last few seconds passed by.

00:00:00:04

00:00:00:03

00:00:00:02

00:00:00:01

Audrey swallowed some air as she watched the final second go by

00:00:00:00

And so it began; Audrey found herself engulfed in a blinding light.

XXXXX

"Wh-what happened." Audrey asked as she took time to scrutinize the scenery around her upon coming to. The first thing she noticed was that her location had changed.

She was in the middle of the fields now but as for where exactly she really couldn't say, it wasn't one of the areas she was familiar with.

She could only guess that she had been teleported to the general area where the wave was manifesting. The area seemed promising enough since while there weren't any monsters within the immediate area of where she was the sky was a crimson red color with multiple spiraling circles that the bow hero could only guess was some type of spawn point for the wave itself to come from.

"Let's find the boss and take it down." Motoyasu announced to his team before running off to fight the wave.

"Like hell I'm going to let you steal my kill?" Ren declared before running off ignoring the protest of his own party when they attempted to reason that they should come up with a plan.

Unfortunately they were ultimately simply forced to follow after them.

While the logical part of her screamed at her to follow the spear and sword heroes her legs seemed to be struck in place almost as if refusing to move. Audrey wanted to ask herself why her body was acting the way it was but deep down she knew the answer. It was a sense of self doubt, fear that her strength wouldn't be enough to face whatever the boss monster was.

"Naofumi look!" Raphtalia suddenly exclaimed as she pointed in the direction of a village off in the distance that monsters were closing in on.

Everyone looked in the direction of the settlement before Naofumi spoke up. "It's Lute village. Come on Raphtalia." Naofumi said heading towards the village with his teammate following close behind.

"What do you want to do?" Bluebell suddenly asked Audrey.

The blonde haired hero took a few long moments to weigh her options which were either go with Motoyasu and Ren or help Naofumi.

While fighting the boss meant obvious imminent danger that didn't necessarily mean the Naofumi's choice was absolutely safe, essentially there was a risk to her life no matter what she did.

"Audrey this is not the time for hesitation."

"Ri-right, sorry."

"It's alright, this isn't the kind of situation to take lightly."

"We'll help Naofumi for now. Both Ren and Motoyasu are in their forties in terms of levels so they should be fine."

With that the two set off after their allies heading to Lute village. It didn't take too much time to reach but when the two did they saw their first glimpse of the wave.

The horde of monsters that had come forth had mainly consisted of giant bee like bugs and humanoid undead soldiers. Neither type could have been considered appealing to look at (though there wasn't any monster that actually were so far at least by Audrey's standards.) In fact it might have been accurate to say that they really grotesque even compared to past monsters but none of that mattered in this situation.

Getting closer to the village the pair soon spotted Naofumi running towards a daughter and mother who were cornered and about to be attacked by the insectoid monsters. Unfortunately the monsters were closer to the family than Naofumi by a wide margin which meant he wouldn't be able to get to them in time.

Audrey felt her stomach turn cold while watching the scene play out. While she might have prepared herself to the best of her ability to encounter hordes of endless monsters she wasn't ready to witness a parent and child be brutally killed.

The bow hero was taken by surprise when Naofumi extended his hand outward towards the family before shouting out the following words "shield prison!"

Within a split second a sphere shaped caged made of shields with chains wrapping around them encased the mother and daughter inside protecting from the buying Naofumi the time he needed to get in between the insects and their target.

In response to this the insects decided to bear their stingers at the shield hero who switched his shield to a square shaped one and blocked whatever attacks he was able whilst simply tanking the ones the got past his shield.

Audrey began running towards the scene and firing at the insects closest to Naofumi. Luckily they went down with one arrow each bringing the shield hero much needed relief before the cage of shields dissipated revealing the family who was unscathed thanks to Naofumi's quick actions.

"Get out of here while you have the chance." Naofumi said before the two villagers immediately complied.

An undead soldier tried to rush Naofumi with its sword only to have its attack blocked before Audrey shot an arrow into its back and much to her relief the undead soldier like the insects went down with one shot.

"Audrey, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be finding the boss?"

"We can leave that to Ren and Motoyasu, their levels are higher than ours by a wide margin so they'll be fine on their own. Besides I could ask you the same thing."

"I saw this place was under attack and that no one was coming to help so I decided to step in."

Audrey was both shocked and amazed upon hearing this. Granted he still had to fight the waves because of fucked up circumstances but even so for Naofumi to still be willing to step in and help those living in this kingdom in spite of what had happened at the trial, how he was being unjustly treated by the people, and just how the entire kingdom seemed to get its sick kicks out of seeing him suffer in spite of the fact that unlike Motoyasu and Ren he was truly considering their pleas even back when even he himself thought that this world was a game.

Audrey had to admit she was happy to be proven right in her initial impression when Naofuni told her the story about him and his younger brother. Even though he might have became, distrustful, angry, and bitter thanks to the actions of Myne and the crown he still had the will to help those when the needed and ironically were undeserving of it after how they treated him when most other people in his situation would have decided that there wasn't any point in fighting to protect anything. Like the bow hero's friend Patricia, Naofumi truly was an example of the best of humanity even in spite of everything he had been put through.

Audrey was about to reply but was cut off when another undead soldier tried to rush her only to be intercepted by Bluebell who bashed the monsters with her shield causing it to stagger backwards before stabbing it through the chest.

"We need to hurry and make sure everyone has evacuated the village." Naofumi said.

"Got it." Came Audrey's reply before the three begin running deeper into the village to engage the next group of monsters.

"Sir Naofumi might I ask where your companion is?" Bluebell inquired.

"I had her lead most of the villagers to a nearby mine to take refuge there until the wave is defeated, she'll join us once she's done." He replied before switching to what Audrey guessed was the shield he obtain from the two headed dog he told her about earlier and blocked a sword swing from an undead soldier before the two dog heads attached to the front of his shield suddenly opened their eyes and extended from the shield biting into the undead's arm causing a it screech and stumble backwards.

From the looks of it Audrey could confidently guess that what had just happened was the result of an equip effect from the shield Naofumi was currently using which basically amounted to a counter attack of sorts.

The effect was minimal but it did do damage judging from tears in the undead soldier's arm. Bluebell quickly ran the undead through killing it before kicking it off her blade whilst Audrey shot down numerous insects in quick succession.

Another undead tried to get the jump on Audrey which lead to her using her using her quick dash skill to avoid its attack and gain distance at the same time before following up with an arrow to the undead soldier's head.

What happened next might have been a stroke of bad luck for the bow hero but the timing of it suggested otherwise when a number of bee like insects flew from above and between various buildings of the village surrounding and zeroing in on Audrey.

"Audrey!" Naofumi screamed out in worry he wanted to use his shield prison to protect her but unfortunately it was still in its cooldown period and his other skilled couldn't protect her from all angles.

Bluebell was left in a state that was more or less the same. She could try to utilize a fireball spell but the insects would likely already be upon Audrey by the time she finished the incantation and even if that was the case she'd only be able to dispatch a certain number of them and risk hitting Audrey.

Audrey however in spite of her current predicament had a sliver of hope thanks to her fellow hero. Taking aim straight up into the air Audrey summoned an arrow.

'Please let this work!' With that thought in mind Audrey yelled out. "Rain Arrow."

She fired an arrow straight into the air above her and after it reached about four and a half meters it emitted a blinding light for the very briefest moment before it multiplied into numerous arrows which rained down in the immediate area surrounding Audrey killing most of the incoming insects in the process much to her relief.

Acting quickly Bluebell made hey way to Audrey before stabbing one of the remaining while Naofumi extended his hand outward. "Airstrike shield."

An ethereal shield materialized at Audrey's side blocking another one of the remaining insects' path. The bow hero quickly utilized the opening Naofumi made via leaping over the shield and shooting the insect whilst Bluebell dispatched of the last remaining one.

'"Is that all of them?" Audrey asked before getting her answer in the form of a screech as an undead soldier tried to ambush Naofumi only to stop in their tracks when a blade emerged from their chest.

A moment later the undead soldier fell forward revealing none other than Naofumi's demi human companion.

"Naofumi!" Raphtalia exclaimed in relief running over to the shield hero's side. From the looks of it the racoon girl was happy that the hero she was traveling with was safe and sound which Audrey could understand.

Naofumi had put himself in a dangerous position trying to single handedly protect this village on his own which really could have gotten him hurt. Honestly Audrey was glad she decided to help him rather than go with the other two heroes.

"Are all the villagers safe?" The shield hero inquired.

"Yes, they're all taking refuge in the mines."

"Good we need to keep the village clear of any monsters trying to overrun it until the others are done taking care of the boss."

By some off chance Bluebell looked into the sky and noticed numerous lights in it that seemed dim at first but appeared to gradually grow brighter and soon everyone else had noticed them.

Both of the heroes tensed up until the entire group realized that the lights were actually numerous flames that were headed right for them which brought about two different actions from Naofumi and Bluebell.

The former grabbed his teammate pulling her and into him wrapping his cloak protectively around her whilst raising his shield above his head.

The latter ran over to Audrey and grabbed ahold of her arm in the process before frantically dragging her in between two buildings for cover before the bow hero could even completely process what she was doing.

Once the bow hero regained her bearings she was greeted to a sight that left her downright appalled. The flames turned out to be arrows that had their heads lit on fire which were raining down on not only the village itself but also Naofumi.

"Alright we wiped them all out in one go." A male voice said leaving Audrey shocked before she came from between the buildings and saw that the ones responsible for setting the village alight were none other than the knights of Melromark.

Audrey felt her mind go completely blank as she worked to process what had just happened.

After her and Naofumi had just risked their own lives to save the village these knights not only set the entire place ablaze but needlessly endanger the entire group and hurt Naofumi in the process after he went out of his way to safeguard the settlement.

The commander of the knights noticed Naofumi and sneered. "So the lowly shield demon was here to, it seems you don't die as easily as the monsters do."

Audrey began seeing red in the edges of her vision, at the same time however Raphtalia emerged from Naofumi's cloak rushing at the commander with sword in hand startling him.

However before she could end the commander another knight intercepted her blocking her attack.

"Did you know master Naofumi was here!?" An enraged Raphtalia demanded. "Answer me before I cut you down."

The commander glared nervously at the Racoon demi human. "You dare raise your blade to a knight of Melromarc? You nothing but a filthy animal."

This earned an enraged snarl from Raphtalia who pushed against the knight that was blocking her path.

"Cut this animal down now."

One of the other knights attempted to rush at Raphtalia only for an arrow to hit their sword knocking the weapon from the knight's hands and causing everyone to look at a furious Audrey Alethea.

"Th-the bow hero?!" The knight commander exclaimed.

Audrey lowered her head allowing her bangs to cover her eyes as she said something under her breath.

"Lady Audrey?'' The knight commander asked.

"You bastards are going to pay for what you've done!" Audrey yelled out before summoning another arrow and firing at straight at the commander's head.

"Airstrike shield."

Another ethereal shield appeared this time blocking Audrey's attack catching her off guard and causing her to stare at Naofumi in disbelief.

"Audrey, Raphtalia that's enough." The shield hero said.

"But….." His companion tried to protest.

"We need to focus on the wave."

Audrey sighed calming down enough to think straight whilst Raphtalia backed away from the knight she was previously locking swords with before returning to her master's side drawing an arrogant smirk from the commander.

"You'd best listen to your master if you know what's good for you, filthy vermin."

Bluebell who had come out into the open spoke up. "It was one thing to use arrows but it was wrong to set fire to everything."

"It was the best way to take out the monsters infesting it, stay out of our way and we won't have to make mistakes." The commander said dismissively causing Audrey's anger to begin rising once more before Bluebell placed a hand on her shoulder getting the bow hero to regain her composure.

It was the commander's turn to be confused when Naofumi smirked and replied. "Ok we'll all stay out of your way."

"Huh?...well good, there's no need for your help anyway."

"Then I guess you'll be fine taking on the next group of monsters on your own if you're not crushed to death first."

"Huh?" The knight commander turned around and was caught off guard when he saw a new group of undead soldiers and insects upon him and his men along with a larger undead that had its weapon raised high for an overhead swing.

The knights all panicked as the larger monster brought its axe down with the intent of bisecting its current targets.

Luckily Naofumi was quick enough to get between the larger monster and the knight to block its attack before Raphtalia followed up leaping at the monster and decapitating it.

After that was done Naofumi decides to briefly address the knights. "If you plan on ever getting in formation you better do it now while you have the chance.

The commander glared at the shield hero. "Who are you to be giving orders to my men?!"

"If you don't want to listen to him then fuck off and get lost." Audrey shot off.

"Co-common, we're going to where the spear and sword heroes are." The knight commander said before turning to leave which really didn't surprise Audrey one bit.

Just from what little she had seen Audrey could already tell that the commander was just like the other two heroes, not concerned with the safety of the people or actually performing his duty, he was pretty much just concerned with whatever glory he could get from via mooching off of the deeds of the heroes.

Regardless of what the commander might have intended much to his and the parties of both heroes surprises nearly all of the knights save for two didn't move until the one that had previously stopped Raphtalia from cutting the commander down spoke up. "Everyone get into formation and aid the heroes in defending this village!"

Upon hearing this all the knights save for two and the commander formed up and prepared to fight off anymore monsters entire the village.

The commander snarled before turning to leave with the two underlings that still showed obedience to him.

Meanwhile another cluster of undead soldiers and insects began advancing on those present whilst Naofumi walked to the front of the expanded group.

"Raphtalia be ready to cut down any monsters that come near after I get their attention."

"Right!"

"Audrey of its alright with you I'd like for you and Bluebell to help us out."

For the first time since this entire battle began Audrey actually found herself able to smile. "It goes without saying that we'll help you."

"Thanks, I'd like for Bluebell to fight alongside Raphtalia and for you to act as rear support."

"Alright but what about the knights that are still here?"

"They'll need to fight off whatever gets past us and help make sure there's no stragglers left lurking about."

With that everyone began carrying out their assigned roles. While Naofumi kept as much attention from the enemies on himself as he was able to whilst handling the defenses both Raphtalia and Bluebell handled the main offense dispatching of anything close to Naofumi.

Audrey meanwhile shot down whatever stragglers she could that the two sword users missed though numerous monsters still got past even her and went for the knights. The bow hero found herself tempted to use her rain arrow skill to slow down the onslaught on monsters coming forth be she knew that doing so would likely get in the way of her three allies who were at the very front.

By some off chance one of the undead soldiers managed to get close to Audrey giving her an idea. 'I know this is a bit risky but this is probably the best time to try this.'

Audrey changed her bow to the recent variant she obtained thanks to Naofumi and was soon holding a dark metal bow with two dog heads on each end.

Almost immediately the two heads extended from the bow much like the ones from Naofumi's version of the two headed weapon variant with the sole difference being that it didn't act as a counter attack.

After being bit by both heads the undead soldier's health went down by a third as the undead stumbled back with tears where it was bitten before Audrey followed up with an arrow to its chest.

Coincidentally an insect decided to zero on Audrey only for the two head dog bow to once again react with both heads extending outwards and biting the upper and lower body of the insect killing it on the spot.

'So my two headed dog bow simply attacks any enemy that gets within its attack range.' In other words it was a means to fight off enemies that got too close.

With her experiment now over Audrey switched to her silver bow and went back to offing any monster's that Raphtalia or Bluebell missed.

Another larger undead came on the scene intent on taking out whoever it could before Naofumi reacted by placing himself in the monster's path. "Shield bash!"

Naofumi's entire figure rushed forward towards the larger undead until he rammed himself into its figure with a rather surprising amount of force sending the creature to the ground before it skidded back for a little over a meter.

From the looks of it Audrey wasn't the only one becoming capable of feats that would otherwise be physically impossible thanks to the time they spent enhancing their individual stats.

Both Raphtalia and Bluebell used the opportunity to rush the larger undead and stab it in the chest while it was still down disposing of it right on the spot.

The knights that remained to assist the two heroes with defending the village of Lute were fairing relatively well managing to keep casualties to a minimal but even so they were being pushed to their limits.

Overall everyone involved in the defense of Lute was holding out adequately for the time being but the onslaught of enemies would never truly end and from the looks it was not about to any time soon.

This caused both the bow and shield heroes to wonder what was taking the other two heroes so long. They couldn't possibly have been having that hard of a time, could they? They're levels were higher than Audrey's or Naofumi's by a wide margin so they were obviously in a better position overall, they had to be, at least that's what Audrey told herself as the fight dragged on.

The minutes began to add up and soon became a half hour then forty five minutes and before much longer the duration of the wave reached past the hour mark.

"Dammit what's taking the others so long?!" Naofumi demanded as he blocked an attack from an undead soldier before Raphtalia dispatched of it.

"I wish I knew." Audrey replied as she took out a group of insects in quick succession before she began to feel a great deal of fatigue beginning to take hold.

"They need to hurry, we can't keep this up much longer!"

The bow hero couldn't have agreed more with Naofumi, if this kept up too much longer everyone would run out of stamina and be sitting ducks. Actually that had happened with a few of the knights already whilst many others were having a much harder time hanging in there.

Both Raphtalia and Bluebell were also showing major signs of fatigue which only served to further remind the two heroes present that this needed to come to an end very soon but the problem was they couldn't do anything about it.

Unfortunately the problems only worsened when the corrupt commander suddenly returned to the village running frantically through streets of the settlement whilst screaming at the top of his lungs, his previous provado seemingly gone and replaced nothing aside from absolute terror.

While a large part of Audrey wanted to enjoy the sight his actions begged the question of just what scared him so badly, he wasn't the definition of bravery, far from in fact, his previous actions and demeanor showed that much but even so something told Audrey that something much more menacing than the undeads and insects was responsible for frightening the commander. She didn't have to wait long to discover what was responsible however it didn't provide her with any sense of relief.

Rather it filled her and likely Naofumi and their companions with a sense of dread. Charging through the streets was a new large set monster which had the body and head of a lion along with two extra heads being that of a goat and dragon as well a tail that was essentially a snake.

Immediately upon trying to appraise the creature the bow hero was met with a sight she really didn't like.

Dimensional chimera: level ?

Since she couldn't appraise it that could have only meant two things. First was that the chimera was the boss monster of this wave, and second was that it was a given that it was at a much higher level than herself since it was beyond her ability to appraise. The question that was left was just how far was to gap? Audrey didn't doubt it was bigger than what she was faced with when she encountered the vicious rabbit on the same day she began her duties as the hero of the bow of when she ran into the very first saber tooth black leopard she ever fought prior to meeting Bluebell.

Whatever the answer was, the chimera's sudden appearance may have made things go from bad to worse.

With everyone already exhausted from all the time they had spent keeping Lute from being overrun by the lower tier monsters they weren't in prime condition to fight off the chimera in fact it would be rather accurate to say they weren't prepared at all since they had never planned for it.

The only immediate advantage either hero could see the group have was that the chimera had various wounds here and there which were more than likely inflicted by Ren and Motoyasu, speaking of which where the fuck were they? Back when the wave first appeared the two set out to take down the boss and now they were nowhere to be seen.

It was a pretty safe bet to assume they botched the entire task altogether, honestly it was pretty ironic considering how overconfident the two were but regardless Audrey could only sigh at the thought since it didn't help her and Naofumi's situation, quite the opposite in fact.

"Audrey, Raphtalia, Bluebell we need to focus on taking this thing down." The shield hero declared before temporarily turning his attention to the knights.

"You guys need to focus on keeping any undead or insects away so we don't have any distractions."

Naofumi put himself in the chimera's path as it approached the group and tried to bite down on him with the lion head but Naofumi countered the attempt by lodgeing his shield in its mouth before using his free hand to grab ahold of the lion head's mane in order to immobilize the chimera.

"Rahptalia, Bluebell attack the other two heads. Audrey I want you to attack this one."

"Got it!" Without wasting a moment Audrey summoned an arrow and fired it into to lion head before repeatedly following up with a few more all the while both of the heroes teammates slashed at both of the other heads each leaving a gash in their targets before jumping back to avoid any type of reprisal as the chimera let go of Naofumi's shield.

The shield hero would have created distance between himself and the boss of the wave for the same reason as the others if he had the chance but unfortunately the chimera was too quick to act and raised one of paws to swipe it at Naofumi who could only raise his shield to block the attack.

Once the paw impacted his shield Naofumi was sent skidding backwards a couple feet and gritted his teeth from the pain but managed to stay standing nonetheless.

Audrey took the opportunity to shoot an arrow into the chimera's leg in hopes of immobilizing it more permanently. Unfortunately while the arrow did lodge itself in the chimera's leg the only other effect it had was drawing the chimera's attention to the bow hero herself before the dragon head opened its mouth and released a stream of flames that headed start for the bow hero.

Audrey had two ways of dodging the incoming attack but the problem was that even if she did the flame would still take out a good number of the knights holding off the other monsters.

"Airstrike shield." A shield manifested between Audrey and the flame blocking its advance. The summoned shield cracked in a few places but held up nonetheless as the flame continued pushing against it before dying down.

The chimera was about the charge forward but Naofumi had other plans. "Shield prison." Another cage of shields much like the one used to protect that mother and daughter from earlier manifest only being much bigger in size as to contain the chimera inside.

"Audrey now's your chance to use the skill you used earlier on this thing." Naofumi said while the chimera trashed around inside its makeshift prison trying to get.

Luckily the prison was holding but it was easy to tell from the rattling chains and newly forming dents that it was being pushed to its limit when it came to what it could endure. Utilizing the chance provided for her by the shield hero Audrey quickly took aim above the cage and fired.

"Rain arrow." Once the arrow was above the cage it multiplied into numerous arrows that rained down on the cage piercing through its surface and hitting its current occupant which let out painful roars from two of the heads and another pained sound from the final one which was likely the goat head.

Once the chimera finally broke free thanks to how weakened the cage of shields had become it immediately charged at Naofumi who raised his shield to block the attack before the boss of the wave used its goat head to ram into him. The attack proved to be significantly stronger than its previous paw swipe, enough that it sent Naofumi rolling across the ground.

The chimera then readied itself for another charge but Bluebell was faster and interrupted its attack by taking advantage of its distraction and thrusted the tip of her rapier its goat head doing whatever damage she could. The chimera decided to utilize the snake that made up its tail to counter attack. Bluebell had managed to raise her shield in time to avoid being bitten and possibly poisoned but the impact from the attack making contact with her shield proved to be strong enough to send her staggering back and few steps.

Before the chimera could follow up with anything else Audrey shot a number of arrows into its body while Raphtalia managed to put a gash in its side prompting an enraged response from the Chimera which tried to use its dragon head to chomp the tanuki demi human's head clean off but luckily Raphtalia was faster and leapt out of range of its mouth, unfortunately the chimera was determined to get revenge for its most recent wound and released a stream of fire at Raphtalia causing Audrey's stomach to turn cold before Naofumi who had gotten back to his feet reacted.

"Airstrike shield!" Another ethereal shield manifested blocking the dragon head's attack whilst Audrey felt a sense of relief that Raphtalia was saved from being burnt to death before aiming above the chimera while it was still letting out its stream of fire.

"Rain arrow." Another cluster of arrows rained down on the monster piercing into its back.

The chimera turned and charged at Audrey only for Naofumi to intercept it and block its path, the goat head rammed into Naofumi's shield but this time the shield hero remained standing even as the chimera pushed against his shield pushing him back slowly but surely in the process.

Raphtalia tried to attack while she had the chance but was forced to abort the attempt when the dragon head snapped at her, bluebell meanwhile tried her own hand at attacking only for the chimera to counter her attempt via using its tail.

Bluebell once more managed to block the attack with her shield but this time the chimera followed up with a swipe of its paw which Bluebell repositioned her shield to block the attack but in spite of her best effort she was sent sailing into the wall of a building.

Audrey became scared that she was going to lose her only teammate and only close friend aside from Naofumi and Raphtalia when she saw that not only was Bluebell not getting up but her health bar was building rapidly causing the bow hero to turn pale.

It might have been because Audrey decided to buy a stronger shield for her companion and boost her defense or perhaps it might have been nothing more than a mere off chance miracle or maybe just god's whim, whatever the case was Audrey was extremely grateful when Bluebell's heath finally stopped dropping when it drops to a little under one third of full capacity which signified that she was alive.

"Shield bash."

Naofumi rammed himself into the chimera with enough force to send it skidding backwards a little over a meter and more so to the point away from Bluebell.

The chimera decided to utilize its dragon head once more to release another stream of flame at Naofumi and moved to defend against the attack.

"Shield prison." Naofumi formed a cage of shield around himself while the flame came closer.

Upon contact the half of the cage that the flame was hitting began glowing orange before getting brighter to the point of turning white. Before long the shield prison was shattered and Naofumi was hit directly by the flames much to the horror of both Audrey and Raphtalia. However Naofumi simply stood where he was with his shield in front of him determined to protect his three allies.

Audrey quickly shot an arrow into the dragon head causing it to stop its attack early, not much to her surprise the chimera then decided to charge once more using its goat head to ram into any target in its path with its goat head.

Naofumi was still standing even after the attack but much of his gear and body burnt rather badly making adamantly clear that he had taken a lot of damage so Audrey doubted that he'd be able endure being rammed by the goat head any longer when it was already taking everything he had to do so back when he was in peak condition.

Acting as fast as she possibly could the bow hero took aim at the chimera and utilized the only skill she had in her arsenal that had a chance of stopping it from charging. "Chain arrow."

Audrey fired off an arrow that instantly morphed into numerous chains that immediately ensnared the chimera like a new before tightening themselves around its entire body constricting any movement it had.

Seeing this as her only chance to save Naofumi and Bluebell from certain death Audrey did the only thing she could and began launching arrow after arrow at the boss in hopes of taking it out right then and there before it could either break out of the chains.

It seemed Raphtalia had the same idea as Audrey and likely for the same reason as she ran up to the chimera and began hacking away at the side of its body doing as much damage as she could.

For all their efforts however they were ultimately for naught when the chimera broke free of the chains and performed a swipe of its paw sending Raphtalia into the wall of a building much like it had previously done with Bluebell.

Things only got worse when it turned its focus to the bow hero and the dragon head opened its maw. Audrey knew what was coming next which she couldn' allow to happen since even if she dodged it Naofumi and the remaining knights would all be taken out.

Summoning another arrow Audrey quickly shot at the dragon head which yielded a result that had both good and bad news pertaining to it. The good news was that the bow hero had succeeded in stopping the dragon releasing an entire stream of fire, the bad news was that it still managed to shoot off a fireball which forced Aidrey to act fast. "Quick dash!"

Audrey zipped out of the fireball's path taking Naofumi with her in the process before both heroes fell to the ground while the fireball passed by. The chimera's attack didn't hit either of the heros but it did manage to take out a couple more of the remaining knights.

Audrey rushed to get to her feet before proceeding to shoot at the chimera to make sure its attention was on her before running to get some distance from Naofumi so he wouldn't be caught up in whatever the chimera tried to do next.

The boss chose to perform another charge attack with its goat head. Since Audrey both Audrey's quick dash and chain arrow skills were still in their cool down period she settled for leaping over the boss as it got close which turned out to be a mistake on her part because of one feature of the chimera she forgot about. The snake it had for a tail.

The snake didn't miss the chance it had been given while Audrey was still in the air and unable to dodge it lashed out biting her in the leg before gravity began pulling her down to the ground while the chimera stopped and began turning around to face her.

After Audrey landed she immediately knew something was wrong when her body suddenly seemed to fight her the moment she attempted to position herself to fire more arrows at the boss and or avoid its next attack leaving her to wonder what was going on before she got a notification she really didn't like.

Status ailment: paralysis

Audrey's eyes became wide as saucers upon reading that, of all the possible inflictions she could have been hit with it had to be paralysis of all things, that was possibly the worst one possible, assuming no death, or KO infliction existed in this world considering it had essentially neutralized her greatest asset which was her speed, in fact with the way things were the bow hero was now essentially a sitting duck.

To make matters worse the chimera was already running at her with its goat head ready to ram into her.

Not being able to do much of anything more the watch thanks to her movements being slowed down so majorly Audrey tried to brace herself for the attack to the best of her abilities but it proved futile. Once the goat horns impacted her body Audrey felt herself flung into the air as her vision spun around rapidly, the bow hero managed to get a glimpse of the buildings underneath her for a moment before gravity took hold and her fell face first to the ground a little under a meter away from the chimera.

Looking at her health meter Audrey saw that she had lost the overwhelming majority of it meaning that when the next attack came she'd be done for.

The chimera began stalking toward her while the lion head opened its mouth preparing to bite into the now hopeless bow hero.

Has the beast got within range to attack and bared its fangs Audrey closed her eyes believing that this was the end before she heard someone run in front of her, the chimera's lion head growl briefly, and then a familiar voice grunting in pain causing her to snap open to see one of the last sights she would have wanted to be confronted with.

Naofumi who was already injured from the last attack he endured was standing in front of Audrey protectively and enduring the lion head biting down on him and into his body drawing a high amount of blood all the while managing to roll a potion with a liquid that Audrey hasn't seen towards her.

"Take it, it'll cure you of your paralysis status and you can save the Raphtalia and Bluebell and then regroup."

Audre's eyes widened at what her fellow hero was implying. "Naofumi you can't possibly mean for me to…"

"I do." He cut her off. "You're able to do more against the waves I ever could since I'm stuck with this shield so things are better this way."

For what was the very first time since she had been summoned to this world Audrey actually found herself feeling upset with Naofumi maybe even angry.

She mustard all the strength she could to force her body to move even with the status effect making it hard to do so and grabbed the potion.

Saving Raphtalia and Bluebell was something she could agree to without the slightest inkling of a doubt, both of them weren't just some of the only legitimately good people in the fucked up world, they were her friends, people she truly cared for as opposed to most of the scum that made up this place.

Audrey pulled off the lid off and drank the contents as fast as she could.

But the second part of what Naofumi was asking, how could he possibly think that she could go along with such a thing?

Audrey stood up and aimed her bow into the air with more vigor than she had since the wave began.

After everything she had done to help him through his endeavors even when it meant she lost the financial support of the crown did he really expect her to accept such twisted logic.

"RAIN ARROW."

There was no way in hell Audrey could cave into such a twisted sense of logic. Did Naofumi really believe that Audrey was better qualified to deal with the waves simply because she had a means of attacking? For god's sake she already told him on their first night there that simply attacking alone wasn't absolutely everything and that defending something from harm held just as much value.

The rained down on the chimera's back inflicting deep wounds causing it to let go Naofumi but Audrey wasn't done, adjusting her aim she began firing at the lion head repeatedly in rapid succession. Soon the lion head had more and more arrows lodged into it to the point that mine as well have been a pincushion.

The chimera howeld in a mixture of pain and rage before attempting to utilize its dragon head but Audrey was having none of that.

Acting even faster than the chimera Audrey shot an arrow into one of its eyes before it even had a chance to conjure any flame up causing it to howl in pain.

The chimera than tried to charge at her but Audrey simply grabbed Naofumi and jumped to the side letting the boss pass by before placing the shield hero down and going back into the middle of the street whilst the chimera turned around and tried to ram her once more with its goat head only to have its attempt thwarted when Audrey leapt into the air letting it passing under her.

Once more the chimera tried to utilize its tail but again Audrey was quicker to react shooting an arrow into its base severing the appendage off. The chimera howled in pain and turned towards the bow hero before readying itself for another charge in desperation but once more its attempt was cut short.

"Chain arrow."

Once again the chimera found itself unable to move has numerous chains ensnared its body and restricted its movement. Audrey wasted no time using the opening her skill had created and proceeded to shoot arrow after arrow into the goat head much like she had done with the lion head until it finally died off.

The chimera managed to break out of the chains and slowly make its way feet now struggling in the process before shakily trying to use the only remaining head that wasn't dead to release another more desperate stream of flame which flew at the bow hero at an alarming speed. "Airstrike shield!"

A new airstrike shield materialized in the middle of the street stopping the flame from going any further or reaching Audrey who proceeded to leap into the air and shoot an arrow into the dragon head's remaining eye before being taken by surprise when she saw both Raphtalia and Bluebell who had each previously been unconscious ran at the remaining head from both sides before slashing at its neck with all their might severing the head for the boss' body.

Speaking of which now that it was left with no functional heads the body simply slumped over and fell to the ground.

Has Audrey landed on the ground and viewed the motionless body of the chimera only one question ran through her mind.

Was it finally over?

The college student turned hero received her answer when the numerous vortexes faded out of existence and the sky returned to its normal blue color. Seeing this Audrey sighed with relief before grunting at a sudden surge of pain shooting through her body. It didn't take much to deduce what the source was now that she had time to really focus on it. She was still injured from when the chimera rammed into her with its goat head.

Judging from the pain that was becoming increasingly noticeable to the point that Audrey could not stop herself from falling to her knees, she might have had a broken rib...or a few. Either way she wouldn't be figuring it out at the moment since she felt herself slipping out of consciousness while her vision began to fade before she began falling forward briefly only for something to catch her before she hit the ground.

Whatever it was she couldn't tell, she'd have to find out whenever she awoke again.

---

And that's another chapter down. I had a few ideas for how I wanted the fight to go but I decided to settle for this.

And yes I'm well aware that the chimera fight going wrong has already been done in another story but I decided to have it happen here for a few reasons.

First it seemed pretty plausible considering the chimera was only facing two heroes instead of three meaning it would be in a better position during the fight especailly when you consider that the heroes in question are being complete fucking morons insisting on thinking that the world is a mere game to be won which in turn is leading to them underestimating the danger it poses by a vast margin which leads into my next reason.

Since like a lot of other people I am not a fan of the other three heroes (or two in the case of this story) so I personally wanted their incompetence to show itself even sooner than in cannon.

And finally it's going to give Audrey some character development in the next chapter since she in spite of knowing that the world is real was actually being a bit naive in another way that I'm sure some of you might have noticed during the earlier segments of the chapter when the wave first began.

Until then stay tuned for the next chapter, "She's not yours for the taking."