Review Responses:
setokayba2n: The festered remains of his arm curse is still there. The curse series is what was mixing with the gender-swap. What I meant was the gender-swap curse will cease all its effects after it festers, aside from the main gender-swap part.
Guest: It's more about trying not to start a war with Melromarc than him caring about the country itself. A lot of pointless death would come from that. For the record, Dante is definitely a bad guy. He's just not a maniac and has no real reason to do most of the things he used to. That, and he has a pretty big goal he's working towards. (Funny enough, this chapter is going to go into his past a smidge.) I'll admit, I do put in a few too many things. Some didn't really go anywhere, but some just haven't reached their conclusion yet. It is a little slow on the buildup, though. With Eclair, I don't think I made her that bad. The only thing I can really think of is the recent freeing of so many slaves on Dante's tab. I freely admit, dick move on her part. She did check with Fiadia and Rat (behind the scenes) to make sure it was doable. Killing that young knight wasn't good, but nothing Dante wouldn't have done, or others in his party for that matter. The pairing happening was partly to show things happen outside his perception, and that he doesn't notice all the details. As for the last chapter as a whole…yeah, I didn't think it would hit right with everyone, but it is what it is. It won't last too long, and it does tie into something more meaningful.
Kurama Kyuubi1: Reiko will be getting a little more spotlight soon-ish.
Chapter 48 – A Sign From Heaven
"So, that's the updated situation." Dante felt a sense of déjà vu as he finished informing Werner.
The shusaku leader stood there, a blank look in his eyes.
"Everything okay there?" Dante asked him.
"Yes, of course, Lord Shield." Werner responded blandly. "Will you excuse me for a moment?"
Werner left the throne room without waiting for an answer.
"He's taking that well." Keel said jokingly.
After a few minutes of waiting, Werner returned.
"So—" Before Dante could even begin, Werner held up a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Just…please, Lord Shield, let me…" He could barely get out a proper sentence.
"Yeah, sure." It wasn't every day God came with another problem, though it was starting to feel that way.
Werner took a deep breath. "I will convene with the other tribe heads and figure out a proper course of action."
"Okay, good." Dante nodded.
"In the meantime, please see the tailor for something more presentable."
"Is that really…okay." Dante was going to argue since he'd be getting magic clothes in a few days anyway, but he figured he was lucky Werner didn't completely lose it. Besides, his current tunic wasn't really cutting it for him.
They went to the tailors next, where some of the party were waiting to spin out some magic thread. Upon entering, Atla warned Dante about an ominous presence she just sensed. It was no great mystery what that was.
The tailor who made the non-magical clothing showed Dante what was available. There was a wide variety, but he had to make sure whatever he wore wouldn't disintegrate from his curse. Despite the tailor being a bit nervous working with the now female Lord Shield, he was able to find something that worked for Dante. He ended up with a red tunic fitted for someone his size now, plus a brassiere.
After everyone finished spinning their thread and giving their design ideas to the other tailor, they teleported to Faubrey's hourglass.
"Raphtalia, you made it!" Khana immediately came up and slung an arm over the taller woman's shoulder. It was almost as if she were waiting for her to show up.
With a sigh, Raphtalia looked over at her. "Hello, Khana."
"Aw, what's with that look? Aren't you happy to see me?" Khana asked, eyes wide in obviously fake concern.
"Not if you keep hitting on me." Raphtalia told her.
"So cold~." Khana removed her arm. "Maybe the smaller swordswoman is interested."
"I am not." Eclair told her flatly.
Khana looked between the two, a grin slowly forming. "Ooh. I see. You two did it."
"They what?" Rifana held a paw over her mouth.
Raphtalia and Eclair turned their faces away.
"Hah! I knew you two were into each other! But where does that leave me? Is there truly no room in your hearts for Khana? Or your skirt? Or your pants?"
"M-Miss Khana, please." The mage of her party, Martin, spoke up.
"And who's this little cutie~?" Khana ignored the man and stepped around the blushing pair to Reiko.
"R-Reiko, ma'am." She stuttered out at the giant's approach.
"Well, aren't you just adorable?" Khana petted her head, ruffling her bright hair. "Seems little man is finding all sorts of people to join him. Where is he, anyway?"
"Right here." Dante raised his hand. He was standing right next to Reiko.
"Hm?" Khana looked down at him. Another toothy grin appeared on her face. "Nice to see you again, little woman."
"The stupidity that is my life is unending." Dante let out a breath.
"Someone's been getting into trouble~."
"No kidding. I guess you've seen this type of curse before?"
"Oh yeah. Had a bit of fun with Trusi before I changed back." She pointed over at the only other woman in her party, the one who used a sword and shield.
"Of course you did." Dante wasn't surprised at all, given what he'd seen of the Hammer Hero.
"C'mere. Lemme get a look at you." Khana proceeded to check out Dante's new form, feeling all around his body. She even lifted up his new tunic to get a better look. Dante just stood there through it all, letting the giant have her fun.
"Are you quite done?" He finally asked, currently having his foot handled by her.
"That's a nice body you have there. New arm, too." Khana finished, grabbing Dante around his armpits and lifting him up. "Pretty like a doll."
"Dolls don't have muscles and battle scars." Dante pointed out.
"Are you saying I'm not pretty?" Khana asked.
"Oh my god…" Dante let his head hang back.
Khana barked out a laugh. "Say, when this wave is over, wanna have a little fun?"
"I'm convinced the only things you think about are fighting and sex." Dante stated.
"I'm not hearing a 'no'." Khana said, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Oh my~." Sadeena swayed next to them. "I can't have little Dante going off like that."
Dante sighed. "Thank you—"
"So I'll have to join you~." She gave Khana a wink.
"I like this orca woman of yours, little woman!" Khana continued to laugh.
"I'm surrounded by sexual deviants." Dante held his face in his hand.
"Oh~?" Sadeena smiled at him. "But little Dante, didn't you call out my name countless times last night when we—"
"Sadeena!" His memory of that was still fuzzy, but he had a pretty good idea. It wasn't like he was going to ask anyone else in his party to verify that detail. He vaguely recalled she transformed at one point and didn't want to think about how that worked. Honestly, he was surprised she remembered anything from last night.
"Come on, some other heroes are here." Khana said, nodding to where other adventurers were gathered.
"Oh good, I've been wanting to—wha!" Dante got spun in the air, getting set down on Khana's shoulders with her head between his legs. "Seriously?"
"I'm going to borrow your hero for a bit. Need to show him off." Khana told the group.
"You mean show me around?" Dante asked.
"I said what I said." Khana turned and starting walking off with him.
Most of his party let him go, with Sadeena and Atla waving him off. Raphtalia and Eclair were busy getting bombarded with questions from Rifana. The weasel woman was already aware of their relationship, but clearly not to the full extent.
It looked like most of the preparations were already done. Plenty of knights had shown up, as well as adventurers. Dante saw one group of interest, and Khana was taking them right toward them.
"This here is the Whip Hero, Lloyd." Khana said as they approached the monster tamer.
Lloyd had plenty of griffins with him, and most of the same monsters as last time. The red ursas he was training had grown from cubs into massive bears.
"We've met." Dante gave him a wave with his shield arm.
"We have?" Lloyd looked up. His eyes widened as he caught a look at the shield. "You look…"
"Don't say I look like a doll." Dante told him.
"I-I wasn't!" Lloyd quickly said.
"Let's have a little meeting between heroes." Khana said, grabbing Lloyd's arm.
"Hold on." Dante stopped her advance. "Which other heroes are here?"
Khana looked around. "Well, the Projectile Hero is over there, but I'm not seeing the Axe Hero anywhere. Don't really know what he looks like, though."
Dante eyed the Projectile Hero from a distance. He was easy to spot from Khana's directions, a gem encrusted war dart on his hip. There looked to be half a dozen adventurers talking with him, possibly his party.
"You've met the Projectile Hero before, right?" Dante asked, and Khana confirmed with a nod. Lloyd nodded as well. "What's he like?"
"No fun to drink with, I'll tell you that." Khana said, turning up her nose.
"He's a pretty serious guy, from what I've seen." Lloyd added. "He's completed a lot of guild requests regarding bandits, so he's pretty active. In Faubrey, at least."
That was a good sign, as far as Dante could tell. He somewhat remembered the Projectile Hero from the web novel to be a reincarnated, but that was in Motoyasu's part. Another plus was that his likely party members seemed to be an even split of men and women. Really, since so much was different from his knowledge already, it wasn't worth much thinking about it.
"Has he fought in the waves?" Dante asked.
"Yeah, here and in Shieldfreeden." Khana answered. "We fought together in Shieldfreeden's second wave."
Shieldfreeden's wave took place after Melromarc's. Dante was still traveling to Siltvelt at the time, so there was no way he'd have made it there. On that note, he'd already gotten the hourglass registration taken care of with Khana before.
"Seems like most of the Seven Star Heroes are doing their jobs." Dante observed.
"What, you think we'd just be sitting on our asses?" Khana joked.
"Something like that." He'd meet this hero first, but Dante was pretty sure he'd be sharing power up methods with him.
"Let's go introduce you." Khana marched on, pulling Lloyd all the while.
Dante got a better look at this hero as they approached. He wore light-looking armor, but that was expected from an agile, ranged fighter. His physique matched that, his arms showing off lean muscles. Dante wasn't crazy about the mullet the Projectile Hero was sporting, but that was purely a personal preference.
"Hey, Conrad!" Khana got the Projectile hero's attention. "Look what I brought!"
The Projectile Hero, Conrad, sighed as he looked up. "Khana, I really don't care about your sexual conquests."
Khana smirked. "Don't worry, I haven't bedded this one. Yet."
"I'd say you won't, but I'm pretty sure something in Sadeena has awakened." Dante remarked.
"This is Dante, the Shield Hero." Lloyd introduced him, keeping the conversation from going too far off.
Conrad gave Dante an appraising look. "I thought the Shield Hero was a man."
"I am." Dante said.
"Ah…" Conrad paused. "I was going to ask why you didn't show up earlier to help prepare, but I see you've been having some issues."
"Tell me about it. My life here is a joke."
Conrad shrugged. "Well, it's your problem to deal with. We've already met with the king, so you shouldn't have to worry about that unless you're called."
"Oh, shit." Dante had forgotten about that. If he didn't have to see the king, he was truly thankful. Meeting with the king as he was now would not be a good experience, to say the least.
"I know that look." Conrad nodded. "I never take my female companions with me when he calls for me, likely for the same reason you're thinking. He'll probably want to see you after the wave, regardless."
That was probably true, and Dante didn't want to think about it.
"Come on, we aren't here to talk about that old man." Khana said flippantly. "Hero meeting. Us four. That bar." Khana nodded with her head, still dragging Lloyd behind her.
"This better not be an excuse to drink." Conrad remarked, following along. "I'll be back in a bit." He said to his party.
"What about the Axe Hero?" Dante looked around, but didn't spot anyone that looked to be him.
Conrad grunted. "He's not here. Off screwing around or something."
Well, that's one hero not doing their job. Two, counting Aultcray.
The four of them went inside the bar, Khana letting Dante off so they could make it through the door. It wasn't that crowded inside, given that a wave would be happening before too long. There was a private table further in, which Khana led them to.
"If we're going to talk strategy, shouldn't our parties be here too?" Conrad asked as he sat down.
"We all know what to do." Khana crossed her arms with a smirk. "Knights and adventurers defend the people. Hero parties go fight the boss."
Simple, but effective. Dante had to agree.
"What's the meeting about, then?" Lloyd asked.
In response, Khana uncrossed her arms and pointed at Dante. "We're here to learn from little woman."
"Me?" Dante pointed to himself.
"About the power up methods you told us." Khana added.
Dante's eyes widened as he glanced at Lloyd, then Conrad.
"What?" Conrad gave him another appraising look.
"It's…" Dante wasn't sure what to say.
"Hm. I guess that's it." Khana leaned back in her chair. "You didn't want to tell us about them."
"You know more?" Lloyd asked. "Why didn't tell me any when we met?"
"No, that's…" Dante looked between the three of them. They were waiting for his answer. With a sigh, Dante spoke again. "I wasn't sure if you all would be a problem."
"A problem?" That got Conrad's full attention.
"Lloyd, remember when I asked about a man named Takt?" Dante asked the Whip Hero. "I have some knowledge about this world. Part of that was knowing Takt—who was the Whip Hero—being such a problem."
"But, I thought you confirmed he wasn't here." Lloyd said. "What did he do, anyway?"
"He killed most of the Seven Star Heroes and stole their weapons for himself."
A sense of dread crept over the table they sat at. The other three couldn't form a response.
"Takt might still be here." Dante went on. "I remember he was big on guns, and someone in the North Ferret Forest shot at me and my party with an advanced rifle. It was actually able to injure me."
"That's…" Lloyd started. He was searching for the words. "I saw the attacks you took during the wave. It was something on that level of strength?"
"Yeah." Dante nodded. "You can imagine why I wouldn't want to give out that kind of power to someone who might try to kill me with it."
Conrad spoke next. "So, what, you were waiting to see if any of us tried to kill you?"
"I wanted to make sure you all were actually fighting the waves. From what I know about this world, heroes tend to cause a lot of problems. Some concern themselves more with forming a harem than doing their jobs with the waves. Said harems usually do nothing more than boost their hero's ego." Dante explained. Sure, that was more indicative of being one of the reincarnated, but most of them got their hands on vassal weapons sooner or later.
Khana cocked an eyebrow. "Most of your party is women."
Lloyd scratched the back of his neck. "And you are the Shield Hero living in Siltvelt, so…"
Conrad crossed his arms. "Didn't I hear about you killing some noble in Melromarc?"
"Yes, the irony is not lost on me." Dante sighed. "But, given everything that's happened, I'm changing my approach."
"So you'll tell us how you power up your Shield, not just the Bow and Spear?" Khana asked.
Dante shook his head. "I'll tell you every power up method I know."
"Every…" Conrad's eyes widened. "You know the methods of the other Seven Star weapons?"
"Yes, and most of the Cardinal Weapons." Dante said. "I was only going to tell Khana and Lloyd, but if they say you're trustworthy, then you're included. Just don't tell the Axe Hero them. If he isn't doing his job fighting the waves, then he's on his own."
It sounded like Khana had already told both of them the two power up methods he told her. Dante proceeded to tell them all the other methods he knew of, which they began implementing. His knowledge of the other three Holy Weapons wasn't complete, but it would still give them a massive boost. He even told them about the missing Carriage Vassal Weapon, though he didn't say who it belonged to.
"This is crazy." Khana said as she looked at something only visible to her. "So many ways to make our weapons stronger."
"I never knew how to use my power up method until Khana told me about the others." Conrad added. "This is just too much."
"Once I learn the missing parts, we'll be that much more effective." Dante said.
"Man, I really wish I remembered to ask about these when I took you to Shieldfreeden." Khana continued to look over her status magic.
"Well, there were other things going on then." Dante pointed out.
Grinning, Khana cast him a sly look. "Yeah there was. You look pretty cute as a kid. Pretty buff for a seven-year-old."
"Do you make it a habit of getting cursed?" Conrad asked before Dante could respond to that.
"It feels that way." Dante admitted. "I've gotten hit with four curses, and three are still active."
"What other two are still on you?" Lloyd looked at him, having finished with his stats for now.
"One was from an attack that took off my arm, though only the festering remains. It's why my replacement arm failed at the wave in Othil. The other…" Dante was a bit hesitant to go into it, but it was important. "The other is a curse from the Shield."
All three of them stared at Dante.
"I saw something that pushed me over the edge." He explained. "After I regained consciousness, I found out I got cursed. It greatly increases my stats, but I can't equip armor or accessories."
"That's pretty bad." Conrad responded first. "There are plenty of good effects that can be imbued into equipment."
"The stats really help, but I know I'm missing out." There were some things he could increase with Job Levels, but the armor he got from Jaralis was on a whole other level. Not to mention all the effects from accessories he couldn't use.
"Still, seeing how much I improved, you gotta be pretty tough." Khana said. "That Gun Hero must've been strong too."
"Gun Hero?" Conrad looked between them, waiting for an answer.
"That's the other reason I wanted to tell you all the power up methods." Dante said. "The waves are two worlds colliding with each other, creating tears and making monsters rain down. Vassal Heroes—basically the Seven Star Heroes—from other worlds can pass through the cracks and attack us. Duke Chance, the Gun Hero that appeared in Zeltoble's last wave, was one of them."
"W-What?" Lloyd stuttered. "How…Why would they do that?"
"They think they can save their world by killing the Holy Heroes in the world on the other side. Although, that didn't sound like Duke Chance's reasons." As far as Dante was aware, Duke came to kill him because he wasn't supposed to be the Shield Hero. How he knew that and why he cared were a mystery Dante had no way of figuring out, outside of trying to ask him. Duke didn't seem interested in that.
"Is that what we should be doing? Going through the waves to kill the heroes on the other side?" Conrad asked skeptically.
"I won't stop you, but I wouldn't recommend it. You have to kill all four holy heroes, or at least the last living one, I think. If they're at least as put together as us, there'll be some Vassal Heroes mixed in too. Plus, Holy Heroes are stronger than Vassal Heroes." Dante knew that already, but the difference was greater after hearing how much these three improved. "I'm not even sure if doing that would stop the waves."
"Then we just keep fighting the waves until they stop? I'm good with that." Khana leaned back, resting her hands behind her head.
"Basically." The end of the waves was something Dante had little knowledge of, mostly because he didn't know which version was closest to reality. For all he knew, they needed to hold the line until that cat guy, or one of his friends, came by to stop the waves. Letting one of the Guardian Beasts do their job was another way, but letting two-thirds of the world's population die wasn't something the others would likely accept, himself included.
After finishing the power up discussion, all that was left was the wave itself.
~The Wrong Hero~
00:05
After every wave, the worry about what would happen decreased. This would be the fourth time they fought in a wave this strong. They weren't going to relax, since this was still a fight with a large number of monsters, but the risk of serious damage was reduced.
While Dante was traveling to Gaelion's place, Atla, Fohl, Keel, and Reiko had gone out to get XP. By the time Dante was finished, they were all at their level cap to get class upgrades. The wave would really help get their levels up more.
Rifana had also worked hard at learning her magic. Aside from Sadeena, she was the only one in the party capable of casting Drifa class spells. Dante tried his best, but he was still having trouble getting to that level. He was told learning more base Zweite spells would help him understand magic more, but he wasn't there yet. Learning the basic stuff of many things was always easier to him than learning the in depth stuff. He was able to increase his Aura spell to Zweite, at least.
Everyone cast their buff spells. They were all in a party subgroup, as not to be excluded from Dante's Shooting Star Shield, and so everyone could keep track of each other's HP.
00:00
They were teleported to the wave. Conrad noted this location had two villages nearby and was about half a day's walk to the capital.
"For Faubrey!" The knights called out, dividing into teams with the adventurers to protect the villages.
The hero parties surveyed the wave cracks, looking for the largest one. They found one significantly larger than the others and decided on their destination.
"That's odd." Lloyd murmured, looking around them. "I don't see any monsters."
"We had a wave like that in Siltvelt." Raphtalia said. "Monsters only came in large groups from one of the cracks."
"If that's what's happening here, we should hurry." Conrad said, earning sounds of agreement.
Just as they were about to head out…
"Sir MacRory, behind you!" Eclair yelled.
Dante swung his shield behind him at whatever escaped his notice. It seemed to hit only air, but Dante saw a monster before him. A translucent man with a sword and shield floated there, unaffected by Dante's attack. He brought his sword down, passing through Dante's chest with no visible damage.
Dante clicked his tongue. "That stung."
"I got this! Change Hammer II! Dread Club!" Khana leapt forward, her hammer changing into a long bone with a large skull at the end. She swung it down at the ghostly man, vaporizing him.
Dante saw more of these creatures rising from beneath the ground, all wielding the same gear. Ghost Guard was the name that appeared in his appraisal.
"Incorporeal undead!" Conrad shouted. "Use spells and silver weapons! Holy magic is best!"
Dante had learned from the mages in Siltvelt that holy magic was an advanced form of light magic. Unfortunately, no one in his party had progressed to that level of proficiency yet. Everyone who could switched out their weapons. Dante popped a pair of silver-iron longswords from his item drops for Eclair and Raphtalia. They weren't as good as their normal weapons, but they'd still do plenty of damage.
"Sadeena, let's set up a barrier." Dante looked over at her.
"Right, little Dante. Drifa Thunderbolt!" Sadeena chanted out her spell.
"Combo Skill, Lightning Barrier VII!" Dante activated his buffed Shooting Star Shield. Any of these ghosts that came into contact with it would be hit with a bolt of lightning. While his Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield had a Shock effect, it wouldn't activate if he couldn't actually make contact with them. This barrier, a combination of magic and a skill, should prove more potent.
"Lightning Whip V!" Lloyd unleashed his own skill, wiping out multiple ghost in a single swipe. "Incredible…"
"Zweite Magic Claws!" Keel chanted a spell, enlarging the nails on his paws and imbuing them with magic. He swung at a ghost outside the barrier, tearing it apart.
"Don't let them get too close." Dante warned, switching to his Spellcobalt Shield. "I'm pretty sure these guys have magical attacks."
"Drifa Fire Squall!" Rifana finished casting her own spell, raining fire on the large group of ghosts in their way.
"I don't think we can contribute much, Sister." Atla lamented.
"Yeah, looks that way." Fohl nodded.
"Don't worry, I have a spell for that." Rifana chanted another spell. "All Drifa Flaming Fists!"
The hands of both Atla and Fohl were alit with magical fire, as well as Lloyd's monsters. Testing out the spell, Fohl rushed forward and pummeled one of the ghosts approaching the barrier. Unlike with Keel, it didn't seem to be directly hitting the ghost, but the fire damage worked well enough. After about five strikes, the ghost evaporated.
"Let's move!" Dante called.
Aside from the initial attack, the wave itself wasn't particularly dangerous. Dante would activate Hate Reaction whenever it was off cooldown, attracting the enemies to him. They'd either get destroyed by his barrier or be taken out before reaching it. Given his modest regeneration, Dante would occasionally dip into his HP for MP with his Stat Allocation, or drink a mana potion when enough monsters collided with his skill.
The few archers they had didn't have ammunition for the ghostly warriors—aside from Conrad—but there were solid monsters for them to attack. The only other monsters they came across were Wights. While the ghost guards bypassed most armor and went against magic resistance, the wights had a more dangerous attack. A wight got past their outer defenses and struck one of Conrad's party members before being put down.
In his status, the man saw his level decrease by one. Another party member of Conrad, a priestess type magic user, recognized it as a type of curse. If left untreated, the level drain would become permanent. Fortunately, it would take about a day for that to happen, and they had more than enough holy water on hand to take care of it. Dante made sure his party had plenty, just in case they came across any other curse inflicting monsters. They'd take care of it once the wave ended, since they didn't have the luxury of soaking cloths in holy water to treat it.
The wave boss fit in with the undead theme. It was an eight-foot-tall skeletal warrior clad in heavy black armor and wielding a thick blade. When they approached it, skeletons quickly burst from the ground to attack. They were weaker than the wights and served more as a distraction than anything. With four powered up heroes and their parties, the boss was quickly dealt with. All in all, the whole wave took about an hour.
"Anyone else feel like we're too powerful now?" Khana asked, lifting her hammer out of the boss's broken skull.
"Speak for yourself, Khana." Garth, the halberd user in Khana's party, said with annoyance.
"Aw, cheer up!" Khana set her hammer over her back. "Think of how much stronger you'll get once you raise your level back up!"
After meeting with Lloyd a few days earlier, Khana had reduced the levels of her party members to help them get stronger. With her increased power now, they felt safe decreasing it more a bit more. Given all the heroes on hand, there wasn't much danger to it. The other three heroes didn't decrease their levels for the wave, since there were too many Vassal Heroes together to gain any XP.
"The wave isn't over." Conrad noted. "Looks like we have to attack the rift. Or…"
"Yeah, I'll do that." Dante switched to his Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield. He approached the wave rift with his shield raised, though he stopped to cast a spell. "All Zweite Aura VIII!" He targeted all the heroes and their parties, reapplying the buff. It cost a bit of mana for all the people, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
As he got closer to the rift, he called out. "Duke Chance, if you're in there, you better not start something unless you want to die." He didn't know how many different worlds they could connect with, or if the only limit was the number of waves they had. They might never connect with the cowboy's world again.
Getting no response, Dante came up to the crack. He brought back his shield and swung it forward.
His vision shifted, viewing the ground at an angle. Something covered his right eye. He slammed against the ground, being dragged along as something pushed onto his head. The muffled yells from the others barely made it over the sound of earth being uplifted.
Dante was able to thrust his shield up, removing the hand on his head and pushing off whatever had been on top of him. As he came to a stop, he heard the sound of beating wings.
"Vile creature." He heard a woman's voice. It wasn't with his ears, but inside his head. Looking up, a winged human floated in the air. Her wings were as white as snow. Two on her upper back were as long as her body, while a second pair on her lower back were half as long. A silver-like breastplate covered her torso, with white robes underneath stretching just below her knees and a single sash over her shoulder.
"That's new." Dante quickly pushed himself up. "I wasn't expecting an angel to attack me."
"Silence thine voice, Dante MacRory." The voice in his head continued. She glared down at him, black orbs with white pinpricks for eyes. "I have come to deliver penance upon thee."
"I don't recall giving you my name. You a friend of Duke Chance?"
"I did not come to exchange words with thee, but I shall gift thee mine name." In her right hand, a sword was lifted up. A gem was embedded in the crossguard. "I am Iaoth, Hero of the Broadsword. And I am here to execute thee."
"You might find that to be a bit hard, being outnumbered and all." Khana, Lloyd, and Conrad stood behind him, ready to attack.
As if to prove him wrong, more angels started flying from the wave rift. Swords and morning stars were the predominant weapons of these two-winged angels, as was a type of scale armor covering their chests. They shined a brilliant shade of teal against their white robes.
"I will handle these four heroes." Iaoth declared, pointing her blade at them. "Kill the rest of the conspirators."
"Yes, mine Lady!" The men and women around her sang out. Their voices didn't echo in Dante's mind.
As the angels began to descend, a trumpet blared out. One angel near the rift held a long, straight trumpet to his lips. The other angels glowed brightly for a couple seconds with a green aura. There speed picked up as the light faded into a soft glow.
"Taste mine blade, false hero!" Iaoth roared as she dove toward them.
"Air Strike Shield V!" Dante placed a shield in front of her, only for her to nimbly fly around it.
"Air Strike Throw V! Second Throw IV!" While Conrad's speed had increased, Iaoth was still able to avoid his thrown war darts, if barely.
"Overpowering Strike!" Iaoth's blade slammed into Dante's raised shield, driving him back a few feet. It took a small chunk out of his HP. The Shock effect activated, though Iaoth showed no reaction to it.
"Overwhelming Slam VII!" Khana swung her hammer at the angel's head. By a narrow margin, Iaoth ducked under it before taking to the sky again.
"Twister IV!" Lloyd cracked his whip, forming a tornado where it struck the ground. The winds around Iaoth quickly sped up, dragging her along. "Lightning Whip V!"
The whip head connected with Iaoth, electricity surging around her. With her free hand, she grabbed the whip and pulled. Before Lloyd could be thrust into the sky, Dante grabbed him and held him down.
"She appears to be immune to electricity." Conrad announced. "Flaming Javelin VIII!"
As his weapon neared Iaoth, she skillfully deflected the attack. Her broadsword was raised above her head.
"Boundless Blade!" The broadsword grew in length, stretching high up. Effortlessly, she swung it down at the four heroes."
"Tower Shield IV!" Dante held up his enlarged shield to cover them as her sword struck. With his left hand, he gripped Lloyd's whip and yanked down.
Iaoth was pulled from the tornado, but let go of the whip before reaching them. She soared up again, eyeing each of them, her sword back to its original length. Dante retracted his shield to prepare for the next attack.
All around them, the sound of battle echoed out. Their allies seemed to be faring better against their opponents then they were. Sadeena, Eclair, and Raphtalia kept them from getting too close, while Rifana pelted them with spells and Keel acted as vanguard. Fohl and Atla were quite in sync, disorienting an angel for the other to pummel it. Dio and JoJo, having learned to cast magic, were able to repel the angels that flew at them and forcing them to ground. Reiko looked to be on debuff duty, clouding the vision of angels and opening them to attacks.
The land calamari Lloyd brought was quite dexterous with its tentacles, able to go after multiple angels at once. They did their best to stay out of reach, since the ones that got caught were pulled down and torn to shreds by the red ursas. The griffins weren't doing so well, but Rifana kept their HP up with her magic.
Conrad and Khana's parties did their part too, to the best they could. Martin supplemented healing with Rifana, as did Conrad's priestess. The angels mostly kept a distance from Garth, not wanting to get hooked on the back of his halberd and pulled down. Those that flew too high were attacked by the archers.
"Scorching Blade!" Iaoth enveloped her sword in flames and dove down again.
Dante stepped forward with his shield ready. This time, I'll block her strike and pull her to the ground. Khana should have no trouble opening her skull then.
Iaoth neared the group. Dante was ready to receive the attack.
"Thou will fall, Butcher of the Midwest!"
Dante's eyes widened. When Iaoth's blade met his shield, he was knocked back. The angel was able to ram her foot into Lloyd's head, sending him flying into Conrad's group and knocking down one of them.
"How did…" Dante watched Iaoth fly up again and turn around.
"Focus, little man!" Khana jostled his shoulder, bringing him back.
Dante shook his head and readied his shield. One look at Lloyd told him he was out, despite still having more than three quarters of his HP. A strike to the head was no joke, even in a world like this.
How did she know what they called me?
Iaoth floated in the air, her left arm making several gestures. "Concussive Blast! Maximized!"
A bullet of magic shot out of her extended hand, zipping straight at the center of their group.
"Air Strike Shield V! Second Shield V!"
His first shield took the spell, shatter in an instant. A shockwave emanated from it, reverberating in the air.
"Repeat Spell! Repeat Spell!"
Two more bullets were launched. The first destroyed Dante's other shield, sending out another shockwave. The second bullet flew toward them.
"Shooting Star Shield VII!"
Dante put up his barrier just as the bullet made contact with it. Shattering it like glass, the bullet was able to make it to the ground. The shockwave sent out by it sent them all through the air. Dante and Khana were still relatively close to the point of impact, but Conrad got separated. He was Iaoth's next target.
The four-winged angel dove at the secluded hero. Still recoiling from her last attack, Conrad couldn't get to his feet. Dante pulled himself together and ran toward him, Khana following right after. Iaoth brought back her sword and swung it at the prone hero.
"Strike, Act I"
"Dancing Shield III!"
Dante's shield disappeared from his arm and placed itself right in front of Conrad. Her blade struck it, slamming it into Conrad and damaging him.
Dancing Shield was a skill Dante unlocked from one of the monsters that alchemist had under his control. His shield would separate from him and defend someone of his choosing. Powered up to this level, it would teleport to the target instead of flying out. Attacks could still damage the target, but the shield conferred onto them half the defense stat that shield gave him. That also meant Dante had half his defense from that shield with him, and nothing to block with. It was a poor man's Float Shield, but it had its uses and a fairly good range.
"Strike, Act II! Strike, Act III!" Iaoth attacked Conrad again, who barely managed to get to his feet. He quickly backed off from her. "Abandoner of thine prosperous home, scourge of thine family!"
Conrad stilled at her words.
"Don't stop!" Dante yelled, trying to close the distance between them.
"Thou who fled from happiness, what have thou to show for thine sacrifice? Loyalty to a king who rolls in the filth! Chosen by a weapon that's strength is from being thrown to the wind, like everything else thou should have held dear!"
"You bitch!" Conrad roared, gripping his war dart and thrusting it at Iaoth.
"Overpowering Strike!"
With her skill unleashed, Iaoth brought her blade to the shield and into Conrad. The defense on that shield was good, but without the rest of Dante's defense, nor his impressive strength stat, Conrad was sent rocketing away. The shield stopped following at the end of its range, far from where Conrad flew.
"Conrad!" One of his party members cried out.
"Go! Protect him!" Khana yelled to his party. He was less effective in melee combat, and that attack might have knocked him out. It took a massive bite out of his HP. Dante might have to transfer some of his HP to him if the angels got to him first.
In a swift motion, Dante swiped at the Iaoth with his fist. She ducked under his arm, kicking off his stomach to gain distance. Her sword, coated in Dante's blood, was held to her side.
"Thou will die, slaughterer of the innocent." The winged woman angled her blade at him.
Dante removed this hand from the fresh wound she gave him, the bleeding already having stopped with a small use of his Stat Allocation. He recalled his shield to his arm, holding it in front of him.
"I won't be killed again so easily."
I say that, but…
Dante was well aware of their situation. True, while no one from any of their parties had died yet, their HP kept getting chipped away. The healing spells couldn't keep up with the damage. Dante had a large HP pool and some regeneration, but it wasn't enough to keep his own party going with HP Endowment, let alone everyone else. Two heroes were already out and their parties had to switch tactics to defend them.
"What of thou, Hammer Hero?" Iaoth turned her sharp gaze to Khana. "Flee while I give thee the opportunity."
"And live as a coward!?" Khana spat. "I'll die on my feet, angel woman."
"Is running in fear not thine tactic? It has been ever since thou were a child."
Khana's grip on her hammer tightened. "Shut your damn…" The words slowly escaped her mouth, filled with malice.
Iaoth's face remained neutral as her voiced continued ringing in their minds. "Poor little Khana, unable to keep her father from beating her, unable to keep her father from touching her. Cowering in fear of her jealous mother's wrath, even as she ran from home."
"Shut the fuck up!" Khana raged.
"Khana, stop!" Dante held the larger woman by her arm, keeping her from charging in.
"Only after years of fighting for others' amusement did she return to repay them in kind. Thou should direct thine resentment toward Dante MacRory." Iaoth turned and pointed at Dante. "After all, it took only a single attack for thou to kill thine own father."
Dante felt his blood turning hot. "If you ever speak of my father again, I'll tear off your wings."
"Lost in memories of the past and a drunken rage of what his beloved son had become, a broken man aimed to murder his only son. Tell me, Dante MacRory, what would that shell of a man think of his son now?"
It began to boil, the rage he had been suppressing. Even diluted from his newest curse, he could feel it coming up. Even so, he had to keep control of himself. If he and Khana charged in blindly, that hero angel would cut them to pieces. She likely had all the power up methods of her homeworld, plus whatever benefits her race gave her. Dante couldn't see an approximation of her level, but that was true for the other angels as well.
He needed to come up with a plan and fast, while he was still in control. The angels that were fighting Conrad's party began to fly after them. Lloyd was pulled over by one of his red ursas and the land calamari was doing its best to keep angels at bay. Dante's party was holding their own pretty well with at least one dead angel to show for it, but that could change if the others changed targets. Khana's party wasn't doing so great, not having the benefit of slave adjustments or hundreds of levels sacrificed.
"Adam Hudson, Jett Cobb, Sasha Bentley, Nicole Small. So many lost in thine pursuit of wealth."
"What, you got a whole list or something?"
I need to keep her talking, or thinking, to us. As long as she wants us to make the first move, I have some time. Why risk losing in a clash, even if it's highly unlikely, when she can get one of us to make a mistake?
One thing he did notice was the angel with the trumpet. He stayed where he was when he first came to this world, right in front of the rift. Either he wasn't good in a fight, or he needed to stay safe to maintain the bonus that trumpet provided. If it was the latter and someone could break away and take him out, they might stand a chance.
However, that angel would need to be killed in a single attack. If he was that important, the other angels would surely move to defend him, or take out whoever threatened him. In terms power and range, a cooperative spell seemed like the only real option. Sadeena would have to lead it, her being the only one knowing Way of the Dragon Vein and able to guide others in the casting. Rifana was the obvious partner in that. They've done it before, though in practice and definitely not in such dire circumstance.
Even then, they wouldn't have the time to cast. Rifana was spending most of her time casting Healing Warmth now, and Sadeena was holding back multiple angels at once. If the others somehow covered for them, they'd be overwhelmed by the numbers and lack of healing.
If Dante closed the distance with Titanic Charge, he might be able to hold Iaoth long enough for Khana to kill her. With no invading Vassal Hero, the wave might close, leaving the other angels with barely any power. If not, they'd still be able to assist their parties and get out of this.
It was a plan, and Khana would pick up on it in an instant. Dante raised his shield to the angel.
A sharp pain spread throughout his back, forcing him to his knees.
A boom echoed around them.
Fresh blood dyed the back of his tunic a deeper shade of red than it already was.
Dante reached behind and pulled the offending metal from his back.
"Fuck, not now!" He cried out, his desperate plan quickly falling apart as the large bullet fell from his hand to the ground.
Author's Notes:
I'm being mean to my OC again. All of them, really.
Any names mentioned are from a random name generator, and are not referencing actual people.