Chapter 56 – Repercussions
Dante needed a new shield.
While his go-to shield for combat has been serving him well, he knew there were better options out there. The closest he had was the Titanic Ogre Shield. He upgraded it to the same level as his Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield, and it gave him a decently higher attack and strength stat. If it had the Shock effect from his Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield, it might have worked against Conrad and the Axe Hero, instead of doing nothing. However, every other stat was lower, especially his agility.
It's not as though he wasn't copying shields. He even had specially crafted shields brought to him, though even those weren't up to the same level. A few dragon type shields he unlocked looked to have good base stats, but they upgraded poorly. Of course, those were revealed with old scales, claws, and whatnot. Never a true dragon corpse. It was a drawback of not doing proper adventuring.
The benefits couldn't be ignored. They were able to get just about anything they needed from Siltvelt, for a price. That included Sadeena's new harpoon. They had gone to the shops to find one that suited Sadeena. After a few dozen samples, she found a good one.
Of course, this need wasn't an immediate problem. If things worked out like the books, an idea he'd normally hold with little regard, tomorrow's wave would have the Soul Eater as its boss.
They were going back to Melromarc.
When they heard the news, Werner, Jaralis, Noaroa, Ushan, and every other tribe head he happened to run into pleaded with him not to go. They all had a few reasons, but he always heard one in particular: he was wanted. Dante didn't concern himself with that. He would go, fight the wave, protect the people, and return. If anyone interfered, he'd put them in their place.
Eclair was disappointed, due to the fact she wouldn't be able to face Aultcray. While her closure was important, she was well aware it would cause unneeded conflict.
Most of the preparations were done. The only thing left was figure out what all his curse could do.
"Ready?" Dante asked.
"Ready, little Dante~." Sadeena gave him a wave.
"Yes, Mister Dante!" Atla enthused.
The two of them were to watch as Dante cast a few spells and tell him what they noticed. With Sadeena's use of Way of the Dragon Vein and Atla's life force sensing, they had a good range. Due to the test involving a curse, a priest from the church was present in the village. He gave a nod to Dante's question.
Incidentally, while Atla and Sadeena stood back, Keel had a hold on Dante. He received his obligatory teasing when he volunteered, even while staying in his therianthrope form.
Starting with something simple, Dante cast a spell he already knew, just not at that level.
"Drifa Fire Shot!" He launched the spell at the target, destroying it.
The result: no apparent change. The priest used a lens he saw the healer use a couple times before, and his conclusion matched the other two's.
"Alright. Now I'll try a different spell. Any suggestions?" Dante asked the group.
Sadeena hummed. "Well, since you have a fire attribute, why not a water spell~?"
Dante nodded and turned back. The curse he got wasn't limited to Way of the Dragon Vein, after all. It read as much in his status.
Curse of Greed. Magical aptness. Endowment reduction.
As far as he was aware, he could cast any spell that existed. That wasn't to say he knew every spell. It was more like intuition and desire. If there was an effect he wanted to create with magic and the spell existed, it temporarily appeared in his mind. That also meant he couldn't add points to those spells with the Staff's power up. He was also a little faster at casting spells, though he'd been steadily getting faster as he practiced. It was somewhat ironic, since he was pretty sure the Staff gave every magic attribute to its wielder and greatly increased casting speed.
The curse also increased his magic stat and MP slightly, though not even close to the boost from the Curse of Wrath.
"As the source of your power, I command you. Let the true way be revealed once more. Wash away the enemy that stands before me. Drifa Aqua Blast!"
The ball of water shot out of Dante's hand. It hit the target, but didn't outright destroy it. Instead, it cleanly cut away the section it struck, leaving a hole in the target.
"That is so not fair." He heard Keel mumble behind him.
Keel's adeptness with spells was…mediocre. He knew a few beast spells at Zweite level, but only one water spell at Faust.
"Lord Shield! That spell greatly agitated your curse!" The priest yelled frantically.
"Hm." Dante turned to look at the three of them. "Atla? Sadeena?"
"I could feel your life force shudder, Mister Dante." Atla responded.
"Sorry, little Dante, but I'm not sure how to describe it." Sadeena said. "It's like you cast a spell, but didn't."
At the very least, he knew doing that was detrimental to him.
"On to the next one, then." Dante reached out with his senses. Just like with the water spell, the necessary chant appeared in his mind. "I, Dante, draw on the power of the air and ask that you fulfill my request. Dragon Vein, defend them and repel their enemies! Wind Seal!"
Around one of the broken targets, magic started to gather. Wind picked up and swirled around, forming a barrier.
"Lord Shield, that was even worse!" The priest was getting louder.
"Oh my~! Did you not like your hair color, little Dante~?" Sadeena asked.
"What?" Dante looked at them again. When he did, the hair around his eyes moved. He caught sight of the change, sliding some more hair into view with his finger. Normally black hair had turned white.
"Ah!" Reiko called from the side, having seen the whole thing. "The son of Sparda has come to Siltvelt!"
Dante let out a long sigh. "One time. I dyed my hair white for Halloween one time and Eddy never let go of that joke."
With the attack that happened a few days ago, Dante was glad morale was returning to normal.
"Mister Dante, that affected you even more than the last spell." Atla confirmed the priest's claim. Sadeena nodded too.
Those were possibly some of the more costly spells he wanted to try. Still, there were a few more to test out.
They continued on, Dante trying out different attributes at different spell levels. Each time, the priest would ask him to stop, and each time, Dante would continue. The priest's voice was really getting on his nerves.
Dante chanted out one more spell.
"Lord Shield, I'm begging you!" The priest's voice was too aggravating.
I'm so tired of listening to that idiot's voice!
The next thing Dante knew, Sadeena was standing in front of him.
"What?" He asked, looking into her eyes.
"Please calm down, little Dante." She said evenly.
"I am calm." Dante asserted.
In response, Sadeena simply looked behind her. Dante could see the priest there.
When did I…
At some point, he had turned to face the priest. His spell was charged and ready to let loose. Not only that, but when he looked, he realized Keel was a couple feet away from him.
Dante had no one touching him.
"I was asking you to stop since a few spells ago. This test is over now. So, please, calm down." Sadeena soothed.
He was vaguely aware she said to stop, but he'd kept going. Doing as she said, he grit his teeth and starting taking breaths. They started out shallow, but soon became deeper. At some point, he had reached out to Sadeena and took her hand without noticing.
"Better?" Sadeena asked, a smile on her face.
"Yeah. Sorry." Dante murmured.
He noticed it during the experiment, but kept going regardless. Not only was his annoyance increasing, but so were his stats. If he had to venture a guess, the 'agitation' was his Curse of Wrath. His stats started going back down, though he couldn't tell if it was because he was holding on to Sadeena or from him actively trying to calm himself.
A similar thing happened when that knight grabbed the Axe. Dante was able to separate from Atla without issue to deal with him. It seemed being threatened or in combat allowed him to act without staying in contact with someone. He did view that priest as an enemy for a moment. Dante did discover another exception, but…
Nevertheless, he got his results. Casting spells at higher levels than he was normally able to was the least costly, then any spell outside his two attributes, then Way of the Dragon Vein. He tried countering a spell and it was almost as bad as casting Way of the Dragon Vein normally, since that was what he basically relied on for it. Casting a cooperative spell with Sadeena seemed to be the worst. It also varied how strong each spell was, and if he had any points in them. Drifa Aura IX was about as bad as Drifa Water Blast. Applying EP also made it worse.
"There was one more spell I was going to try, but…"
"You can't." Sadeena flatly told him.
She instantly knew what he meant, having been told of its existence before. It was a spell level exclusive to heroes. Liberation magic. The combination of standard magic, life force, and Way of the Dragon Vein.
"Yeah, you're right. It's not a good thing to do as a test." Dante agreed.
"No." Sadeena shook her head. "You mustn't cast any of those spells at all."
"Was it really that bad?" Dante asked.
In response, Sadeena took her harpoon off her back with her free hand and held it in front of Dante's face. He looked at the shiny, metallic end of it and saw his reflection. Not only had his hair turned white, but the whites of his eyes had turned black, reminding him of that angel. The area around his eyes looked sunken in as well. Now that he was a bit calmer, he realized the parts on his body with festered curses were throbbing with a dull pain.
"I don't want you casting any of those spells, not just the strongest ones." She said, her tone serious with no room for argument.
Dante considered it. "That's too much."
"Dante." She held up his hand in front of him. "Promise me."
He sighed. "I promise not to cast any Liberation spells." The look on her face said she was not impressed. "I will cast Drifa Aura. That is non-negotiable. If the situation demands it, I will cast other spells too. However, I'll rely on everyone else as much as I can."
With his weakened ability to empower others, casting Aura at that level was necessary when fighting strong opponents. He'd use Zweite as much as he could, but he wasn't going to forsake Drifa completely. Besides, if he learned to do it properly, there wouldn't be any problem. The same was true for Way of the Dragon Vein. All he needed was a blessing, not relying on a cursed power. After that, Liberation had potential.
Sadeena wore a complicated expression. Still, she nodded. "No Liberation spells."
"No Liberation spells." Dante repeated. "I promise."
Sadeena used Holy Purge to get rid of the curse effects Dante had gained from his testing. Unlike when Dante wildly cast that spell, she only used up the holy water the priest brought. It helped reset his temper more and remove the physical changes, though it did nothing else for the two active curses from the Shield.
~The Wrong Hero~
It was finally time for another wave. By this time, Dante had done a number of things to prepare.
One of the first was to have Werner recall Rhubaldt and give him the remaining power up methods. He needed the Claw Hero to be prepared for any attacks that might come his way, or any invaders from waves. It was a risk, sure, but with another Vassal Hero by his side, Dante was confident they could handle the werewolf if he was somehow against them. He also wanted to get the other three heroes powered up, but he'd see how they acted first.
Speaking of that, Dante made sure Raphtalia knew all the methods he did as well. Most of the forms were still upgraded from when Khana had the weapon, but it appeared any that were more malleable—like slotting ores into the forms—were lost. He gave her some pointers and suggestions, including which stats to upgrade with the Job Level method. That was when he got a strange piece of information. Raphtalia couldn't upgrade all that stats that he could. Sure, some weren't exactly stats in the traditional sense to begin with—like poison resistance and appraisal—but it was weird she couldn't while he could. He chalked it up to the difference between holy and vassal heroes
Werner also sent word to Faubrey, informing the king of what happened with the Seven Star Heroes. A few people tried wielding them to see if they would be chosen, but none were. Since the weapons could be picked up if one didn't try to use them, a test was needed. They would have people strike Dante's shield with them. Each time, the weapon was flung from their hands, like when Dante tried to wield any other weapon. Dante wanted to keep the weapons here for now, less they fall into the hands of someone like Conrad again.
For that matter, Dio gave a description of Takt to several sketch artists to make wanted posters. The results were…abysmal. His kids had several talents, but describing things was not one of them. The best they had was Takt's height and his sandy hair. The description was also passed along in the message to Faubrey. While they found no trace of him, the silver lining was that Dio brought back his weapons when he fled. They consisted of a sniper rifle, an assault rifle, and a pistol. Dante's appraisal found the rounds were indeed defense ignoring, but he couldn't gleam any other information about them. It was likely because he hadn't come into contact with many firearms here.
With all that said and done, all that was left was deciding who to take to the wave.
"Please take me with you, Mister Dante!" Atla pleaded for the umpteenth time.
"My answer is still no, Atla." There were a few reasons. Her being a hakuko was the main reason he wouldn't take her to Melromarc's wave before, but her condition took priority. She wasn't moving as easily as before, a certain stiffness becoming more apparent as the days went on.
Dante had spoken with Rat about making her medicine, and she was able to. Her knowledge and expertise made those potions about the same strength as Dante did with his bonuses. The problem was Dante couldn't apply the much needed bonuses for administering them. Without them, Atla's condition worsened, though it appeared to be leveling off.
"I won't be in the front." Atla continued to argue. "I'll stay next to Rifana while she casts."
"I was never going to bring you to Melromarc. Fohl too." Dante told her. "You know why."
"Atla, stop it already." Fohl scolded.
"I can handle it, Sister." Atla gave her a jab in the side. That alone showed she shouldn't be in combat for a while. Fohl was barely affected by it.
"No, you can't." Fohl pressed. "Just let this guy go off. You shouldn't be near him anyway."
Fohl gave Dante a hard look. He wasn't really surprised. Since his curse was broken, Dante had resumed his favor repayments in Siltvelt. And, well…
Sadeena was injured and resting during most of the time. Raphtalia didn't reduce his anxiety, since she no longer had a slave seal. With Eclair's past and her relationship with Raphtalia, Dante didn't even ask. Keel had been through enough with him. Dio and JoJo were kids. Rishia was 14 and not matured through leveling. Lilith had been getting jealous and he was worried she might try to bite one of the women. Rifana was still a little wary of that sort of thing, and Dante hadn't taken the time to talk with her about it yet. Dante knew Fohl would never allow Atla to go without pitching a huge fit. All that left was the elder hakuko sister.
Bringing a hakuko to the capital for that wasn't the best idea, but hearing about Jaralis's view on the sisters set Dante at ease. He trusted Atla's senses on the matter.
Now that Sadeena was back on her feet, Fohl wouldn't have to go through that anymore. Both she and Dante were thankful for that.
"Look at it this way." Dante decided on another approach. "I'll need people I can trust here to watch over the village. There have been too many attacks here, and now we're housing three of the Seven Star Weapons."
He was hoping someone in his party would attune to another one, but there was no such luck in that regard. Neither Rat nor Reiko were able to use the Whip, despite their interest in monsters. Dante hoped Reiko being reincarnated would be enough, but that wasn't the case. Likewise, Rishia wasn't able to use the Projectile. It was possible this was another change and the Projectile wouldn't ever choose her, but he found it far more likely that she simply wasn't ready to become a hero in its eyes. The weapons could be picky like that.
The Axe, of course, was completely off-limits.
"Okay…" Atla finally agreed.
"You just look forward to my return." Dante said with a smile.
"Of course, Mister Dante." She didn't sound that enthusiastic.
"And you can look forward to tonight, too." Dante added. "For helping me so much recently, you can keep sleeping next to me."
Atla's expression changed in an instant. "Yes, Mister Dante!"
"Atla, wait!" Fohl chased after Atla as she ran to the building housing the weapons. What was running for her now, at any rate.
"Oh?" Sadeena voiced, having been standing next to Dante the whole time with his hand in hers. "So you're really going to let little Atla keep sleeping with you? And you didn't even ask me~?"
"You would have said yes." Dante gave her a smirk.
"So…" Sadeena slid around to Dante's front. "Who are we taking to the wave?"
He would have a pretty full party, so he didn't need to take everyone. Fohl, Atla, and Lilith would be staying here for sure. Lilith hadn't gained nearly as many levels as the others, let alone sacrificing them with the Whip method. She was by no means weak, considering where the other heroes and their parties likely were, but Dante wanted her to grow a bit more first. She was close to the size he would be able to ride her.
But, really, did he need to bring anyone with him? Combat-wise, no. He could handle himself just fine. Aside from meeting Glass, the main reason they were going was to protect the villagers. The other heroes probably wouldn't bother.
Still, a sense of unease filled Dante about bringing any of them.
"Maybe you should…never mind." He began, only to cut himself short.
"Hm~?" Sadeena smiled at him. "Were you about to ask me and Raphtalia to stay behind?"
"…No."
"Because, if we stayed behind, who would protect us~?" She leaned in, wrapping her arms around him.
"I get it. It was a dumb idea."
He needed to bring at least one person for his curse, but truthfully, he wanted to bring everyone. Rationally, it was to help as many villagers as possible. Irrationally, Dante had a feeling his Curse of Greed wanted them close by.
Keel had asked why Dante needed to touch someone with his seal on them, and not just an expensive jewel or something. Dante didn't know for certain, but he'd said what he thought the reason was. "Probably because…I value you all more than anything." Sadeena had swooned in that exaggerated way of hers.
Dante couldn't shake off his concern, letting his gaze fall to Sadeena's scar.
"You like it?" Sadeena commented on his gazing. "I know how you feel about women with battle scars~."
"Oh my god…" Dante knew her well enough to understand what she was doing. She was saying "It's time to stop worrying."
While the scar remained, Rat was able to take care of the internal damage with some help from Dante's HP Endowment. His own HP regeneration from his shields had tanked since gaining a few more festered curses to the point of near-nonexistence. Still, aside from the scar, Sadeena was as good as new.
"Alright, alright. I know who's coming." Dante gave her the names.
It was everyone that was in the party back in Melromarc, plus Rishia. To make up for her lack of stats, Rishia wore one of the penguin kigurumis. She rather liked wearing it when she went out with Sadeena and the others in the ocean. The kigurumi was one of the best pieces of equipment they had. The other weapons from the karma bosses were good, but Dante couldn't get the curses removed. More accurately, they could be removed, but the stats on them dropped considerably, making them worse than the party's current equipment.
After they gathered everyone up, they teleported out.
~The Wrong Hero~
They had just one stop before the wave started. When Sadeena and Dante met with Melty before, they actually spoke with a few knights before leaving. Dante recognized one that was at Lute village, one of the younger knights. His name was Ake and he expressed his interest in joining Dante for the next wave, with Dante agreeing. Of course, that was before Dante made a mess of things.
"Hello?" Dante called out after they arrived. They were in the ruins of Lurolona village. At some point, Dante had moved the portal location from Reiko's cave to here. He told the knights to meet him here to teleport to the wave.
Incidentally, Dante also moved the Faubrey border location to the Ivyred territory so Rishia could visit her parents' graves.
"I don't think they're here." Eclair looked around her father's lands.
"Doesn't seem like it." Dante agreed. With everything he'd done and the bounty placed on him, he wasn't really surprised.
"Someone's coming." Sadeena pointed with her harpoon.
At her mentioning, Dante could hear footsteps. A figure emerged from behind one of the broken buildings. Dante didn't really expect to see anyone here, but the person he saw defied all expectations.
"It's been a while, kid."
"Erhard?" Dante looked at the decked out blacksmith. Instead of his usual smock, he wore what Dante would imagine from any high level adventurer. From what he could tell, anyway. That was what he saw under the blacksmith's cloak. "What are you doing here?"
"Overheard some knights talking about meeting you here." Erhard answered, looking at his surroundings. "I'm a little surprised you came."
"You aren't the only one." Dante said. After learning Dante's plan to fight in Melromarc's wave, Werner had something say about it every time Dante went to the castle. "But, why did you come here? And why are you dressed like that? Are you…"
Erhard shook his head. "I'm not here for the wave. Things have been getting bad lately." He crossed his arms, giving Dante a hard look. "Did you really kill the Bow Hero's companions?"
Keel jolted at Erhard's words. Dante placed a hand on his shoulder before speaking. "We killed one. The other was killed by her own ally."
Dante explained the circumstances of their deaths. He told Erhard about Reiko being targeted by Itsuki's party for killing knights, which was true. Being unable to flee, there weren't many options that wouldn't likely lead to someone getting killed. That was especially true with Armor egging Itsuki on. With his obvious support of the Three Heroes Church, Dante highly doubted Armor would accept their surrender without trying to kill Reiko and Keel, let alone Atla.
All while hearing Dante's retelling of events, Erhard just stood there, listening. When he was finished, Erhard spoke. "From the way it was told in town, you and your party attacked the Bow Hero unprovoked, that you murdered two of his companions when they couldn't defend themselves."
"Is that what Itsuki is saying?" Dante asked, a hand on his hip.
Erhard shook his head. "That's what knights were saying when they put up bounties on you."
Hm. If Itsuki was really about justice, he wouldn't let a lie like that spread, right? Then again, the church or other ministers could have had a role in persuading him. "The ends justify the means", and all that. I suppose one could say there's a certain amount of justice in that.
"Anyway, that's not the only thing you've done. That noble woman you told me about before? A recording crystal was shown with you bursting into the room and calling for her death, demanding all her gold and then charging at her." Erhard presented another accusation going around.
Dante sighed. "I figured they'd change how that one looked. You don't believe I did that, right?"
Erhard sighed as well. "I don't think you're lying, but you went about solving things all wrong."
"I've been told that repeatedly." Dante shook his head. "I'm not so good at avoiding political problems."
"I see that." Erhard walked closer to the group. "That's the main reason I'm here."
According to Erhard, Dante's actions had caused a lot of problems. Specifically, anyone with a connection to him was targeted. The magic shop woman and the apothecary had to close up shop and hid in Lute with family there. Erhard was more proactive, keeping an eye on knight activities and helping out anyone else that was affected. There was one person he knew of that he wasn't able to aid.
"They arrested Ann?!" Dante yelled at hearing the news.
"The clothes lady?" Dio sadly asked.
"When?" Dante demanded.
"About a week ago." Erhard said. "As far as I know, she's being kept in the castle's dungeon."
Dante clenched his fist. "Oh, I am going to gut that old man!"
"Sir MacRory!" Eclair interjected. "That isn't going to solve this. If anything, it'll make things worse."
"She's right, Dante." Raphtalia added. "Besides, if the king is gone, wouldn't the church move in? Wasn't that something you were worried about?"
"Then I'll simply destroy the Three Heroes Church." Dante knew which shield gave him the highest magic bonus. "It would only take a single spell to wipe out—"
"Little Dante." Sadeena gave his hand a squeeze.
Dante cast his gaze back at her before taking in a breath. Drifa magic wasn't up to the task of demolishing a building. She clearly knew what he was thinking. Even more, destroying a single building wouldn't get rid of the faith. If anything, it would probably strengthen it. They needed something concrete the church was doing to dissolve it, and every time Dante did some stupid thing in Melromarc it made the church look better.
"Thank you for telling me." Dante forced out, returning his eyes to Erhard. "I'll take care of it."
"Be careful out there, kid. A lot of people want you dead." Erhard said.
"You too. And, I'm sorry about causing you problems. Once this is all over, I'll make sure things go back to normal for you." Dante promised.
The plan for the wave didn't change much. They would still need to protect the people while the other three heroes fought the boss. Of course, Dante didn't expect those three to succeed. He just needed time to make sure the villagers were secure. After all was said and done, Dante would be leaving Melromarc with Ann. There was no telling what she was going through. One look at Eclair's face told him her thoughts on it.
"Oh, but there is one more thing." Dante opened up his inventory and took something out. It was the horn used by the angels in Faubrey's wave. Mages, blacksmiths, and alchemists, no one in Siltvelt was able to get it working
"I was going to pay you to figure out how to make this work and give it back, but given how things are now…" Dante held out the horn to Erhard. "It should give a significant bonus to you and anyone in your party, if you can figure it out. It's yours to use as long as you need."
Erhard took the horn and gave it a once over before storing it in his pack. "Thanks. I'll put it to good use."
After saying their goodbyes, Dante and his party prepared themselves for the wave. It was mostly last minute preparations. Keel and Rifana were already in their therianthrope forms. Raphtalia, JoJo, and Dio transformed as well. Raphtalia pulled the Hammer off of her back and switched it to one of the forms she'd strengthened. She'd had some training from a weapon master over the past few days, and Rishia trained more with Eclair.
"We will rescue that woman." Eclair stated.
"On that, we are agreed." Dante nodded. "I have one quick thing to do in the capital after the wave. After that, we'll pay a visit to the castle."
Just before the wave started, Dante cast Drifa Aura IX on his party. They'd start out strong and he'd repeat it at Zweite level as needed.
~The Wrong Hero~
The sound of shattering glass echoed around them as they were brought to the site of the wave. In the distance, Dante could see a ship with a few holes in its hull flying in the sky. That was the wave boss—or part of it—from what he recalled. He also saw the village Elrasla lived in, as well as a couple others. He'd need to touch base with her and introduce Rishia. But first—
"Eagle Piercing Shot!" After hearing the skill, Dante let go of Sadeena and grabbed the arrow out of the air. He crushed the skill arrow, destroying it, and turned to face Itsuki, who already had another arrow nocked.
Well, there goes that idea. Guess they're pretty hostile.
"Fehhh!" Rishia made her noise at the action.
"Thunder Shoot! Blaze Arrow! Falcon Strike!"
Itsuki loosed skill after skill as Dante quickly approached. First lightning, then two fire skills. The second was faster and stronger, but Dante deflected them with his shield all the same.
"Paralyze—" Before Itsuki could use another skill, Dante grabbed his bow arm and lifted him off the ground.
"Quit wasting SP, moron." Dante stared down at the smaller hero. He didn't pay it much mind before, but he found himself quickly surrounded. Not only did Itsuki's party members have their weapons drawn, but there were half a dozen knights as well. One look at Dante's party told him they were ready to fight, but he waved them back.
Itsuki struck Dante in the face with his fist, to no effect. "You will pay for everyone you've hurt!" He declared.
"I'm not going to argue about his." Dante pulled him close. "We're here to fight the wave. Don't forget that."
"We're here to bring you to justice!" Itsuki yelled. The knights and adventurers closed in.
"I have better things to do then listening to your whining." Dante's grip on Itsuki's arm tightened. "If I have to leave all of you in a bloody mess to do my job, I'll do just that."
"You bastard!" Itsuki continued to beat on Dante's face, earning no reaction.
"Stop!" Motoyasu yelled as he came closer. Dante expected him to have his spear ready to strike, but instead it was held upright as Motoyasu made easing motions with his free arm. "Dante's right. We need to fight the wave first."
Ren stepped forward as well. His sword was ready, but not quite threatening. "We agreed to deal with Dante after the wave, remember?"
"I'm not giving MacRory the chance to escape!" Itsuki retorted. "He's been going around killing nobles, abducting people, selling dangerous drugs, and planning to start a war!"
Well, he's half right. Optics-wise, at least.
"That what the church has been saying about me?" Dante asked.
"The king himself told us your evil plans!" Itsuki spat.
"Did he now?" Dante hummed. He didn't ask for all the specifics from Erhard. Of course, Aultcray didn't give a shit about the demi-human villagers from Reichnott's territory, the likely reference to the abductions. It was still a good propaganda piece.
"Enough!" Motoyasu yelled, stopping just outside the gathering of knights and Itsuki's party. He slammed the blunt end of his spear on the ground for emphasis. "Itsuki, let it go for now. It's not like we can teleport him back to the castle right now anyway. The more we worry about him, the more villagers will get killed in this wave event."
Dante clicked his tongue at Motoyasu's words. He didn't expect otherwise, but hearing Motoyasu still talk about this world like it was a game irked him. Still, he was trying to diffuse the situation, so Dante held back.
"And Dante," Motoyasu looked him in the eyes, his expression stern, "we will deal with you later. Now, let Itsuki go."
With a grunt, Dante released Itsuki from his grip—
"Bunker Shot!" The moment Itsuki was free, he fired off another skill.
The arrow struck Dante in the center of his chest. A loud boom echoed around them. Dante looked down. Where the arrow struck, right where the collar of his tunic formed a 'V' shape, was a hole. It was about six inches across and left the edges of the circle frayed, but his skin was mostly fine. A small blemish over his scar was the only real result of the attack, plus an extremely minor amount of damage.
"Itsuki!" Motoyasu yelled at him.
Dante gave a dismissive snort before bringing back his left hand and striking Itsuki's face, knocking him to the ground. He could see a bit of blood on the young Bow Hero's mouth.
"Anyone else want to try something like that?" Dante asked as he looked around. The sound of metal snapping came from behind him. One of the knights slashed his back, breaking his longsword in the process. Dante took one look at the confused knight before decking him in his face. He was knocked into another knight behind him, barely staying standing. "Anyone else want to try something?"
He thought that would be enough to dissuade the remaining people with weapons aimed at him. Defying his expectations, he felt something sharp stab into his back again. It did slightly more damage than the longsword, though still not worthy of any real concern. When he turned again, he saw a young woman with a shortsword in her hands. She glared at Dante with burning hate in her eyes.
Dante did the same as before, striking her in her face, knocking this one down. Her weapon clattered away from her. "If the knight with the longsword wasn't going to win, why did you think you would?" Then again, her level could have been higher. Dante found he could no longer see the levels of other people, though he figured it had something to do with being cursed again. He looked over the woman, noting her equipment. "I take it you're one of Itsuki's companions?"
"I'll kill you!" The woman screeched, blotting the blood coming from her nose. "No matter how long it takes, I will see you dead!"
"Get in line." At his comment, the woman drew a dagger from her belt and stabbed into Dante's bare foot. It did even less than her sword, not even damaging him. "Really now?"
"I'll make you pay for murdering my brother!" She yelled, stabbing into his foot again.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Dante turned his focus back to the knights. They looked ready to attack, but his glare held them back. One of Itsuki's other party members was helping him to his feet.
"Mald!" The woman yelled again, continuing her assault.
Dante looked back down at her. "…Who?"
The woman roared when he said that, viciously slashing at him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up, ready to strike her again.
"Dante!" Keel's voice stopped his attack. Dante looked over at the dog boy through the crowd of knights. "That's...he's the guy from the cave."
Dante hesitated, then gave the woman a hard look. He couldn't remember exactly what the man looked like, let alone his name, but the woman's face did feel familiar now.
Itsuki came into his view, holding an arrow in his bow. "If you try to hurt her too, I'll kill you here and now!"
"Everyone, stop!" Motoyasu tried again to stop the fighting. "Dante, just let her go…"
Before Motoyasu had finished speaking, Dante released the woman. He brushed a bit of dirt from the armor on her shoulder, causing her to jump back. She looked at him curiously, but the hate was still there.
"You might be the first person in this world that wants me dead for a legitimate reason." He calmly told her. "No deception or misinformation or religious idiocy involved, only pure revenge at the man responsible."
Ren stepped through the knights, alongside Motoyasu. "You admit to killing her brother?"
"I am responsible for it, and I'll leave it at that." Dante replied.
Ren looked him over one more time before shrugging. "Well, the wave is more important anyway."
"Right." Motoyasu cast his gaze at all the surrounding knights. They looked at one another before slowly lowering their weapons.
Itsuki kept his bow trained on Dante, looking to fire off another skill. A hard look from Motoyasu wasn't enough to dissuade him. However, one of Itsuki's party members, a mage, whispered something to him. It seemed like he was talking Itsuki down, since he lowered his bow soon after.
"Alright then." Dante waved his party closer, now that the skirmish was over.
With a moment to really observe his surroundings, Dante realized there were even more knights there. Mixed in with Motoyasu's women was a squad. Not only that, but Dante recognized them. He saw Ake at the front of the group. Though, when Dante's eyes met his, the young knight turned his head down.
Well, it's not like I blame him. It wouldn't be good to associate with a wanted man like this.
"Okay. Let's go over the plan, like we talked about." Motoyasu said, directing that last bit to Itsuki, who merely scoffed. "We three and our parties will go fight the boss. The knights are here to protect the villagers. And you, Dante?"
At his prompt, Dante looked at the groups. "I had planned on protecting the villagers first, then join you for the boss."
"As if we need your help!" Itsuki loudly said, the woman nodding with crossed arms.
"He's not wrong." Ren added, crossing his arms as well. "It's not like you can really attack that much, and you're not even wearing any armor. How are you supposed to block attacks?"
"Well, I am the Shield Hero." Dante raised up his shield arm. "My stats are plenty high without armor."
"Is that some sort of cheat ability?" Itsuki accused. "Like how you were able to damage me?"
Dante's eye twitched. That was two heroes that thought this world was a game. Given Ren's nonchalance about the whole situation here, it was probably all three. Both he and Motoyasu were looking at Dante expectantly, likely also thinking he was cheating.
"It's not a cheat, it's a curse." Dante opted to just tell them. It wasn't as if he had much to lose.
"You're cursed?!" Dante snapped his head to the speaker. Malty, of all people, was the one to ask. The moment their eyes met, she shrank back.
"Yes, I'm cursed." He hissed out. "My stats increased greatly, but I can't equip any armor or accessories."
At the moment, that curse had a smaller cost for its benefits. In his item drops and the shops in Siltvelt, Faubrey, and Zeltoble, Dante had looked at a number of armor sets. Most of the ones he could have worn at his level—which was most of them—had lesser stat increases than what he estimated his curse provided. There was one exception, but that armor only increased defense with no other special traits, and it greatly reduced agility.
Itsuki laughed at his admission. "How could you let yourself get cursed like that? Don't you know how good armor can be?"
Dante wanted to slam his face into the ground, but he resisted the urge. It wasn't easy. "Anyway, what do you know about the boss?"
Itsuki scoffed again as he shook his head, still amused. "Of course you wouldn't know. It's a Soul Eater. To reveal it, we need to take down the ship first."
"Not this again." Ren sighed. "I told you, we need to kill the skeleton captain."
"You guys, it's the kraken we need to fight!" Motoyasu claimed.
The three of them began arguing, each one certain of how to bring out the real wave boss. It was pointless, since Dante knew the correct way. Then again, that might also be different. It also didn't really matter. The plan was to make sure all the villagers were safe before going up there and dealing with the boss themselves. Then, he'd have a chat with Glass when she appeared. Assuming, of course, that too was the same. Then again…
"Hey!" Dante shouted, interrupting their fighting. "Just for the sake of argument, how do you plan on fighting it when it appears? It sounds like some sort of ghost."
The three of them looked between themselves. Motoyasu answered first.
"I have a spear that's very effective against undead."
Itsuki turned up his nose. "I have a bow like that too."
Ren was next. "I don't have a specific weapon, but I have a skill that destroys weak undead and damages strong ones."
That was a little surprising. Dante didn't expect those types of answers at all. He actually did get a shield form that combined their methods.
Dread Champion Shield
equip bonus: defense bonus (medium), SP bonus (medium), MP bonus (medium), skill: "Turn Undead"
equip effect: energy drain resistance (high), Undead Bane
It was the shield he unlocked from Faubrey's wave boss. While the Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield had better stats overall, this was a good specialty shield for undead. This one also currently had the highest magic stat.
"Alright then." Dante turned his shield over and pulled out numerous vials. "Take a few of these. They'll increase your stats temporarily."
"I don't need anything from you, MacRory!" Itsuki stubbornly refused.
"Fine. Ren? Motoyasu?" Dante looked to the remaining heroes.
Both of them grabbed a few each. They held them up as they looked at them, likely using whatever appraisal ability they had.
"Dante…" Motoyasu murmured before glaring at him. "Is this poison!?"
Dante shook his head. "It has a detrimental side effect, and it's addicting."
"So you're trying to push your drug on us now!?" Itsuki yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Shut it!" Dante fired back, tired of listening to him. He calmed himself before speaking again. "If you use them, take an antitoxin before the effect wears off. That'll help you avoid most of the negative effects. From what I've gathered, you'll still have a light headache for a few hours afterwards."
"Hm." Ren turned a vial around in his hand before storing them in his pocket. "I don't think I'll need them, but I'll keep them just in case."
"Yeah, thanks." Motoyasu said, though less dismissively than Ren.
Given his curse, Dante knew the potions wouldn't be as effective. Still, based on the support spells he's cast and fiddling with other potions, he knew the effect wouldn't be insignificant.
"One more thing." Dante added before they turned to leave. "Cast light magic. It'll show where the Soul Eater is hiding."
"What makes you think that?" Ren asked skeptically. "I thought you didn't know anything about this world."
"I've picked up a thing or two while I've been here." Dante answered.
"There's no way it's that easy!" Itsuki signaled to his party and they ran off. The knights that were with him also started running toward the villages, but not before giving Dante one final scornful look.
"He's right. That's just too easy." Ren had his party follow him as well.
Dante watched as the two youngest heroes ran to where the ship was flying in the sky. He rubbed his face, wishing his poison resistance didn't reduce the effects of alcohol so much.
"Dante." He looked up to see Motoyasu still there, though closer than he was before.
"Need something?" Dante asked.
Motoyasu seemed to wince. He came just a little closer and spoke more softly. "That village…the one I gave the bioplant seed to. I went there to visit the graves, but I couldn't find them. Where did you bury the bodies?"
"Oh." Dante just slowly raised his shield, placing it in Motoyasu's view. His eyes widened at the motion.
"You didn't…"
"They were dead, Motoyasu." Dante told him plainly. "While it would have been nice to bury them or burn their bodies, they could still be used for my shield."
"That's heartless!" Motoyasu shouted.
Dante resisted the urge to scoff. "I'm aware." He glanced back at Eclair for a moment. "At least this way their deaths meant something."
"Still, to do something like that…" Motoyasu shook his head. He signaled to his party to follow after him. Even believing this was all a game, he at least had the sense to realize those people were still gone forever.
"Wait, one last thing." Dante realized some insurance was needed. "If you run into trouble, I want you to be able to call for me."
"Call for you?" Motoyasu tilted his head. "How? Is there some sort of team-speak shield you found?"
Dante glanced back at Raphtalia.
"Please don't." She pleaded.
"Fine." Dante pulled one of the amulets from behind his shield and had it transform.
"Ara~." The orca familiar appeared in its place.
"Oh my~." Sadeena couldn't resist mimicking it.
"What is it?" Motoyasu watched as it floated near him.
"It's a familiar. I had them made for various reasons. If you tell it to, it'll send an alert to me." Dante explained.
While that wasn't one of its normal abilities, the Familiar Shield he unlocked allowed him some customization. At the cost of him being able to see through Sadeena's eyes with it, and her seeing what it could see, the familiar could ping his status from a distance. It wasn't as if Dante was going to let Sadeena out of his sight for any part of the wave. He could change it back afterwards.
With the heroes gone, the only ones left was Dante's party and the young knights. They were about to leave too, but Ake said something first. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Dante responded as they left. He was well aware of the situation they'd be in.
Dante and the others started loading onto Dio and JoJo to go protect the villages with the summoned knights.
"Is that alright, Mister Dante?" Rifana asked. "Didn't you say a hero from another world would come to fight the heroes here?"
"After everything that's happened, I don't even know if she'll be here." Dante said. "Maybe she'll come, and maybe her circumstances will be the same. Or, maybe it'll be something else entirely. Either way, the villagers come first. I'm not making the mistake of letting the wave drag on again."
If Glass was going to show up, there would be other opportunities to speak with her. So, if the wave ended before her arrival, that was fine. Helping Glass and Kizuna and that whole other world would be nice, but it wasn't necessary. If someone else showed up, those three would be less of a target. Dante seemed to be their main target.
As for Kyo showing up later to wreck shit, Dante would make sure everyone was strong enough to handle it. He'd hammer the power up methods into the heads of the other three heroes if he needed to. He already knew where the country of the Spirit Tortoise was. He was just waiting for Lilith to grow more to fly her out there and set up a portal location.
It was still all 'ifs' and 'mays'.
Right now, this world took priority. These villagers took priority. After that, he had an old man to deal with.
Author's Notes:
Quick note, I'm playing a little loose with armor requirements. I know armor requires a certain level to use, but I have it more as the level to use it properly. If you have good enough stats, you can still wear it, but it won't be as good. (I'm basically hand waving how the others were able to wear the kigurumis, despite them likely needing a moderately high level to be worn.)
I didn't think this chapter would be this long, especially since it didn't include any real fighting. I'll get the hang of chapter lengths eventually.