Seventy-three Shadow Assault Goblins and fifty-one Shadow Assault Lizardmen. That was my kill count after three hours, and if I remember correctly... I turned my gaze toward the Ghost Ship floating through the air, violently rocking as if on a stormy sea. It was a fair distance away, but was just close enough for me to make out the silhouette of Filo jumping up to the ship, three figures riding on her back.

"Duchess Anderson!" I turned to look at Rino, standing there in her shiny plate armor, the appearance of which gave off a somewhat angelic feeling glow. "It appears as if monsters have stopped emerging from the rifts." I looked around and sure enough, there weren't any monsters falling from the sky anymore.

"Does that mean that the Shield Hero and the others beat the Boss?" I glanced over at Rifana, who was currently healing a large gash that Keel had received from one of the Lizardmen's swords when it ambushed her from behind.

"But if they have defeated the Boss then shouldn't the rifts have closed by now?" I glanced over at Annabelle, her usually pale white skin had taken on a brownish tone because of Bark Skin, the first defense buffing spell she had learned, unfortunately at her current level she could only use it on herself. I was about to open my mouth to confirm Annabelle's theory, but a whimpering sound coming from my daughter caught my attention.

"Mama... Something... Something wrong is coming..." I looked in the direction that my daughter was pointing and saw that a thick fog had come out of nowhere, my suspicions about it's source were confirmed when I heard a familiar raspy chuckle. Everyone flinched and got into a fighting stance, to which I held up a closed fist to tell them to stand down Hanz emerged from the fog and I assume from the tone of his laugh that he was smiling, or at least he would be if it weren't for the fact that the rest of his face had rotted off since the last time I had seen him, leaving only a skull with glowing eyes.

"I suppose that a Monster, Royal or not, would consider my nature to be wrong, considering that they are more connected to nature and it cycles than humans are." Hanz glanced around, looking at my companions who, although not in fighting stances, were ready to defend both themselves and me if necessary. "It is good to see you again Duchess Anderson... And a pleasure to meet your companions." He gave a slight bow. "Greetings, I am Hanz Von Shargfel."

Rino stepped forward and pointed her sword at Hanz. "Why are you here? Why would a member of the Living Dead approach a Hero so casually?"

If Hanz still had his eyebrows I'm certain he would have raised one as he turned to look at me. "I see that you have yet to inform others of my... Position."

I refused to look embarrassed. "Well, it's not a simple topic to approach." I glanced at my party and mouthed the word 'later' before approaching the Lich. "It's nice to see you again as well Hanz, here to fight the Wave?"

Hanz chuckled and nodded. "Of course I am, I would be quite remiss in my duties if I wasn't... Though there is one other thing..." Her reached into his robes and pulled out a a letter. "An old man approached me while I was traveling through Schildfrieden. He did not give his name, but he knew mine, and he asked me to 'give this to the Dagger Hero should you ever encounter her. If what I believe is correct, then it shall be a boon for us all'." I took the letter and looked at it, my eyes widening as I saw what was written on the outside of the envelope, written in Japanese no less.

盾の勇者の成り上がり, The Rising of the Shield Hero.

I shoved the letter into my inventory. "I'll read it later, we have more pressing issues right now." I turned and looked at the Ghost Ship in the distance. "I don't suppose you have any way we could get to that ship, do you Hanz?"

I could hear the shit eating grin on the Skull Hero's skeletal face. "Oh, one or two, although I only have enough magical energy left to get one of you on board... I intend to stay here and protect the living that cannot protect themselves, and I cannot do that without magical energy."

I grinned and looked at the skeleton. "Is that so? Or could it be that Mister Spooky Scary Skeleton is afraid of heights?"

I could hear his non-existent brow twitch. "Do you want a way onto that ship or not?"

I gave him a shit-eating grin and nodded before turning around and looking at my Party, all of which were eyeing Hanz with suspicion. "I'll explain later, for now just know that Hanz is an ally." They all gave a slow nod as I turned back around, just in time to see a skeletal griffon finish digging itself out of the earth. "You lot, stay here and help Hanz make sure there aren't any more unnecessary casualties, I've got a Boss to face." I climbed onto one of the griffons and held my hand down, pulling my daughter on behind me when she finally approached. 'Or rather,' I thought, 'I have an otherworldly Hero to face.'

A Minute later on the Ghost Ship.

Naofumi's PoV.

This was bad, this was very, very bad. Every attack from their party members had been pushed back, Filo was injured and every skill that he and the other Heroes tried had little to no effect on the woman, Glass, that had appeared out of nowhere and killed the second Soul Eater without breaking a sweat. Now he was the only person who was still co 'Is there... Is there nothing we can do?'

The next few seconds were filled with a rush of activity that I could barely manage to process. First there was a noise that sounded like the shrieking of an eagle, followed by a war cry, the everything began shaking as the Ghost Ship began to fall from the sky, albeit slowly, causing everyone to shift slightly, and then one Duchess Ashleigh Amelia Anderson crashed down onto the deck of the ship, taking advantage of her sudden entrance and tackling Glass to the ground. Stunned by the sudden entrance, I couldn't help but watch the two women began to wrestle, one pinning the other, only to have the other reverse their positions.

I only snapped out of it when I heard the Duchess say something very concerning. "Damnit, listen to me you Sadako wannabe! Killing our Cardinal Heroes won't save either of our worlds! All it'll do is draw more attention from whoever, or whatever, causes the Waves!" A ticking sound came out of nowhere and the ship gave a massive shudder, starting to quickly fall from the sky. The shudder seemed to give Anderson the advantage she needed, as she was able to disarm Glass, and pin her arms behind her back, angling her dagger to the pale woman's throat. "Now get out of here before your way home closes or I will shove my dagger through your throat, and if you ever come back to this world, it better be to help, or to ask for help!" Glass stopped struggling and gave a sigh, muttering something that I couldn't hear. "Good, now get out of here. And remember Heroes killing Heroes just makes it more entertaining for whoever's creating the Waves."

She let go of Glass and before I could react, Glass was on her feet and the Fan she had been using flew back into her outstretched hand. She turned around and glared at Anderson, before softening and disappearing in a flash of golden light. Anderson sighed and turned around, briefly freezing as she saw me, although she recovered very quickly. "I'll explain later, for now, let's get everyone off this ship before we end up being the victims of an aerial version of the Titanic." I couldn't exactly argue as the boat began to fall even faster.