Sorry this one took a while. This post was long and holiday season issues. Last post for the year, obviously. Enjoy the New Year
00:03:11:34
In just a little over three hours, the Wave would begin.
It was around this time, the Four Holy Heroes and their companions made their way to the Three Heroes Cathedral, where the Dragon Hourglass lay. It would be some time and the group was so large that it made noticeable waves in street traffic.
The Communicator Weapon Series allowed them to coordinate the meeting, as easy as a phone call. The downside was that the weapon forms drained a considerable amount of SP to maintain the connection and this apparently got progressively more expensive the further they were away, but within the same city, the function's cost was negligible.
Naofumi Iwatani stood at the back of the group, still trying to make sense of what exactly happened in the past few days. He had received a kiss, and he knew Raphtalia had that kind of affection for him. The question remained, was he capable of rising to meet her desires? Was that life for him? If the Wave wasn't so close, maybe he'd have been able to find an answer.
Rifana meanwhile was muttering to herself, her current assignment required a good deal of practice.
Meanwhile, Keel hobbled along. The dog girl had been depressed since the duel, though Naofumi couldn't quite put a finger on why. Hopefully it won't be a problem in the coming battle.
He would have preferred not bringing his party along, this was like walking right into the lion's den.
"Hey, Naofumi!" Motoyasu barked. "Come up here!"
Naofumi flashed a glance to his companions and then walked ahead, meeting the Three Heroes. Apparently, they were discussing the upcoming Wave, but Naofumi didn't want to involve himself if he didn't have to.
"So, one thing we've come into agreement on is that the boss is likely a chimera," Motoyasu explained. "It's probably got four heads, too."
Naofumi pursed his lip. If his recollections were accurate, that would be true. "So, this was something in your games?"
"Yup!" Itsuki said with a grin, he had apparently recovered from his pride being wounded the days prior. "Four heads: dragon, lion, goat, and snake."
Motoyasu raised his hand. "In Emerald Online, the number of heads depended on the number of players fighting it. The heads might be randomized from up to 12 different selections, but that came from a later patch when they reworked the chimera boss fight because it was too boring originally."
"Same here," Ren replied. "Though our lists are different, the dragon, lion, goat, and snake were consistent offerings."
"So, what happens if there's more than four players? And does that affect its level?"
"Player cap in its instance is 8. Extra heads usually become feet," Motosaid said.
"In mine, they just get added to the rear end," Ren answered. "As to the level, that remains unchanged. In all instances, the chimera has a single hit point bar and each head attacks separately. It gets considerably more dangerous with each head as it adds hitpoints and a secondary attack separate from the main body."
In short, the chimera's body was able to fight one way and all of its heads were effectively like mounted turrets with independent targeting and unique abilities..
Naofumi wondered if the others had such strategy conferences between each Wave and he had simply never been invited due to his status as a social pariah. "The book I read supports Itsuki's interpretation, though it might be different."
Itsuki made an uncomfortable face as Naofumi approached. "Well, I just want to ask if the head I get is subject to our… arrangement. It's a big upgrade. I'll give up my claim to the rest of the chimera to you if I get the head."
"Right." As far as Naofumi was aware, each head unlocked a single specific weapon. He wondered if the heads could be split up to unlock it for more people, but that might not have been worth testing. Besides, if he took a half head from Itsuki, it might not unlock anything useful for him. "Fine. The head is exempt, but I get whatever you'd have looted from the chimera and half the reward money you'd get."
Itsuki let out a relieved sigh. "Okay, I can live with that."
"So, what do each of the heads give me? I assume you already know what you'd want." Naofumi replied back. Though he did admittedly want more power for himself, he was wondering if there were better options than what he had. Perhaps the others knew.
Itsuki read off an internal list, his tone firm. "Dragon gives a fiery counter attack, lion I think gives a roar counter attack, goat massively beefs up knockback, and snake gives a poison bite counter attack… The snake one is regarded as the weakest one."
Ren and Motoyasu gave Itsuki a frown, as if they expected a certain someone to take that.
It was sort of somewhat reassuring for Naofumi to realize that the other Heroes had apparently decided to leave him the snake head out of it being that awful; he probably never would have gotten far in his original journey if they had looted that as well. "Is it really that bad? The Shield Hero in the book used that shield quite heavily."
"It's considered sup-bar in most tierlists, to the point that it's usually in F-tier, especially once poison resistance becomes a major factor," Ren explained. "And more raw damage is usually better."
Naofumi almost felt like trying one of the other options, but at the same time, he wanted the familiarity. Besides, that shield had compounding bonuses. "Well, if no one wants it, I'll take that."
There was a wave of concern.
"Are you some sort of sadomasochist?" Ren just balked.
"It's not really that big of a deal." Naofumi said plainly. He did suppose that to outside observers, his actions would seem utterly ridiculous to someone who thought this was a video game. "Besides, this world isn't exactly like your games. It's not even exactly like my book either. What do you think about fighting an opponent that gets to have a free poison counter attack every time you strike him?"
Ren grunted.
Motoyasu laughed. "Still, Naofumi, he has a point. It's not exactly the best option."
"Or maybe I want to prove a point and I'm rubbing it in your faces by taking the worst option," Naofumi said back.
Itsuki laughed nervously. "Now I'm starting to wonder, but I'd prefer not take Chimera Viper Bow. I'm not doing that run again!"
"Well, if we're divvying up heads already, I want the dragon head," Ren explained.
"I am aiming for the lion's head," Motoyasu exclaimed. "It has some nice passive abilities."
"Hm, goat head is good, too," Itsuki suggested, before turning to Naofumi. "I guess it really just came down to whether or not you wanted to have the snake head or not."
00:02:55:34
Around this time, they had arrived at the Cathedral. Bishops, priests, and nuns ushered them inside with warm plastic smiles, the kind familiar to service and retail workers the world over.
The inside was spacious, vacant of much besides the oversized Dragon Hourglass at its center.
In a previous life, this was the first time Naofumi had seen the other Heroes since his accusation, where their running into him felt like fate trying to screw him over. Motoyasu in particular tried to flirt with Raphtalia and… he crushed the thought. Neither he nor Motoyasu were the people that met that day. Today, they were relative equals making last minute preparations for the upcoming Wave.
"Welcome Heroes," said a nun in a practiced tone. "If you'd like a class up as well as purchase anything, rest assured all fees up to a point are to be taken care of by the Crown."
"Sweet!" Motoyasu uttered.
Itsuki turned towards the Sword Hero. "Ren, why don't you take the first class up, I'm still thinking on what to do."
"Sure. Mald, step up!" Ren commanded.
Armor walked up to the little podium where the class up ceremony took place.
Ren then looked down, his eyes switching towards invisible options in the air before him.
Naofumi tried to ignore it, but the nuns in particular gave him and his party harsh glances, as if waiting for the time to strike. Hopefully he was right in assuming that having the other Heroes around would serve as a form of protection. That would only remain true as long as they did nothing to displease them.
For Raphtalia and the others, it seemed like they were looking at the scenery and comparing it with their old chapel back in Lurolona.
"So, what'd you pick for your girls?" Motoyasu blurted out.
Naofumi could almost practically feel Raphtalia shuddering behind him. "You mean for class up?" he shook his head. "I trust them enough to let them pick for themselves, but none of them are able to do it just yet." Though last time that happened, Fitoria's blessing upon Filo, while it doubled all of their class up bestowed stats, it took away that choice from them.
"Hm, I should consider doing that then…" Motoyasu mumbled.
"You're going to let them take their default auto-build paths?" Itsuki asked, referring to them as merely follower NPC's. "Why? It's better to just custom build them for battle roles."
Naofumi frowned. Back then originally, he had thought that he'd let Filo and Raphtalia pick their own fates by their own hands. He had thought that he would leave the world at the first chance he got; they at least deserved to decide what they wanted without him. Now… "They know themselves better than I do."
Itsuki seemed to give that a thought.
Also, on the note of Fitoria, Naofumi then asked. "There are apparently items that can give you crazy class up bonuses. I know many rich people like to buy expensive aids that increase the stat points even slightly."
"Those exist?" Itsuki asked.
"I never knew that," came from Motoyasu.
"...There's items for it?" Ren eventually came back. "Motoyasu, your turn."
"You learn a few things by asking mercenaries," Naofumi shrugged. Sadly, he didn't have Filo or any filolial queens at the moment with Fitoria's blessing; he'd have charged a fortune for that service. What was surprising is that none of the Heroes there even knew about this.
Motoyasu flashed a smile and then led his two senior most women, Bitch and Girl #1, towards the podium. He seemed very uncertain as his eyes searched around his HUD.
Ren spoke. "So, I intend to rush down the boss, what about the rest of you?"
Itsuki answered, "I spoke with Motoyasu, he and I would very much like to kill the boss ASAP for time completion."
Naofumi shook his head. "I'm thinking of going on the defense. Depending on where the Wave occurs, if there's a settlement, I'll prioritize helping people out, but I might just send my mercenaries to handle that part." In a previous life, if he had an offensive option, he'd have not chosen to defend Lute; now, the place was something of a second or third home. He spent quite a lot of time working there, more so than anywhere else.
Ren did not appear satisfied by that answer. "I suppose such matters might be important. You want someone to come with?"
Naofumi wondered if that would have been the smart move; ideally the boss dying as fast as possible would have been the goal, whilst Naofumi and his forces secured Lute. Then again, unlike last time, the Heroes were much stronger already. "I… can probably handle it myself, especially since I have hired hands."
"Very well."
"I don't particularly like mercenaries. They have a bad name in my world." Itsuki flashed a look of concern. "Are they safe?"
"I'm a mercenary most of the time," Ren said offhandedly. "Technically, we all are, whenever we take a job, so..."
Itsuki looked like he wanted to complain. "Still…"
"Relax, the mercenaries know to be on their best behavior while in this country." Of course, not directly stating that they were demihumans in a human supremacist nation.
"We should all buy Holy Water, just in case of curses," Naofumi suggested. This was entirely the main reason he was here. Just in the off chance he had to use a certain shield.
"Good idea, thankfully it is being paid by the King, this seems like it'd be important enough." Itsuki turned towards a nun nearby. "We'd like several bottles of Holy Water, the best you have."
The nun turned to a younger nun, who then walked off.
"Normally, it's one gold per bottle and it'll get rid of all but the most serious curses over repeated applications." Naofumi answered.
"Hm, I wonder how you know that," Motoyasu laughed as he wandered back into the conversation. "Like are there signs or anything?"
Naofumi rolled his eyes. Even as far along as he had come, Motoyasu still couldn't read completely. "In point of fact, there are."
Itsuki took this as his cue to class up. Instead of fumbling over a decision, he instead tapped the air in front of him. "Alright, Rojeel, Welst, pick what you feel is best for you." He turned to Naofumi.
The nun returned, holding a tray of bottles of flasks containing holy water right in front of her. As far as appraisal went, they all were of Excellent quality. Naofumi supposed that this was because Itsuki had done the asking.
Ren gave a sigh of relief as he took a bottle of holy water, his eyes looking down at his coin purse along his waist.
Motoyasu did not hesitate to take two. He then handed one to Naofumi.
The Shield Hero blinked several times, still uncertain of how to take this. The old Motoyasu constantly took from him. Was this really the same guy? Or was he just like Raphtalia, someone who he thought he knew, but was really different and he never bothered to check.
"Hey, don't look too shocked, Naofumi. You know me by now." Motoyasu chided. "Besides, it's practically free."
Naofumi sighed. "Motoyasu, I can get my own. I appreciate the concern."
The Spear Hero laughed. "Alright, if it makes you feel better."
Naofumi turned to the elder nun. "I'd like 5 bottles of Holy Water, if you don't mind."
The nun's face contorted into something awful before returning to a more subtle configuration. "I… uh unfortunately, purchasing that much Holy Water at the behest of the Crown would be expensive and would fall outside the Crown's promises."
Naofumi expected that half-hearted excuse. Unlike last time, they couldn't just have given him poor quality Holy Water. "That's alright, I can pay for it myself."
Ren looked like he was going to murder him, most of that money was his afterall.
"That'll be… 25 gold coins?" the nun made a nervous expression.
"25 coins?" Motoyasu thought aloud. "I know I had issues in math, but 5 bottles at 1 gold coin each is way lower than that."
Naofumi gave the correct answer. "5 gold coins for 5 bottles."
"...If Naofumi thinks he needs that much holy water, I might consider getting that much as well…Or at least as much as I can with the gold I have left." Itsuki wondered. "We're going to be heading into battle against the Waves and well, what if we meet curses among the creatures there?"
The nuns all looked like they were caught in bear traps. "I uh...wouldn't recommend that!" one said.
"So, purchasing extra will cost me 5 gold per bottle from this point?" Itsuki asked, his eyes narrowing.
"You'll have to forgive them," a man's voice trumpeted out.
All eyes turned. It was the Pope, likely to save the asses of his underlings and to prevent the Heroes from actively hating the Church. His name was Pope Biscas T. Balmus and he was the source of many but not all of Naofumi's frustrations in Melromarc.
"I apologize but not all nuns receive proper education in mathematics." Balmus's lie was bald-faced to anyone who understood the world, but Naofumi didn't want to call him out just yet. "The Crown has provided more than sufficient funding to purchase bottles of holy water. Though, don't take too much."
The nuns to their credit, bowed in apology, accepting the humiliation rather than be caught in a lie.
Naofumi took 5 bottles and gave 3 to each of his companions. The priests at the cathedral all seemed to weep, as if angered by the act of being kind to animals. He then took the last bottle and put it into his shield.
Holy Water Shield 0/20 Unlocked
[Locked] Equip Bonus: Curse Resistance Up (Small), Curse Recovery Up(Small), Anti-Curse Up
Anti-Curse Up: Grants a minor curse removing effect to healing spells.
Given the source had anti-curse applications, this was completely expected, though Naofumi had instead hoped that he would have had a means to make holy water instead. The other Heroes all went to look at him before turning to their own weapons.
The Shield Hero did admit to taking some pleasure in this, but he didn't want to incite a fight. That said, he did probe the waters with some faux gratitude to match the priests and their faux pleasantries. "I thank you for your service."
The Pope doesn't betray a hint of annoyance, instead he remained cordial as he spoke. "I am so glad that the Holy Heroes are gathered today in my sanctuary. The world and its people are to be protected at all costs, no matter the sacrifices. Having the Holy Heroes work with the Church is within everyone's interests."
Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu tried their best to make smiles and small talk.
The other Heroes wouldn't notice it, but Naofumi knew the Pope's true nature. After all, he didn't say who the Heroes were, nor did he imply what constituted as 'people' in his eyes.
He almost wanted to cut loose, to do away with the pleasantries, and to kill the man who directly ruined the lives of so many, especially Raphtalia's. But defeating Itsuki by knockout was one thing, but he wasn't going to stand up against the Heroes, their parties, and the Three Heroes Church together.
"Don't be shy, Sir Iwatani," the Pope called. "Heroes are guests in this place."
Naofumi sighed. There was no way for him to point out the true nature of the Pope's double- speak without thoroughly explaining everything he had learned. And antagonizing the priests here was going to cost him credibility later. "I'll enjoy your services along with the others."
The Pope cocked his head, but said nothing as he walked away.
At the end, the class up rituals were completed and the Heroes all bought holy water for the upcoming Wave. Time slowly ticked down.
00:02:13:51
The parties split at that point. Ren, Itsuki, and most of Motoyasu's group wanted to do something entertaining, whilst Motoyasu himself along with this woman named Rino followed Naofumi's party as they made their way to the weapon shop held by one Erhard.
Motoyasu spoke as he saw the scene. "...Is that a panda?"
Right outside of the weapon shop were a number of demihuman mercenaries gearing up for the upcoming battle. Each of them huddled around a wagon. Most of them had already donned their equipment and were handing out supplies and equipment to each other. Said panda, by the way, acted as the quartermaster and still hadn't taken off that bow.
"Motoyasu, Rino, this is Larszusa and her mercenary band." Naofumi pointed to the panda. Then he pointed towards Motayasu. "Larsa, this is Motoyasu. You would know him as the Spear Hero. And behind him is Rino, a companion of his party."
"Greetings," Larsa smiled as she approached, her voice mismatching her appearance.
Motoyasu's mouth went ahead of his brain as he spoke. "Hello, Larsa, you look cute with that ribbon." But it was unusual in that he didn't use an outright flirting tone. "You have very nice friends, too," he added.
Larsa scowled and let out a sigh.
"It does look good on you, but I'm biased." Naofumi said offhandedly. The ribbon question was one of his pieces. And it did very much compliment the woman, in his opinion. But as much as he wanted to see if the panda would like anything else, they had a job. "What's our status?"
The panda woman shook her head, before turning to the Shield Hero. "The boys are almost done. We'll be ready when you need us."
"I don't know where we're going to end up when we're transported, but we have two hours." Naofumi said. Most of this had already been established beforehand over previous days, now just came some reminders. "We have to both distract monsters and find a location where we can send people that's dug in and easily secured. Monsters fall from the sky, so something like an old mine would be ideal."
"I understand. Take and hold ground until your Heroes beat the Wave with some of the boys scouting." Larsa nodded.
Naofumi turned to Rifana. "Are you ready to give the presentation?"
The weasel girl nodded. She took a small box from the wagon and opened its contents. "Attention!" Eyes turned to her and she shivered, not used to so many eyes. She pressed on. "I'm going to go over the various compounds we have in each box so that… everyone knows to make use of the material provided." She held up a bottle with red fluid inside. "This over here is to stop bleeding as well as prevent infections. Do not drink this under any circumstances. Now if you take the blue one, you drink that when…"
Raphtalia and Keel additionally went along and helped their friend answer various questions or do smaller demonstrations of their own.
"You have thought of everything, haven't you?" Motoyasu looked quite impressed. "How expensive is all this anyways? You're hiring mercenaries and outfitting them with medicine, that can't be cheap."
"Technically, they're volunteers, but I'm paying them in equipment that I make myself. My costs are actually fairly minimal besides crafting time. You could probably ask for a legion of knights from King Aultcray and do something like this, too. Or you could hire mercenaries if you had the silver," Naofumi suggested. "All you have to do is assign them as a secondary group and they'll teleport with you on the Wave."
Motoyasu gave that a thought before shaking his head. "No, I think I'd need way more time to get anything like this ready."
The remainder of the group then ventured into the shop itself. Erhard was currently negotiating a contract with one of the mercenaries, though he shifted his gaze towards Motoyasu with an unfriendly scowl, all over a certain "intellectual property theft" the other Heroes pulled off at the start of their adventure.
Motoyasu in response gave a nervous look. "Uh, hello, weapon shop owner. I'm just here to check on Beryl before going. Wave's due any minute now."
Erhard stared Motoyasu in the eyes, clearly not liking the man. "But first, we have business."
"Of course, er 138 silver I think covers half of it," Motoyasu hefted a small bag and set it onto the counter. "I'm out of money, but I think the King will give us some after today."
The weapon shop owner nodded his head, taking the sack of coins. "Alright, good enough." Erhard let out a sigh before walking to one of the back rooms. "Now don't steal anything else, you hear?"
Motoyasu flashed an annoyed look at Naofumi. "You know, I wasn't expecting to have to pay the shop owner for copying those spears way back when."
Naofumi shook his head. It wasn't Naofumi's intention to make Motoyasu pay for the stealing copies of the various weapons in the shop; his original intention with Motoyasu meeting Erhard was simply down to the fact the blacksmith was someone he trusted. Though, this exchange did highlight a major difference between the Motoyasu he fought and the one that stood with him. "You took advantage of his trust, Motoyasu. You shouldn't have done that to begin with."
Motoyasu sighed. "You're right, I shouldn't have."
The blond haired woman, Rino, flashed the Spear Hero a grin. "That was brave of you to admit fault."
"I'm just running out of money. And I need that payday that'll come after this. We're lucky the King is willing to sponsor us while we're here."
"Well, with any luck Elena's project will bear fruit." Rino said back.
Naofumi wished he knew much about Motoyasu's timeline from before, but arguably, the Spear Hero was the one he knew the least about. He didn't even know who this woman was; though she seemed nicer than the others, the Shield Hero hoped if she was after money, she could at least be professional and not stab him in the back. About the only one he did know of was Elena Haven and all he knew about her was that she was noble. Naofumi was going to ask about the project after the Wave, barring unforeseen setbacks.
A minute later, Erhard returned to the group with a fox girl in tow.
"Master Motoyasu!" she cried as she stumbled forth. "Miss Rino!" She ran towards them.
"Beryl!" Motoyasu reached down and patted the girl on the head. He laughed. "Oh, I see you're out of the dress I gave you."
Beryl frowned. "Well, you see, I didn't want to get it damaged." Right now the girl was dressed in the pants and shirt Keel wore when she was Beryl's size; it was about the only set of clothing they had kept from that time, simply because Keel didn't grow the same way as the other girls.
"Hm, I suppose that makes sense." Motoyasu said back.
She nodded, trying to make herself sound more firm than usual. From Raphtalia, Naofumi knew that the girl did not have a high opinion of being a maid.
Rino stepped in. "So, what did the shopkeeper have you doing?"
"Sir Erhard has me doing some work around his store. Usually cleaning, cooking, but mostly, I've been reading books, especially magic books. Once or twice, I have helped him prepare monster parts."
"I don't run a daycare," Erhard replied firmly. "But I'm willing to tolerate someone willing to improve themselves and broaden their horizons."
"Broaden their horizons?" Motoyasu repeated.
"Yes," Beryl stammered. "Sir Erhard has been… encouraging me to think more about what I'd like to do."
Motoyasu squinted at that.
Beryl gulped, she was clearly afraid of saying this. "The truth is master, I used this time to learn what I'd need for something I want to ask you…" She twiddled her fingers as if trying to figure something out with what they represented. "... I just… don't know if you'd like the idea."
"Beryl, I'm to support you, just like I am willing to support all my girls," Motoyasu admitted. "If it's something you want to do, I'll hear you out."
Beryl bowed. "Th-thank you, Master."
Naofumi cocked an eyebrow in interest. He had been too busy to pay attention to Beryl's recent activities. If anyone in his party knew about this request, he hadn't heard it until now.
"... I want t-'' Beryl stuttered, but dug in her shoes and built up the courage to answer. "I want to raise a filolial!"
Naofumi's eyes widened.
Rino laughed, her smile seemingly warm. "Where did this come from?"
"...My family, we raised chickens in a coop and goats in the fields. We mostly got by selling meat or eggs out of town. We never starved because we always made our own food, but silver was hard to come by." Beryl said. "But ever since I was little, I've always wanted to raise a filolial." She looked at the Spear Hero intently. "You can ride it into battle, Master, or use it to pull wagons!"
"It'd be nice owning our transport rather than renting one all the time," Motoyasu seemed to give the idea an incredible amount of thought. He then gave her a grin. "I would look good doing it, wouldn't I? I could ride it valiantly like a steed, maybe use my spear for jousting! Charges are really cool, right?"
Beryl gave a serious nod. "...I've been looking for what I'd need. But it seems filolials are rather straightforward because they'd eat anything. The real cost is in buying the egg."
Motoyasu flashed a grin towards the Shield Hero. "Hey, Naofumi, you know anything about filolials?"
Naofumi regained his senses, a sense that this was his fault came into his mind. "As it so happens, I also want to raise a filolial and I have been doing my own research too.."
Motoyasu flashed Beryl a grin. "So, what, are they good at fighting? We can level them up right? How long does it take.."
"Just, bear in mind, when Heroes raise monsters, there's a good chance that they'll be different than normal." Such as, in the case of filolials, the ability to take human form and an incredible appetite. "But in any case, a
"I can handle it!" Beryl said firmly.
Can you handle bankruptcy when one of those gluttonous demons eats you out of house and home? "I'll give you a full explanation when we go buy them. I'll introduce you to my dealer, but that'll come after the wave, okay?" Afterall, neither Motoyasu nor Beryl knew about the specifics of filolials and explaining it all would have taken all of their time. "It's going to be very expensive, too. While the egg itself will cost 100 silver, it's all of the equipment and other things, like the incubators or high tier monster seals that will cost you a pretty penny. Expect to spend 5 gold on everything you'd want."
Erhard chose this time to flash them all a devilish grin. "Yeah, a pretty penny indeed. Some of that gear will have to come from me."
Motoyasu whimpered. "I… I don't even know if I'll have that much money, come payday..."
Rino grabbed hold of his hand. "It's okay, we can always work towards it over time."
Beryl seemed happy to hear that and the three of them talked about the prospects and benefits of having a beast of burden. None of them knew what a Hero raised filolial would actually be like.
It was here that the Siltvelt emissary decided to make an appearance. He approached from behind the Shield Hero and called out his name in a gentle tone. "Sir Naofumi, I wish you luck in your upcoming battle."
"Thank you," Naofumi nodded. "Are you waiting for word of our victory before returning home? I see you mostly just stick to yourself unless I go talk to you."
"That is correct. After the battle, the mercenaries will be cut loose from me. You'll have to negotiate any contracts with them directly if you want them to service you."
"That's fine. I appreciate all the help and support you have given thus far." Naofumi responded. The materials in fact might have been the thing that cemented the Heroes working together, since without that, he'd have looked like a common low level adventurer; no one would have taken him seriously. He then turned to the emissary, trying to recall his name. "It's Moru, right?"
The demihuman gave a polite bow. "That's correct, Sir Naofumi. I respect the effort you put into learning my name."
"I imagine you'll be visiting me every now and again?" Naofumi questioned. After all, in the original timeline, he never saw Moru after their initial meeting.
"It is likely, though I imagine my superiors will expect more from you then."
Naofumi nodded his head. After all, the 'donations' were as much a political tool as anything. If there's another delivery, it's likely that Siltvelt might choose to send not much material, but also people. People who might serve him, but just as many who would want to take advantage of him or his status. "That's fine. See you after the Wave?"
Moru brought his hand forward. "Yes,"
Naofumi shook his hand.
"Less than 10 minutes remain!" Master Naofumi barked as he walked between the group.
Less than 10 minutes before the sky would split open and they'd fight the Wave. Raphtalia looked at her two friends and saw how far they had come.
Rifana filled a small satchel with various compounds and strapped it onto her back. She then sharpened the edge of her sickle. She gave a confident smile once she realized she was being observed.
Keel frowned as she fastened up her monster leather cuirass. She twirled her curved blade as she practiced her swings one final time, though there was something… heavy in her motions as she did. Raphtalia wondered what could have her friend bothered so much.
Raphtalia herself made sure the fastenings on boots and gloves were firmly in place. Her sword in her hand, she readied herself for the worst. Though this would be a familiar battle, there would be many lives at stake.
They were no longer the children who could only watch powerlessly as their parents died and their home town was destroyed. Raphtalia wondered if any of their other friends would recognize them if they met again; Keel didn't recognize her until she brought up childhood stories the first time around.
Motoyasu and that nice woman had left some time ago to prepare their own parties.
Master Naofumi went through each group and made sure everyone who was going to fight was registered to the Shield's party menu, so they would all be sent to the Wave. Though he was stressed, Raphtalia couldn't wonder if the man he had fallen for looked somewhat happier as he barked orders and shouted commands.
"So, this Wave, will it be like the Wave back home?" Rifana was asking.
Raphtalia nodded, she wasn't referring to the monsters themselves. "It'll have many people caught in the middle, people who were never expecting to fight for their lives. We'll save them."
Rifana looked down at her combat gloves, a mirror of Raphtalia's own. "I don't want other children losing their mom and dad…or parents losing their children for that matter."
Raphtalia smiled. Rifana knew how she felt.
"So, do you think it'll be easier this time?" Keel asked, her tone unusually serious. Maybe it was the grim certainty of the fight ahead. "You said you are both stronger than the other time and well, you have us, too, right?"
"Don't expect things to be easy just because we know more." Raphtalia reminded her. "That's exactly the problem that the other Heroes have, thinking they already studied for the future and know how things will go."
"But if the Heroes are stronger…" Keel began. "The boss might be dead much sooner, right?"
"That's true, but you never know if things will be different. We didn't expect… anything with Sir Motoyasu, and him getting Beryl," Raphtalia responded back.
"What's the worst that could happen?" Keel began.
Rifana shouted. "Keel, that's bad luck. That's very bad luck!"
Keel put her hands over her mouth.
"Four minutes!" Master Naofumi shouted as he approached them. "We have… three minutes now."
"Master Naofumi," Raphtalia smiled back.
"Raphtalia," Master Naofumi's stern gaze moved over. "Keel, Rifana."
"Sir!" An attentive squeak comes from Rifana.
Keel didn't speak, but instead her head was up high.
"Listen up. In the event that this wave is exactly the same Wave Raphtalia and I remember, we'll have zombie soldiers from human to giant size, giant flying insects, and one chimera as the Boss. The other Heroes will take care of the chimera. Rifana, I'll ask you to tag with Raphtalia and focus on evacuations along with Larsa's group. Keel will follow me while we're off dragging monsters. I need you to cast your speed spells on anyone who needs it. Understood?"
A wave of nods went around.
Keel looked uncertain, but still accepted her task.
"Rifana, do we have any extra magic power water?" Master Naofumi asked.
Rifana handed three flasks to Keel, who then pocketed them.
Master Naofumi nodded his head. "Okay, then we have our tasks. We have less than a minute before we're transported."
Raphtalia took in several deep breaths as she got herself into the fighting mindset. Her objectives were clear, and most importantly, she had done this before.
Naofumi spoke. "Only seconds left. Ten… eight…"
Rifana drew her sickle out and focused intently on it.
Keel gritted teeth.
Raphtalia drew her sword.
Three friends went to fight the Waves with the Shield Hero leading them.
The mercenaries hovered nearby, each knowing the conflict would soon be upon them.
"Three… two…"
But Master Naofumi never counted to one. The teleportation was instantaneous, transporting the four of them and the eight mercenaries to a clearing on the road.
The familiar scene from a familiar place played out. The sky had split open and monsters came out. The Wave fell over Lute, just as it had before. The Heroes and their parties were summoned to a clearing, but so did eight more demihuman mercenaries.
"Wow, that really worked didn't it?" Sir Motoyasu laughed at the sight.
Both Sir Itsuki and Sir Ren gave confused looks as they saw the mercenaries.
"We're near Lute. We'll focus on defending the settlement while you focus on defeating the boss." Naofumi barked, getting the other three Heroes to cooperate. "If anything happens I'll contact you via Communicator Weapon."
Ren was the first to turn his back. "Well, in that case, Naofumi, do what you want. We'll end this quickly!"
"You?" Itsuki laughed before following off. "Motoyasu and I can compete, but you Ren, you think you'll win? We've been powered up!"
Motoyasu turned his back last, flashing Raphtalia and her group a smile as he left. "Good luck to you!"
Raphtalia frowned. They really just made light of the entire crisis the Wave represented, didn't they? She understood them better, but it hardly made it any less infuriating. "It's better they're this way and helpful instead of against us, but do they have to be that way?" she asked her master.
Master Naofumi sighed. "It'll take them going through a personal hell before they wake up. Either way, we have a job to do."
Raphtalia winced. The idea that Master Naofumi, as kind as he was, was not that different from the other Heroes at his core, bothered her to no end. But then again, time changes people.
Master Naofumi barked an order, "Come on, Lute needs saving! Knight Guy, scout ahead! Keel and anyone else with the spell, speed us up!"
"My name's not- whatever!" shouted a dog demihuman on a knight dragon.
Keel and one other demihuman began a chant before casting a spell over the whole group. "All First Speed!"
Raphtalia felt suddenly lighter on her feet.
'Knight Guy' advanced before the rest of the group.
Meanwhile, the others followed in their wake, Raphtalia scanning the horizon for threats. Larsa and her band fanned out as they moved.
The village of Lute was already under attack. Oversized insects swarmed the skies whilst the living dead walked the streets. Already there were the sounds of steel clashing, adventurers and villagers alike went on a desperate defense. The damage was already starting to rise, buildings breaking apart as the monsters made landfall.
Raphtalia hardened her heart and resolved to do what should have been done in her home village.
Knight Guy charged on ahead, trampling and cutting down several skeletons as they harassed the guards at the gate.
One guard shivered at the sight of the mercenaries. "Oh. Uh, yeah, thanks!" he shouted as he picked up his dropped sword. "Go ahead, there's more people in the square!"
They did not spend much time talking to the man and instead ran into the village, just in time for the speed boost to end. That had to have bought them some precious time.
Master Naofumi gestured for the group to form a sweeping advance. Keel followed Master as they pressed forward, uttering a spell to boost their mobility once more. Then, Master Naofumi shouted the names of several skills, using his increased speed to draw the monsters away.
"Hate Reaction! Shield Prison! Air Strike Shield!" Raphtalia could hear him shout before his voice faded away.
The mercenaries split off into pairs and flew down different roads, each cutting down the zombies as they went.
But as for Raphtalia and her best friend, they broke away from the others and went to search the edge of the village.
Rifana conjured a ball of fire and incinerated a dozen flying enemies. Meanwhile, Raphtalia cleaved the way forward through a horde of zombies.
The sounds of battle and conflict poured out from all around. Spells and Skills clashed against brute strength and raw numbers. Monsters and living dead died in droves, but that was not their main goal.
"HELP! HELP!" a voice shouted in the distance, a child's high pitched voice maybe.
"I hear someone!" Raphtalia shouted as she sliced through an insect as it got close.
She and Rifana dashed towards the sound of the voice, coming from a house that had its windows broken.
The girls barged through a destroyed door frame and slashed at a zombie that had been attacking a child, a small girl who can't have been older than eight.
Raphtalia did not know the child, but the child wept tears. "Dad…Dad…" she cried as she pointed down.
Raphtalia looked and found someone's still body lying behind some rubble from a collapsed ceiling. She knelt down and saw the man's breathing rise and fall. He was alive, though unconscious. "We'll get him out!" Raphtalia promised.
Rifana nodded her head. She knelt down and lifted some of the rubble that imprisoned the man.
Raphtalia bent and pulled the man out from the debris. She pulled him onto his feet.
The man blinked a few times, his words incoherent.
Rifana gave him a healing potion. He did not say much that was understandable. He tried to stand but stumbled instead. He was clearly disoriented from his injuries.
Setting her sword away, Raphtalia frowned as she maneuvered the man over to her shoulders. "We're going to have to carry him!"
The girl cried something at her father, whilst following him. I sounded like pleading for him to survive.
Rifana cut down two zombies that had landed in the house. "Well, let's get out of here!"
Raphtalia ran, the man over her shoulders as she dashed across ruined streets. With her high level and increased strength, carrying a grown man and running was merely difficult, not impossible.
Nearby, she saw Larsazusa leading a small pack of survivors whilst battling her way through. She even uttered a spell causing bamboo spikes to rapidly grow from the dirt to stab monsters caught nearby.
The panda woman turned to see them. She pointed to a pair of the villagers. "Someone, carry that man!"
Two villagers approached and carried off the man from Raphtalia's shoulders.
The girl gave a smile to Raphtalia before she joined her father, the family fleeing together.
Rifana and Raphtalia gave each other looks. While they said nothing, it was clear to both of them they were glad that the girl wouldn't grow up fatherless, not like the two of them.
Then, they turned their backs to that sight and returned to the job of saving whoever they could find.
A group of adventurers were desperately trying to fend for themselves while in a group whilst facing down a horde of giant locusts. They were in the process of being overwhelmed by the time Raphtalia jumped into the air and cut down several of the bugs. Rifana tossed them several flasks of antidote before pointing them in the direction they should run.
A family had been barricaded in their own cellar, the door being battered by the living dead. The family's screams were haunting, but a single gout of fire rendered their harassers into a fine ash.
Another incident involved a huge host of the undead closing in on some kids, far too large for both girls to fight face on. For Raphtalia, she conjured copies of herself and had her fakes break off into separate directions, while Rifana swooped in and stole the kids away.
Yet, no matter how many they saved, no matter how many they killed, the Wave kept getting worse and worse.
More than once, the girls came across people who were simply too far away for them to save, such as a man who had climbed a tree to escape the zombies, only for one of the flying bugs reaching him anyways. Another tried to run over them with a filolial only to instead die when the bird was overwhelmed. And other stories that did not bear recounting.
"There's… there's too many of them!" Rifana shouted.
Raphtalia nodded her head. The Wave was only getting worse; many of the walls and buildings were already falling to pieces. She didn't have a way to keep track of the time, but she hoped the Heroes would kill the boss soon. "We have done all we can here!"
Rifana nodded her head. "I guess less casualties are better than more."
Even with all the preparations Master Naofumi made, there would always be casualties.
While Master Naofumi hadn't known where the Wave would be, he did tell the people of Lute to take precautions on this date just in case it was an exact repeat of before. He recommended staying indoors, staying with others, arming up, and having emergency medicine on hand. Not everyone listened, of course, but enough did that it may have made a difference.
From where they were right now, she could see the mercenaries and adventurers that had formed a safety area near Lute's entrance as they guided the villagers and other noncombatants out of the village and towards the mines, which were easily defensible.
A sudden explosion burst out from nearby. One of the houses had split in half as a battle raged nearby.
Raphtalia and Rifana, sensing danger nearby, moved in a fighting stance to see what was going on.
Both found Master Naofumi fighting two gigantic armored zombie, vicious axes in their hands as they swung at Master.
Keel was right behind him, slashing aside several warps with his blade.
Raphtalia rapidly leapt into action. With a gesture, she urged Rifana to do as she did. The tanuki-raccoon lunged from behind one of the zombies and cut off a leg, causing it to stagger down. On its way down, Raphtalia intercepted and cut off its head off with a single slice of her sword.
Rifana was no slouch either. She uttered a chant and brought her sickle ablaze before launching a flaming attack right at the monster. "As the source of thy power, heed my words and burn my target. First Fire!" The zombie collapsed into a burning heap as the fire consumed everything.
Panting, both girls approached Master Naofumi. "We've saved all the villagers we could find, Master Naofumi." Raphtalia introduced.
"There's just too many monsters now!" Rifana added.
"You're telling me!" Keel groaned. "I'm running low on mana just casting that one spell over and over again!"
Naofumi's stance and shoulders then widened. He brought himself forward and raised his shield up into the air. "Everyone behind me!"
Panicked and remembering what was going to happen, Raphtalia grabbed onto Rifana as she dragged her friend behind Master. Keel jumped behind them both.
"Wait, what's going on?" Rifana stumbled.
"That!" Raphtalia's eyes widened as a burning sphere raced towards them. In the distance, she could see a group of human knights marching towards them from a ruined wall. It had to have been that disrespectful knight captain who antagonized Master Naofumi!
But…that didn't happen. The fireball sailed past them. It crashed down towards a clump of the living dead that was massing nearby, turning them into cinders.
Raphtalia and Master Naofumi looked at each other, as if to make sure the other knew what was going on.
Within a few moments, the knights had arrived on the scene, including one particular knight captain who had a jewel in his helmet and goatee. "Sir Shield Hero…" he clearly was trying to hide his disdain. "I must… Thank you for assisting in the defense of Lute.
"Thank you..." Naofumi managed to say. "...I am glad to have your support."
Before, back when she had finally grown enough to actually be taken seriously, Raphtalia had practically charged and threatened the man over attempting to kill her master. She almost had no idea what to do with the man now. She saw the monsters massing behind the knights and yet she did not know whether or not to warn them.
Rifana had no such hesitation. "There's more coming from behind!"
"Quickly, everyone! Prepare yourselves!" the commander shouted back.
The knights shifted in their positions immediately, bringing their weapons and armor to bear, just in time to harden their positions against the horde of zombies and flying insects that threatened to attack them.
Master Naofumi dashed forward and met a gigantic zombie's axe as it went to slash at the knight captain. Raphtalia made a leaping lunge and destroyed the monster's head, its body crashing down to the ground.
"Link up with the defenders we've got!" Master Naofumi shouted back as he took on another monster's strikes. "We'll buy you time!"
Rifana was the one to destroy that one.
Keel swung her blade and cut through another wave of zombies.
"You don't command us, but fine. Lute is more important!" The captain spat, clearly upset. "Listen men, I know some of you may not like it, but we do what we must!"
The soldiers all got into formation as they made a hellish march towards the defensive line where the mercenaries and the adventurers stood their ground.
Raphtalia caught a glance of one of the soldiers, a familiar young man who fought with them sometime in the next Wave, before going to chop several more zombies to shreds. "That… went surprisingly better."
"I'm not a criminal so I'm just someone they dislike now!" Master Naofumi spat, his Holy Shield taking another blow.
Raphtalia diced the monsters, then Rifana swooped in and blasted some airborne threats before they got near. Keel sundered their armor and pounded one into the dirt; she let out a howl in the carnage, enjoying herself despite her earlier demeanor.
Bodies piled in a heap around them as they dove through.
Raphtalia did not bother counting, but her attention was taken out of the fight when she saw something in the sky, something that was not supposed to be there.
Four comets streaked through the sky from out of the gaping crack in the sky, like a terrible omen.
"Master, what are those?" she managed to say, point at them before resuming to fight.
Master Naofumi and the others stared for only a moment before defeating their current enemies and breaking away and pulling out. "Something that shouldn't be there!"
Raphtalia did a quick estimate on their direction. "I think it's aiming for where the Heroes were!"
Master Naofumi cursed several times. "That's… not good. It can't have been easy, can it!? Something had to be different!"
Raphtalia trembled. Whatever it was, it was not good. She understood what needed to be done. "Keel, we need more speed!"
They all started dashing back to the destroyed village gates, disengaging the enemies that were surrounding them. They only stopped to fight the ones that barred their way.
Keel grumbled. "I only got so much magic power left! I use it up, I don't think I'll be able to cast anything else when we meet… whatever it is you're so worried about!"
"Is it safe for us to leave Lute?" Rifana questioned.
"We might not have any choice. Whatever it is, it is unknown." Master Naofumi justified his actions. "But Lute will not be defenseless. Raph, talk to the defenders, while I try to warn the others!"
Keel shouted. "I'll cast the spell when we're outside the gate, so we can get the most out of it!"
Raphtalia nodded her head. Time was of the essence.
Master Naofumi was speaking in a low tone, whilst his Shield had transformed into a strange device.
They dashed towards the entrance of the village. The knights and the mercenaries were in pitched combat. Adventures acted in a supporting role. They held.
Larsa called out to them, in between sword swings."Sir Shield Hero, where are you going?"
"There was something we saw in the sky!" Raphtalia shouted, panting. "We're joining up with the other Heroes!"
There was a wave of concern that came from the assembled fighters, but none of them had time to ponder on it. They went to resume combat, just as the Raphtalia and the others went out of ear shot. The last she heard of them was Larsa casting a spell.
"...As the source of thy power," Keel uttered between pants. "Grant us speed and swiftness that few could dream of! First Speed!" she cried.
A familiar lightness filled Raphtalia's legs as her motions became all the easier, as though her feet knew exactly how to step to make it to the destination in the fastest time possible. She just hoped it'd be enough.
Then, ahead of them, some distance away, the comets crash landed, causing a cloud of dust to fly overhead.
None of them were close enough to feel more than a light change in air pressure or the slight tingle of the noise of the impact reverberated.
"That… that can't be good…" Keel said with an extreme understatement.
"What happened!?" Master Naofumi was shouting. Then a moment later, he changed his shield back to its default state. "We still have to back them up, but they're alive and the boss is dead."
"Master Naofumi, what did they say? What's going on?" Raphtalia asked.
Naofumi gave her a defeated look. "I don't know, but I don't remember any white tigers in the original Wave."
00:00:31:16
Appearance was everything.
With time ticking down, Itsuki Kawasumi couldn't help but feel a little nervous. This would be his first official outing as a Hero. Yes, he had takenQuests before, but those were jobs, side gigs that any adventurer worth their salt could pull off. No, he had to be at his top game… and make no more mistakes.
Looking at the mirror, he examined the shoulder where a certain Shielder had torn into him despite having no offensive capability whatsoever. Though the injury was long gone and no scars had formed, Itsuki couldn't help but feel the phantom pain there; it was his first real injury in this world and it had been done to him by someone who constantly gave him headaches wherever he went.
Naofumi Iwatani was a perplexing individual. He may have defended slavery, yet he didn't care to harm his followers. He extracted every bit of wealth from them, yet he threw his money around like it was a cudgel. He put his party to work early, yet for some reason wanted to protect the lives of NPC villagers as his priority. He was a Shielder with no attack stat, yet he won in a duel against someone he shouldn't have had any chance against!
Granted, Itsuki did suppose that made the Shielder better than Ren who had a functional team but didn't know how to lead them, or Motoyasu, who mostly had a team consisting of dependents.
Thankfully, Itsuki considered his team as competent as he was, all save one person. Speaking of, that person decided to make herself known.
"... I want to go with you to the Wave, Sir Itsuki…" she said in a weak tone.
The Bow Hero party was currently situated around a table loaded with books. None of them were anything the Bow Hero could read.
Itsuki eyed the girl, not sure what to do with her. Rishia's stats were just absurdly low, to the point that in the Wave, she'd be nothing but a drag on him. And yet, she was eager to come. Not only that, Naofumi Iwatani clearly had something in mind for her, likely some of the secrets he was holding out on.
"She shouldn't come with us," Welst said, snapping the Hero from his thoughts. "She would be at risk with us." The mage was Itsuki's most trusted advisor, the senior most member who had been entrusted with most of the intellectual tasks with them.
"Right, I don't want to be babysitting her," Rojeel, the barbaric axeman, said as well. Also a founding member of Itsuki's little band.
"Are you sure? She does know quite a bit of magic; she at the very least could support us that way if she came," Donut was a newer member, just above Rishia in the pecking order, but very powerful and intelligent as well. She may have had a habit of never showing her face except during mealtime, but her abilities justified her unusual habits.
"Hm…" Itsuki frowned, mulling it over. Iwatani of course had many secrets he wasn't sharing, the same as the rest of them. The Shield Hero was incredibly knowledgeable, more than the others. What if among the spoilers the book reading Hero had was knowledge of how important Rishia was? And if so… how much money would it take for Naofumi to hand that over? What was it that she needed to be at her best?
"... Sir Itsuki…" Rishia said with pleading eyes. She hadn't been whimpering lately, so she was very focused.
Itsuki turned away. There was just something in those eyes that made him uncomfortable.
Okay, so if she's a major character, maybe this was entirely part of her character arc, where should I give her a chance or not? Given her stats, maybe she's supposed to find a mcguffin or a mentor to unlock her hidden potential? Like, her stats are just… abysmal, that cannot be natural. After all, what game designer or author would make an awful character stat-wise without some sort of redeeming quality?
"Sir Itsuki," Welst spoke again. "I would advise against it."
Itsuki frowned. It was your advice that made me lose plenty of loot to Naofumi. Thankfully, the head I'm still allowed to keep.That helped make up his mind. If Naofumi was already taking so much from him, he couldn't afford to lose any more to him. If that means Rishia was at risk of defecting to him, well, the choice was obvious. "Alright Rishia. Just, stay behind us and… throw up support magic, I guess?"
"Fueh…" Rishia whimpered, tears down her eyes. She might not have been expecting an approval. "Yes. I can do that."
Itsuki closed his eyes as he sent the party invitation. Rishia accepted and joined.
Welst and Rojeel both gave frowns of disapproval, but said nothing.
With that crisis dealt with, Itsuki finalized his preparations. He shoved several potion bottles onto a belt on his side, most of them coming from a certain Shield Hero. He then raised the potency of several of the bows he had liked, using both his own and Motoyasu's methods. To think, the Wave might go down smoothly. Maybe he should have waited to apply all the power ups before facing down Naofumi, but that wouldn't have stopped his defeat.
00:00:08:53
Seeing how much time he had left, Itsuki realized how close they were to departing. He stood. "Everyone stand, we're about to leave!"
The Party all rose their feet with hesitation, taking their belongings and whatever essential gear they needed. Then, just as they finished, a light swept them away.
Itsuki found himself materializing in a familiar clearing. Well, familiar from Dimension Wave, but he hadn't actually been here before. In the distance was a mine. Somewhere near that, was the village even if he couldn't see it. The space they were in now had no monsters, but that'll change the moment they left the safety zone.
The Wave had discolored the sky, the crack that formed the basis for the entire plot of Dimension Wave was somehow even more surreal than ever. He wondered if this was a side effect of his game becoming a VR game, but the tear looked so real, that it almost made him doubt it was a game.
"Wow, that really worked didn't it?" It was Motoyasu who said that.
Itsuki then turned over to the others and saw an unusual sight. Behind Naofumi were around 8 demihumans in full armor; they weren't present at the meeting a few days ago. And one of them was a panda with a very ornate bow on her head…
"We're near Lute. We'll focus on defending the settlement while you focus on defeating the boss." Naofumi barked, apparently recognizing the place. Wasn't Lute near Melromarc's capital and where Naofumi grinded his party? The Shield Hero clearly loved flaunting his wealth and influence, if he could outfit or purchase the services of… whoever these people were. They were likely the mercenaries Naofumi talked about.
Ren turned away, a clear smirk on his face."Well, in that case, Naofumi, do what you want. We'll end this quickly!"
"You?" Iitsuki laughed. Everything was starting to make sense now, once the initial shock had worn off. "Motoyasu and I can compete, but you Ren, you think you'll win? We've been powered up!"
Motoyasu came last, obviously he liked Naofumi the most. "Good luck to you!"
Itsuki's party trailed behind him, as did the Sword and Spear parties. Naofumi's group all went with him, to save a bunch of NPCs…. The Bow Hero wondered if there were reputation rewards for doing that… But killing the boss had to be worth more than defending NPC's. Saving NPC's wasn't how you saved the day. Good thing all of the other Heroes knew where the boss was.
Ren let out a sigh. "That guy likes defending people and demihumans way too much…"
Itsuki nodded. "Well, if you can't do anything else…." Though admittedly, he himself wished he could free them from slavery, but Naofumi was right. He needed to think more about his plan.
"Oh, I see loads of enemies!" Motoyasu barked, as he pointed towards an area of dense woodlands, the trees rapidly rotting as if by proximity.
Sure enough a mass of enemy undead and flying insects was situated in an odd clump away from the rest of the main horde's spawning location. It was a clear sign of the boss being at the center.
"Treasure, here we come!" Ren dashed forth and slew several zombies each time he swung his sword. He didn't even bother using a Skill.
"Hey, save some for me!" Motoyasu twirled his spear several times. "Wind Lance!" A gust of wind poured out from the Legendary Spear's tip and blew several enemies in the sky. Insects were ripped to shreds!
But the big ones, these massive armored zombies walked over and made a lunge, bringing an axe crashing down on the Sword and Spear Heroes.
Except, Itsuki had a particular skill. Lazily, he aimed his bow in a completely unrelated direction and let it loose. "Sidewinder Shot!" he declared, a golden arrow materializing and then spinning wildly in the air as it searched for a target.
The axe the giant zombie held was thrown off course, instead coming down onto one of its brethren and killing it. Then, Itsuki followed up by annihilating the large zombie's head.
Sidewinder Shot was easily the Bow Hero's favorite Skill. The arrow may not have dealt any damage to monsters or people, but it inflicted a massive amount of pain or could be used to impart enough force to disarm or knock away the weapons of enemies. Best of all, Itsuki could pretend he was a real ESPer with the Ultra Accuracy ability, since the arrow would find a way to hit its target no matter how improbable the trajectory as long as the target was within range and was not completely obstructed from every angle… All because of Naofumi's 'Light Metal' trade.
"Haha! I'lll say that's nice shooting, Itsuki!" Motoyasu cried out. "I'm going to have to step up my game!" He then dove into a cloud of bees
If only Motoyasu's party would do more than act as cheerleaders.
Well, okay, that was unfair. Most of those girls were fighting poorly, and mostly contributed to the fight by throwing the occasional support magic or using spells to incinerate foes. All save one. The blonde haired woman in his party stood shoulder to shoulder with the Spear Hero as she slashed away with her blade against the undead. In short, Motoyasu's group had the Hero and one girl as a frontliner, while the rest of the girls focused on magic or ranged weapons to pick out easy targets.
Ren's group certainly did at least try to act like a unit, even if their own Hero was too much of a solo act. The four fighters held their ground, centered around that armored knight, Mald. That man clearly was seeking to earn redemption from his humiliating loss.
For his own party, Itsuki found it fairly straightforward. Donut and Rojeel acted as a frontline and cut down anyone who dared approach them, covering for the other. Welst provided magical offense in the form of explosions of light and magic. Rishia on the other hand went with support magic, mostly buffs to attack and speed; the effect of her magic was minor, hopefully her stats and casting ability would improve soon, given Naofumi's interest in recruiting her
They carved a swathe through the monsters, but it seemed like the forces were near endless.
Itsuki was glad that as a Holy Hero, he did not need to worry about arrows, but still, his arms were starting to feel tired. "How much more?" he found himself shouting.
"Just a little bit more! I see the boss!" Motoyasu exclaimed, pointing ahead, towards a clearing just past the woodlands.
"There's so many mobs. We gotta deal with them while we take down the leader!" Ren shouted.
"Everyone, focus on containing the enemies! Let the Heroes join each other in glorious combat!" The disgraced Sir Mald shouted.
Itsuki turned to his own group, seeing what the others were planning. Few things would be as memorable as three of four Holy Heroes banding together to fight the first boss. "Everyone, back up Ren's group!" he barked.
"You too, ladies! This is for us to handle!" Motoyasu added.
All of the companions, hearing this, formed an outer perimeter to protect the Heroes as they charged forward.
Ren raised his sword and dashed into the fray once again. "Wind Cleave!" He shouted as he unleashed an arc of winds that sliced the legs off of one of the large zombies, causing it to fall backwards onto its allies. The way was cleared just enough from that action, trees and the walking dead alike torn asunder.
The Heroes and their parties dashed on top of the flailing zombie, using the thing as nothing more than a glorified hill.
Ren, just to add insult to injury, chopped its head off as he made his way to the clearing.
Itsuki felt stars in his eyes the moment he saw the chimera for the first time. His old console game was never so detailed and never quite captured the sheer ugliness of the monsters. The thing before him was truly a hideous mismash.
The chimera, though, probably saw food.
It lunged. Ren ducked out of the way, whilst Motoyasu went for a cleaving hit.
The dragon head retaliated by blaring out fire.
Itsuki dashed further ahead and away from the three of them, narrowly avoiding the fire attack. He fired off an arrow backwards, trusting it to it. "Sidewinder Shot!" he shouted, not even bothering to check where it landed as he ran.
The chimera roared.
The creature tangled with Ren and Motoyasu, a close pitched melee where both sides exchanged blows.
Finding himself where he wanted to be, Itsuki turned and saw the chimera hadn't moved far from where it had leapt to, the other two Heroes surrounding it and making attacks. The chimera would swing, but never hit. A golden, transparent arrow appeared on its lion head. Itsuki patted himself on the back, after all, disabling the central lion's head effectively meant that its claw swipes and mobility were crippled until his skill ended.
"Wind Arrow! Second Arrow!" Itsuki unleashed a volley of powerful wind arrows, piercing the creature's toughened hide and causing grievous injuries. He felt so powerful. This boss was going to be over in no time at all!
And then, Itsuki's ears started ringing. Looking at the corner of his HUD, he saw an icon with a shield with a phone displayed. It was Naofumi. Why was he calling now!?
Was it important?
Answering the call, Itsuki's Bow immediately transformed into its Communicator Bow form. Which incidentally looked like a bow with tiny satellite dishes on its ends and a drawstring made up of light. "Naofumi, what's wrong?" he said, as he activated the speaker phone option; He didn't want to be taken out of the fight entirely..
"Pah… Pah…" Naofumi sounded like he was panting. "Itsuki… You've got incoming!"
Itsuki paused as he drew back the drawstring and let loose a holographic arrow. "Incoming? What do you mean?"
"I don't know!" Naofumi shouted, he seemed oddly concerned. The boss was easy and he was acting strange. Why was he scared? Motoyasu and Itsuki were way above the level curve! "I don't know! But something is coming to you from the sky!"
Itsuki's eyes turned and he saw it, shining comets that were growing larger and larger. None of the others talked about this happening. And if even Naofumi, book nerd supreme, did not know… what did that mean?
"ITSUKI! A little help here!" Ren shouted as he took a swing at the monster with some skill that caused his blade to ignite in fire.
The chimera was starting to bleed badly, though now its mobility had been restored and it had been trying to attack everyone with every available limb. The snake tail bit into Motoyasu but he batted it away and took a swing with his sear glowing with light.
Annoyance filled Itsuki's mind. He shot several arrows at the creature as fast as he could. "What do you want us to do?"
"Kill the boss, regroup with everyone!" Naofumi barked. "I'm coming to join you right now, so hold on!" In short, what they were already doing.
"Shooting Star Bow!" Itsuki shot his starlight infused arrow again, lightly wounding the creature's side. His communicator weapon wasn't horrible, but it was unupgraded. "Finish it off!"
"I'm trying here!" Ren shouted as he took multiple swings.
"On it! Shooting Star Spear!" Motoyasu swung his spear downwards, causing a rain of starlight to fall into and tear into the chimera.
It fell over, the last of its injuries putting it down for the count.
"We did it! We did it! Yay…" Motoyasu cheered. But he then realized something was amiss. "Wait, isn't the sky supposed to turn back to normal? This didn't happen in Emerald Online!"
Itsuki looked up; the sky was still distorted, twisted by the crack. Those burning comets looked very to his HUD, Itsuki found something new. The hourglass timer that should have displayed the count down to the next Wave instead ticked down very quickly.
09:51
Ten minutes, give or take.
"Naofumi!" Itsuki shouted into his phone.
"Wait, you're talking to Naofumi?" Ren asked as he stepped over.
"I think it's an invader!" Naofumi's voice cracked on the other end. "Regroup. NOW!"
"But… aren't all monsters invaders?" Itsuki said with a hint of confusion. Afterall, the plot of Dimension Wave was that you were stopping monsters from another dimension invading your world; it was literally in the name!
"Itsuki, whatever this is, it's no laughing matter!"
"It's… probably a bonus boss or something? With a timer?" Itsuki offered. Maybe it was a side effect of powering up so much, that in order to reign in the difficult curve with how easy the chimera had been, some sort of bonus boss wave had come. Maybe.
"Itsuki!"
"Fine!" Itsuki said back. Geez, Naofumi was suddenly even more grouchy than usual. "Naofumi says he wants to regroup to face… whatever this thing was."
"Wait, what's going on?" Motoyasu asked, confused. "Is that something to do with the strange timer in my HUD?"
"I think it's a bonus boss."
"That makes sense," Ren added. "I'm not even sweating or hurt from the chimera!"
Itsuki nodded his head as he dashed back over to the fighting where his companions and allies held the line.
"Is it over?"
"Why hasn't the Wave ended?"
And other questions like that filled the scene, yet the most horrifying question asked was the one Rishia posed, one that made him wonder what kind of boss was he fighting. "Why does that thing look so close?"
Four burning comets raced in the sky… towards them.
And then it happened. The comets crashed down to earth, causing a tremendous shockwave that knocked clouds of dust into the air. Shrapnel burst from the point of impact, both rock from the earth and shards of what appeared to be metal.
Itsuki out of reflex braced himself behind a tree, shielding his eyes as they made impact. His teeth rattled as the sound overwhelmed him.
Ahead, not too far away four shallow craters formed before them. Trees were knocked down, destroyed. Something stirred behind the dust.
Itsuki choked out from the dust.
"What happened!?" Naofumi shouted, bringing him back to reality.
"I think we just got hit by drop pods, but that's the wrong genre," Ren shouted, pointing to the craters.
The Bow Hero brushed the dirt from his eyes and focused on the scene ahead of him. "The dust is clearing. I think I can see whatever it is now."
And then out of the dust clouds, four creatures, each the size of the chimera they had just fought arose. Each had white bodies covered in blackened stripes. Feline eyes held betrayed nothing inside. Their names were practically redundant to summarize what they were.
"What are you facing?" Naofumi asked, his speech impacted by static.
Everyone drew their weapons.
Itsuki's eyes narrowed, as he did admit that they looked terrifying, being both very big and very numerous. "White Tiger clones. Four of them."
Some of you as you read this are now wondering, what this all means. I will confirm or deny nothing.
This chapter gives confirmation on the various "Wind" attacks the other Heroes get. In canon only Itsuki had Wind Arrow, but here he had just enough materials to give everyone a copy. You obviously saw Wind Shield last chapter.