Here's to more craziness!
Chapter Ten: Justice and the Wave
The next two days and two nights passed uneventfully. Naofumi and Raphtalia didn't have much to do while Erhard worked on their equipment, so they spent their time in the forest or at Apotheguy's place. In the forest, they gathered herbs, killed random low leveled monsters, and other things. At Apotheguy's place, Raphtalia would sit and watch while the old man and Naofumi created medicines and potions from what they had gathered.
Uncle Bald Guy said there'd likely be a lot of people who'd get hurt or sick because of the wave. Naofumi needed to have as much medicine as possible in case anyone needed it.
Finally, the day of the Wave arrived.
"Yo, kids! Wake up!" Erhard pounded on the wood door to their room.
"… five more minutes..." Naofumi groaned out. He had a sleeping Raphtalia cuddled against him, and she was so warm! He was even petting her tail! Which was even warmer along with the bonus of being super fluffy!
"Come on, you two! We need to meet at the castle just like everyone else!" Erhard bellowed.
"But it's so earlyyyyyyy!" Naofumi complained. Why couldn't Uncle Bald Guy just let them sleep?!
"If you're not up and out of there in the next five minutes, I'm busting down this door!"
"Mmmm…" Raphtalia woke up at Erhard's yell, and the tail Naofumi had been rubbing moved away. She sat up and started rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
No, don't give in to Uncle Bald Guy's demands! He still wanted to sleep and floof her tail some more!
"Come on, Naofumi." The smol Raphtalia yawned cutely. "We need to get ready."
Naofumi groaned. Dang it Raphtalia! The hourglass said there was only an hour until The Wave of... Cat-Ass-Trophy(?) struck! They could sleep at least another thirty minutes! Or forty-five if they hurried! But noooo! Uncle Bald Guy was slowing down in his old age! So they had to get ready super early!
He wished he could hit the snooze button and make the Wave sleep for a couple more hours! It must have really been evil if it was making him get up right as the sun was rising!
Naofumi grumpily got out of bed. He had a sour expression on his face by the time he and Raphtalia opened the door to a grinning Erhard. "Rise and shine Short Stack! We've got a big day ahead of us!"
"Yippie..." The boy unenthusiastically raised his fist in a mock cheer. Raphtalia looked like she was going to fall asleep standing up. Her cute thick tail was trailing on the ground behind her.
"Oh, don't be that way you two! Everything's gonna be fine, you'll see." He rubbed them both on the head. "Now grab a bite to eat down in the kitchen before we go. You've gotta make sure you eat right before the battle, or you won't have the energy to keep up with an old man like me! Hahahaha!"
Neither of the children shared his enthusiasm. They just wanted to go back to bed and make Uncle Bald Guy deal with the wave by himself since he was so happy and energetic this early in the morning.
When they got down to the dining table, they found more than just food waiting for them. Naofumi's eyes finally brightened. "You made it!"
Resting beside his seat was the coolest armor he'd ever seen. It had an angular metal breastplate that reminded him of the small shield, with small leather guards that would fit over his forearms and his thighs. A forest green cape rested over its thin shoulder plates, completing the look. The only thing missing was a bunch of spikes on the shoulders. Then he would have the 'cool Ren' look down too.
Still, it was far better than anything that weird Kirito kid had described wearing in his lame games before.
Resting in Raphtalia's seat was a brand new shortsword. At first glance, it was the same as any other blade. But upon further inspection, the blade was made with magic steel that caused the light to reflect beautifully. The edge was unnaturally sharp, and a handguard would keep her hands safe while attacking.
Erhard had obviously prioritized their safety with this equipment. His attention to detail was uncanny, knowing their preferences for just about everything from appearances to functionality.
"Uncle Bald Guy-" Naofumi turned around, what he saw made him cut off with his mouth wide open.
While they had been staring, Erhard had changed into his own set of equipment. He wore a dragon steel chest plate, black as night. Connected to it was some dragon steel mail protecting his abdomen, a cape interwoven with dragonsteel fibers, arm and leg guards made from a material that they couldn't identify. The only reason they knew what dragonsteel was, was because the blacksmith had shown them what it looked like once. He also had a dragonsteel helmet covering his bald head.
He must have killed a lot of dragons to get that much dragonsteel. Uncle Bald Guy was a big man.
In his hands was a big, mighty warhammer. "I call it, Brunvild," Erhard said, feeling the length of the long and finely crafted hammer with his hand. "Haven't used her since my adventuring days as a little brat. But now? I think it's time she and I got reacquainted."
"So… cool…" Naofumi said.
"You look like a hero, Uncle Bald Guy!" Raphtalia exclaimed, stars in her eyes.
"Ha! You two are the real heroes here. I'm just the old man playing support for ya." Erhard rustled the hair on both of their heads again. This time it brought smiles to their faces. "Now eat and get dressed. We only have an hour and the walk to the castle is long enough."
"Okay!"
They quickly ate, and after changing, Naofumi emerged from the dressing room in his suit of armor. Unlike his previous protection, it didn't make him look like a child with his dad's clothes on. And it fit much more comfortably too. Raphtalia ran up and inspected him from all angles with stars in her eyes.
"You look so cool, Naofumi!"
"You really think so?" Naofumi asked shyly.
"I call it, Barbarian Armor!" Erhard exclaimed with a smile. "So? What do you think, kid?"
"I-I dunno. I feel like I look like some kind of...bad guy." Now that he was wearing it, it somehow didn't… look right to him in the mirror.
"Makes sense. Since you cause me so much trouble, you brat."
"Hey! I'm not that bad and you know it!"
"Well, I think you look cool in it Naofumi," Raphtalia said happily. Her happiness leaked off onto Naofumi, who perked up again.
"Enough goofing around now. Let's get a move on."
The two followed Erhard out the door.
Only ten minutes remained by the time they arrived at the castle. The other heroes and their parties had arrived before them, and a large platoon of knights were being issued commands from their captains and separating into squads. The king smiled at their approach. Another knight with a mustache, standing near Aultcray, scowled and walked away to another group of knights.
"Ah, Erhard. Did you get everything prepared?" Aultcray asked with a smile.
"Yep. Those kids are wearing the best I could make for them." Erhard said with a proud smile.
"Holy hell. Is that dragon steel?" Motoyasu asked, looking over Erhard's cape in awe. "You're supposed to be like, level 50 to be able to wear something like this."
"Watch your language, boy! There are kids around!"
"Oh, my bad." The blond man scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before smiling down at the little Shield Hero. "And look at you two, all ready for battle! How do you feel?"
"As good as I'll ever be, Moto!" Naofumi pumped a fist in the air. "We're going to save all the people today!"
"That's what I like to hear!" Motoyasu fist-bumped the little boy. The harem of girls all fawned in unison at the action. All except for a certain red-haired soulless meanie.
'Little brat.' She thought spitefully to herself. He so wasn't getting in her way today!
Meanwhile, Aultcray leaned in close to the blacksmith and whispered to him. "Are you sure about the boy's appearance? He looks a bit too...rugged in that armor."
"What were you expecting, sunshine and rainbows? He's a little kid! He doesn't want to look like some lame little soldier boy!" Erhard quietly replied.
"Yes, but he shouldn't look like a little bandit chief either," Aultcray said with a frown.
"Well. They both seem to like my work just fine." Erhard said with a note of finality on the matter.
Raphtalia was still admiring Naofumi's new armor and cape when a knight accidentally stepped too close to her, and she eeped in fright and hid under Naofumi's cape. Only her tail stuck out from underneath. His hand moved underneath the shivering mass of fabric and started to pat Raphtalia between the ears. Though she still stayed underneath the cape for the moment, the shivering stopped and her tail started wagging happily.
It was super sweet. Aultcray suddenly found himself liking the armor and cape Erhard had outfitted young Naofumi with. The moment was just too precious.
"Your Majesty. Now that the Heroes are here, may we begin?" The new lead advisor asked.
"Oh, urm." Aultcray coughed into his hand, he'd been so busy observing the sweet diabetus moment that he hadn't noticed his advisors approaching him. "Go ahead." Aultcray gave him permission to speak. He gave a gesture of silence to everyone else in the castle courtyard so the advisor could speak.
Raphtalia came out from Naofumi's cloak, a curious look on her face. Motoyasu stopped paying attention to his fawning girls, and Ren and Itsuki also stopped discussing with each other.
"Though we still don't know where the wave will strike, we have come up with a plan of action." The lead advisor started. "First, we'll have the squad captains approach the Four Heroes as assigned. They will be added as officers over their own squads for each Hero party."
At his words, one knight walked away from each of the individual squads of knights. They approached the hero to which they were assigned, and got themselves and their parties added to the Hero's party system.
"Why are we doing this?" Itsuki whispered to Ren. "Don't you think they'll just get in our way?"
"Listen, maybe they can take care of some of the small fry for us. Besides, it lets us focus on our job of taking out the big guy." The dark-haired man whispered in response.
"Fair," Itsuki whispered, looking off into the distance... "Justice."
"Why do you keep saying that?" Ren asked. It hadn't been the first time the blonde boy had randomly spouted it, but he didn't receive a response. Just like every other time.
Soon, all the Heroes had the knights added to their parties. Naofumi found it so cool to have so many people under him! It looked like the King and the Knight Commander were also registered to him! Bonus!
"Once you arrive at the Wave of Catastrophe, the Knights will do the jobs assigned to them by their respective Heroes. Whether it's defending civilians, taking out monsters, or helping to distract the Wave Boss." The lead advisor said. "We trust the wise judgment of the four Holy Heroes to know what's best for keeping the damage to a minimum."
They really did put a lot more pressure on the Holy Heroes than the big three were expecting. Motoyasu grabbed at his collar in nervousness. Ren also heavily sweatdropped. This was putting his social anxiety THROUGH THE ROOF!
Meanwhile...
"Justice..."
"Stop saying that." Ren deadpanned at Itsuki. If he said it one more time during this meeting, he was going to lose it and beat the teen with his own BOW!
"So cool," Naofumi said, looking up at Ren in awe. HE was the only reason Ren wasn't losing his cool. It would be very uncool to lose it now in front of the little guy.
The advisors continued speaking. But Naofumi didn't pay much attention. He felt like nodding off. Then, when there was only one minute until the counter hit zero, Raphtalia clasped Naofumi's hand tightly with hers. "You promise to be my shield, right?" She asked.
"Wha-" He was caught off guard after being dragged out of dreamland for a second, but he recovered quick. "Yep! As long as you'll be my sword." He said, smiling back. His smile caused her to brighten up and shake off some of her nervousness and fear.
"We're counting on you, Holy Heroes!" The advisors all said as one.
Counting on them for what?! Oh no, did he miss something super important that they were talking about! Dang it! Why did he have to have such a short attention span!
Oh well, they were mostly old people. It probably wasn't very important to a little kid like him.
The timer was at five seconds. The Heroes and the knights had light gathering around them.
"May the Gods bless you as you protect our world and!- Your Majesty!? Why are you glowing with the rest of them?!" The lead advisor yelled in shock.
Aultcray smiled. "Did you really think I'd sit back and watch from afar?"
"No! Your Majesty-" The timer hit zero, and a sound like a bell being hit rang through the air. Aultcray, the Heroes, their parties, and the knights disappeared from the Courtyard.
…
The advisors looked at each other. "Did he just…"
"Yes, yes he did."
...
They all facepalmed at the same time.
After the weird glowing lights, Naofumi felt a weird sensation, like he was being yanked by his belly button. And then he suddenly found himself standing on grass, overlooking a forest from a hill.
"Whoa! What happened?! WHERE AM I!?" Naofumi yelled in fear and confusion as he patted himself down to make sure he wasn't missing anything.
"Woah...so that's what teleportation feels like." Erhard held his head with one hand as he doubled over. "Maybe there's no rush for level 50 yet...ughhhh... I think I'm gonna be sick."
"Please, let's not have that." Naofumi looked behind him in surprise. Mr. Aultcray was there too! Along with the Knight Commander and a LOT of knights!
"Mr. Aultcray, where are we?" Naofumi asked.
"Look up at the sky, Young Naofumi." Aultcray pointed. "We are at the site of the Wave."
Naofumi looked up, and his jaw slackened. The sky above them was red, filled with swirling pools of energy that looked like rips in the sky. From them, monsters, hundreds of them, poured out into their world. Even from this distance, they looked SCARY! They were definitely not small or innocent.
Maybe these would make better pets? Thoughts for later.
He was getting that pet monster one way or another, whether Uncle Bald Guy liked it or not!
"Naofumi! Naofumi!" Up ahead, Motoyasu ran up the hill, looking for Naofumi, since he wasn't nearby like the other Heroes.
"I'm here, Moto!" Naofumi yelled. Down below, the other heroes, their parties, and their assigned knights were preparing to go towards the forest.
"We're all headed toward the boss monster, wanna come?" He yelled, pointing further into the forest. Where some of the monsters were landing.
Naofumi was about to agree, but a tug on his sleeve made him stop. "Naofumi, look over there! There's a lot of those monsters going toward the village!" Raphtalia cried, pointing in the opposite direction.
Monsters from the sky weren't just landing in the forest. A lot of them were landing around a village outside of the forest! The village looked oddly familiar to Naofumi. But he couldn't tell why. Then Erhard gasped.
"If I know this place like I think I do, that's gotta be Lute!" Erhard yelled.
"The village full of nice people?!" Naofumi asked incredulously. As Erhard nodded, a flare went up from the village. Naofumi wasn't exactly sure what that meant. But it was likely to be trouble! "I can't, Moto! The nice people in the village need protection!"
"You heard your Hero!" Aultcray barked to the knights. "We march to the aid of Lute Village!"
The knights all cheered, and ran towards the village. Naofumi and Raphtalia followed right behind, along with Erhard, Aultcray, and the mustachioed Royal Knight Commander. Who still had a scowl on his face for some reason.
Maybe he didn't like waking up early either.
"Sir Motoyasu! The wave boss is this way!" Myne said, waving her arms down below. The other heroes and their segments of knights were ready, only waiting for Motoyasu to return so they could go.
Motoyasu grimaced. "I can't just fight not knowing how the kid is doing!" He made his decision and pointed his Spear in the direction of the village. "Onwards! To protect the fair maidens of Lute! We'll fight the Boss after the village is secure!"
The knights were stunned for a sec, and then they cheered, following Motoyasu, and his harem of girls followed towards the Village.
"But, Sir Motoyasu-" Myne started to plead.
"You heard him. We're going to secure the village first!" Ren ordered the knights and his party behind him. That kid thought he was cool, and he wasn't going to do something uncool like leaving a bunch of NPC's to die.
They cheered and followed after him.
Itsuki grumbled to himself. "I'm not facing some boss by myself." He also gave the order to secure the village first, and they followed right behind Ren.
Myne scowled. And finally ran after everyone else. Going towards the village instead of the fame and glory offered by the Wave Boss that could have secured her position as Queen in the future.
'That little BRAT!' She found herself hoping some monster did the little Hero in. He was starting to become more than just a thorn in her side. Not only was it shameful to be outdone by a child, but the kid pissed her off! He hogged all of Papa's and Sir Motoyasu's attention, leaving none for her!
She was starting to wish she'd accused the kid of raping her instead of some random guy! Then she realized how stupid that would have been. Even if the little brat hadn't wormed his way into her Papa's heart, it would have been very hard to convince Papa that a little kid could have raped a grown woman.
She had to think of another way to deal with him.
Naofumi arrived at the village first. It was a big mess. And the first monster he saw made him realize keeping it for a pet probably wouldn't be a very good idea.
Mainly because it was a walking skeleton wielding an ax. It wasn't the type of creature that would listen to anything he said, so it was worthless to him. He summoned an Air Strike Shield just in time to keep said ax from being embedded in a nice villager's head. Raphtalia charged in right after, slicing the skeleton from its shoulder blade to its hip.
"This way! Hurry!" Erhard helped the man up and directed him to the care of two knights who escorted him away.
"Spread out and secure this section of the village!" Motoyasu shouted, following behind Naofumi. His knights complied. And his harem of girls became magic support for them.
Motoyasu rushed forward and stabbed a wasp-like monster with his spear before flinging the body into a skeleton to stagger it. With two graceful swipes, he removed the bony hand that held its sword and crushed the skull into splinters.
Ren jumped off a large wagon, spinning his blade around him and slicing through multiple wasps. He landed on one knee, the corpses of several wasps falling around him. "Quickly! Save the civilians in trouble!" Ren ordered his party members and knights.
Itsuki climbed to a rooftop and started sniping monsters all around with his bow. Wasps. Skeletons. Zombies. If it showed its head, he put an arrow through it. He didn't shout orders to his knights or party members. But they went and took on the monsters that weren't coming into Itsuki's line of sight.
"Justice." Itsuki muttered, impaling three large wasps with one arrow.
Naofumi and Raphtalia didn't stand idle. Naofumi saw a large group of villagers cowering against a building in the town square. A few men stood in front with pitchforks and shovels, anything on-hand that could potentially be used as a weapon.
As a zombie's blade was coming down upon a terrified young man, Naofumi broke out into a sprint. "Shield Prison!" He yelled, creating a barrier of shields around the young man that blocked the monster's strike. Before it had a chance to recover, Raphtalia embedded her sword into its back.
It grunted and tried to turn around, but Erhard's hammer went right through its face. Crushing it into powder and showering the little girl in gore.
"Eww!" She screeched. Thank goodness she had overcome the worst of her traumatic hemophobia, or she might have passed out right then and there.
"Sorry, little lady!" Erhard moved on, swinging his war hammer like a champion through more of the crowd of skeletons and zombies. Naofumi moved in front of her, blocking a strike from another axe with his Shield. She went back to fighting as Naofumi's sword, and soon, with the assistance of some knights, they cleared the town square of monsters.
"Thank, thank you." An elderly man said, bowing his head in relief.
"Bring all the rescued villagers here! This will be our staging area against the Wave!" Aultcray ordered the knights in the town square.
"Sir!" They bowed and rushed off into the village to save whoever they could. The villagers looked surprised to see Aultcray in the middle of the action.
"Your Majesty, isn't it dangerous to be out here-"
"Zweite WindCutter!" Aultcray turned, a small swarm of approaching wasps was cut to ribbons by his spell. "No. I believe this is where I'm needed." The village Lord didn't try to question why Aultcray was there after that.
The sounds of battle could be heard echoing throughout the area. Along with the screams of helpless villagers still struggling to survive.
"Uncle Bald Guy! We're going to help the villagers still in trouble!" Naofumi yelled to Erhard.
"If you're going to do that, then I'm coming with ya!" Erhard said. Holding his bloody war hammer with glee. "Trouble likes to follow you, so I'm sure I'll get the big guys if I tag along!"
Indeed, as they ran outside the staging area with a group of knights assigned for their protection, they ran into some of those big guys. Who were after a small family.
"Gruhhhhh!" The large skeleton captain groaned, bringing its axe arm down on little Naofumi's shield.
"Whoa! That's one big monster!" Naofumi said. "Are you still doing okay, Raphtalia?!" Naofumi asked.
"Over here, ugly!" Raphtalia yelled. The time it took for the monster to turn its head in her direction was just enough for the blacksmith to appear behind it and to crush its body with a single, mighty blow. The upper half of its body was nowhere to be seen as it slumped to the ground.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Erhard said, laughing at how fun this was turning out to be.
"That's so cliché, Uncle Bald Guy!" Naofumi yelled as they kept running further into the village. More knights came and escorted the family away. He summoned another Air Strike Shield, assisting a group of three knights facing two zombie fighters.
"It's not cliché! It's cool!" Erhard yelled in complaint.
"Uncle Bald Guy!" Raphtalia ran past him, and he turned around just in time to see Raphtalia jump and impale another large skeleton captain that had been about to attack him from behind. The force of the thrust caused the large skeleton to tumble back onto the ground. And one slice from the smol girl beheaded it.
"Thanks, little lady." Erhard said, realizing again how dangerous their situation was. He gripped his war hammer more seriously, and they ran off after Naofumi as he saved another villager from being killed with his Shield.
Motoyasu stabbed through another monster and pointed his spear at a large group of them. It charged a light blue color. "Lightning, SPEAR!" A large burst of lightning shot from his spear. Decimating the entire group in one blow.
"Rain of Arrows!" Itsuki launched a skill up into the air. The one arrow separated into dozens, and then hundreds. They covered the ground in front of him, bringing down many different monsters on the ground and in the air.
"Air Strike Bash!" Ren thrust his sword forward, and an entire battalion of skeletons was sent flying back into the air. Bringing down wasps and other monsters in their way.
The power of the Cardinal Heroes really was amazing to all the knights there. And to think they were using it to protect the civilians, their families first. This would definitely give the Heroes a reputation boost. Both in the village, and the rest of the kingdom.
Naofumi, Raphtalia, Erhard, and all the villagers they'd rescued ran out onto the street cleared by Motoyasu's blast. "That was awesome Moto!" Naofumi yelled happily.
"Of course it was!"
One of the knight captains returned with a salute. "Sir Hero! We've secured the eastern part of town, but there are still monsters approaching the village! How do you recommend dealing with them?" He asked.
"Let them come to you. You're better defended here in the village than out there." Motoyasu said.
"Actually, I have a better idea." Aultcray said, before nudging a nearby soldier. "You and your group, stay here. The rest of you, go back to the staging area."
"Are you sure about that, Your Majesty?" Motoyasu asked confusedly.
"No worries, Sir Motoyasu. I'll be just fine." Motoyasu didn't look so sure, but he, his harem of girls, and everyone else ran for the staging area. All except for the knights Aultcray had asked to stay.
"Um, sir, what did you want us for?" One of them asked.
"One of you has fire magic, don't you? Launch another flare into the sky. The monsters swarmed the village then. They will surely come running here instead of terrorizing the rest of the village if we do so again." Aultcray ordered.
"S-sir!" One of the Knight crossed his hands. "As source of thy power I order thee, decipher the laws of nature, and create a flame to attract my targets!" He lifted his hands skyward. "First Flare!"
A gout of fire launched from the knight's hands, flying high up into the air. It repeatedly flashed like a beacon, bathing the surroundings in light. Aultcray's prediction was spot on. This drew the attention of all the monsters in the vicinity of the village. Roars and growls sounded, and wings beat hard as the entirety of the current monster horde began congregating towards their section of the village.
Ren found it weird when the monsters ran from him. As did Itsuki. Naofumi arrived back at the town square with the last of the rescued villagers just in time to look up and see the flare. "What's going on Uncle Bald Guy?"
"I… is he doing what I think he's doing?!" Erhard said incredulously.
The monster horde appeared all around Aultcray. The knights with him looked around themselves in fear. Aultcray took a moment to breathe in and relax. "Is this all of them?" He asked.
"IT DEFINITELY LOOKS LIKE ALL OF THEM!" One of the knights said fearfully.
"Alright." It had been so long since Aultcray had held the staff. He yearned to have his old friend back. But there was still a blessing he had from wielding it. One that helped for this perfect moment. "Hold this." He gave his ornamental staff to a knight.
"As source of thy power, I order thee!" The King said, his voice shaking with authority that caused the knight to turn and look at him in awe. Wind whipped around him violently, causing the ground at his feet to crack and shatter. An aura of power flowed from him with such pressure that the knight fell to his knees. The charging monsters slowed, suddenly realizing how dangerous their target was.
"Decipher the laws of nature! Create a storm to slice through my enemies! Make this ground their graves! Bring upon them divine retribution to shake the heavens! Raise up the Earth at my command!"
His staff had allowed him to train his magic to be far stronger than a normal adventurer's. He normally didn't need the incantation for this level of magic. But it made it more powerful.
Plus, young Naofumi was watching. Gathering up his magic power made him look cool.
He brought his hands down. "Drifa Cataclysm!"
The storm shot outward from him, like many sharp blades of wind. The monsters tried to turn tail and flee in terror, but it was too late. Wasps were sliced in half. Skeletons lost their limbs. Large undead captains were sliced into many pieces. And that was only the wind.
The earth beneath the monsters shattered and split, creating jagged stones that impaled the creatures from below. Walls of solid rock emerged from the earth, surrounding the whole village and protecting it from further harm. Every single monster inside the village was decimated completely, and utterly.
Somehow, nothing inside of the village was damaged at all from the attack. Not even the knights around Aultcray had been harmed.
Aultcray calmly lowered his hands. "The village is secure. Good work, everyone."
His ornamental staff was given back to him. Several of the knights around him fainted. Overawed by the force of the attack.
"Mr. Aultcray! THAT WAS AWESOME!" Naofumi yelled, running up to the King.
Aultcray steadied himself with the staff. "See, young Naofumi. Those are feats even you might achieve one day if you study hard enough." He said, smiling widely for the boy.
"Maybe we should have you fight the Wave Boss for us." Motoyasu approached, smirking at the King. "That was incredible!"
"You pulled that off by yourself. Nice." Ren said coolly, trying to pretend he wasn't shaking at how powerful the attack had been. His knees felt weak, and his palms were sweaty. However, there was no vomit on his non-existent sweater and his mom did not in fact make spaghetti.
Those were just his legs.
"No, no. I'm afraid without my staff, that's the most I could pull off for a day." Aultcray had to be supported by those knights that hadn't fainted. He hadn't realized how much energy the single spell had exerted. It'd been so long since he'd cast magic on that scale.
Itsuki was silent on the rooftop. Too stunned by the force of the attack. He had Wind and Earth Affinities too, but he'd never known such a spell from his game. Was it something unique to royalty, or was it just another cheat?! He had to learn his secrets!
His eyes caught movement, and his current thoughts were thrown out. "Um, guys. You might want to see this." Itsuki was on a rooftop, pointing over the wall towards the forest.
A horde of monsters emerged from the forest where they had been earlier. More monsters were still falling from the sky into the forest and the area around the village. Amongst the monsters from the forest was a massive beast with multiple heads. One was a dragon, another an eagle, and a third being a lion. Its tail was the body of a viper, and as the monster's name appeared in their status magic the heroes all knew what it was.
Except for Naofumi. He didn't know what in the world a Chee-meepr-a was.
It looked cute. Especially the lion head. "Hey, kitty! Want to be my new pet!?" Naofumi yelled.
It let out an angry ear-piercing roar.
It probably didn't want to be his pet...
Probably. It might just need some house training. Some very strict, very careful house training.
"What are your orders now, Sir Heroes?" One of the Knight Captains asked.
"Make sure they don't breach the village. Our parties can distract the small fry while we deal with the Boss so the wave ends." Motoyasu said, twirling his spear coolly.
The knights nodded and began lining the new stone wall the King had made. Some prepared magic. Others prepared bows and crossbows. Some jumped down in front of the wall while drawing swords, pikes, and other close melee weapons. They were joined by adventurers and a few brave villagers who were armed by the soldiers.
Aultcray lowered a section of the wall for the Heroes and their parties. Motoyasu, Itsuki, Ren, and Naofumi walked out. The Wave Boss was only several hundred yards away from them, but it was closing the distance quickly.
"Alright, Naofumi! This is where the fun begins!" Motoyasu said excitedly.
'Finally! We're going after the monster that will win me the glory I need to become the future Queen-' Myne was thinking to herself.
"You're in charge of small fry girls! Huahhhhhh!" Motoyasu yelled as he charged forward. The other Heroes following right behind him.
"Sir Motoyasu! Wait-" Myne yelled in fear, running after the Heroes with their parties. But the other girls and the heroes parties, minus Raphtalia, swept her to the side after the small fry. She wouldn't get her chance to shine.
Surprisingly, out of the four heroes, Naofumi reached the Chemeepra first. "Hey kitty, do you want to be my new pet-" The monster roared and clawed at him, he blocked the attack with his shield. The little boy frowned. "Okay, I guess not. You're big and fluffy, but you're too mean!"
"Naofumi, watch out!" Motoyasu stabbed at the roaring dragon head before it could clamp its jaws on the boy. It roared in pain and backpedaled away.
"Oh no you don't! Thunder Arrow!" Itsuki released a sparking arrow made of lightning that struck the beast in its leg. The damage caused it to stumble forward.
"Take this! Hundred Swords!" Ren created a hundred spectral blades that flew forward, piercing the chimera's body all over. It screeched in various tones and roared, creating a small shockwave that sent Naofumi, Raphtalia, and the attackers back.
The monster leaped forward toward smol Raphtalia, but a hammer came out of nowhere and sent it flying across the battlefield. "Look alive, little lady! The big guy is gunning for ya!" Erhard yelled. Running back to deal with more of the small fry. He was like a deadly machine. The terrifying monsters didn't stand a chance under the might of his mighty hammer.
"Holy sh-crap!" Motoyasu said in shock, catching his language in time. "How strong is this guy!?"
"We'll have time for that later. Focus on the battle!" Ren yelled, charging forward. The chimera leaped over him, splitting him off from the rest of the heroes. Its viper tail snapped at him, forcing Ren to retreat for the moment and fight off the other small monsters in the area around him.
"Be careful, Raphtalia! He's tough!" Naofumi shouted, running forward into danger. As the boss monster swiped its claw at him, he blocked it with his shield before wrapping his arms around the limb. "Everyone, now!"
"Chaos Thrust!" Motoyasu rushed forward. His spear becoming a blur as it thrust forward again and again faster than Naofumi's eyes could follow. Impaling the beast's sides again and again.
"Air Strike Spread!" Itsuki released a glowing red arrow. And it separated sideways into multiple arrows. Which impacted against the other side of the beast.
"Haaaaahhh!" Raphtalia let out a battle cry as she jumped on top of the beast and stabbed between the dragon and eagle heads. The viper tail coiled up to snap at her.
"First Hiding!" Raphtalia jumped off and disappeared with a flash of light. The viper head looked around in confusion for its prey.
"Crimson Blade!" Ren charged by one of its legs, slashing the fiery sword through skin and muscle. It roared and turned to claw at him when Naofumi summoned an Air Strike Shield, blocking its attack. Its dragon head snapped its jaws on his shoulder before the other Heroes could stop it, but the teeth broke against his shoulder like it was made of metal.
This caused the Heroes to pause in shock.
The viper head was still looking around in confusion when Raphtalia reappeared beside it. She slashed upwards, and the viper head was slashed clean off the body. It hit the ground, twitching in its dying moments. The other three heads roared in pain.
Text appeared on Naofumi's screen. His Shield was telling him to use a skill to trap the monster while it was distracted. He let go of the limb and jumped back.
"Shield Prison!"
A ball of chains and plates surrounded the Chemeepra, trapping it. It started beating itself against the sides of it. But the skill didn't break.
The other Heroes shook their heads. Recovering from the surprise of seeing Naofumi unharmed by one of the strongest heads on the beast. "Good job Naofumi! Guys! Prepare to hit it with everything you've got!" Motoyasu yelled to the others, who prepared their strongest skills.
"Any second now!" After a few seconds, the ball broke. And the three used their skills at the same time.
"Meteor Arrow!"
"Meteor Slash!"
"Meteor Thrust!"
Their weapons all glowed blue and released strong blasts that caused Naofumi, the parties dealing with the miscellaneous monsters, and the knights guarding the village to shield their eyes. The Chemeepra's eyes all widened, and the roar of terror was drowned out in the ensuing explosion. A wave of smoke slammed into everyone, obscuring their vision. The whole battlefield was covered by the smoke.
"Did that do it?" Motoyasu asked.
They were silent. Watching as the smoke dispersed. And when it did, it showed the carcass of the big scary monster. The combined three skills had blown a hole right through it.
The chemeepra fell to its side. All of its heads sagging lifelessly. Naofumi felt sad. It could have made such a good pet if it had been more friendly.
The knights on the wall started cheering at the sight. Up above, the portals of the Wave disappeared.
The Wave was finally over!
"Hoo! That wasn't too bad, right guys?" Motoyasu looked to the rest of the heroes with a carefree smile.
It was several hours later. The monster carcasses were almost done being gathered from the surrounding area. Knights were combing through the forest. Making sure to hunt down any remaining monsters before they fled and became a new invasive species on their world. The other Heroes were finally sitting down together to catch a break.
"You're right. We didn't take any damage at all." Itsuki responded.
"Yeah." Ren rubbed at his arm. He'd seen the Chimera moving to attack him. But Naofumi's Air Strike Shield had spared him from receiving any harm. "Thanks, Naofumi." He said dryly to the kid playing nearby with a ball and his best friend. "I owe you one."
Naofumi stopped playing and stars appeared in his eyes. He was being praised by the coolest of the three Heroes! He didn't see Ren sweatdrop, fearing he'd fallen off the coolness scale with this surprisingly good little kid. "No problem, Ren!"
"Yeah, you did really good little bro," Motoyasu said, coming over and rubbing the kid playfully on the head. Naofumi laughed and went back to playing with Raphtalia.
"... He was useful… for a shielder." Itsuki whispered to Ren under his breath.
"I don't think he took any damage from the Chimera's attacks… that's definitely strange." Ren would have to ask how Naofumi hadn't taken any damage during the fight later. When he thought about a cool way of bringing it up.
"Good job today, Raphtalia!" Naofumi said happily as Raphtalia caught the ball.
She nodded and hugged the ball to herself happily. She'd been strong enough to help Naofumi deal with the Wave! It'd been super scary, but she did it! And everything had worked out!
Raphtalia ran up to Naofumi before hugging him tightly! Now she looked really happy! It looked like her tail was about to help her achieve take off!
No, he hugged Raphtalia back! If his best friend became a helicopter now, he wanted to be on the ride with her!
It was so adorable! Motoyasu was starting to wish he could find a demi-human to join his party! Preferably one of the 'angel' variety.
"Hey, kids!" Erhard finally appeared out of the forest, dropping his hammer so he could rub the two on the head. "You were both awesome today!"
"Yeah, we were!" Naofumi yelled happily. Causing Raphtalia to giggle.
"We not only beat the Wave, but we helped out the village too. If it weren't for you guys, things might have gone differently." He said with a smile.
"I agree with Erhard." The king appeared, walking up with a smile. "Thanks to everyone's effort, our country remains safe for the time being. I'm not exaggerating when I say we couldn't have done it without all of you here." He said, indicating to all the Heroes.
"Your Majesty, you flatter us," Motoyasu said, taking a bow.
"I guess we helped somewhat," Ren said dryly. Trying to play off the huge achievement like it was nothing. Damn him, why did he have to act like this around everyone all the time?! How he wished he could just hide from everyone and go monster hunting by himself so he could be him for once!
"Your Majesty!"
The Heroes and the King turned to the knight running up. "We just finished checking the village over. We had only a few injuries and no deaths. None of the villagers were seriously harmed by the monsters. It's… it's a miracle!"
Aultcray smiled brightly. "Even more good news!" He raised his hands up high. "Tonight, we will host a celebration for this grand achievement at the castle!"
"Yes! Do you hear that, Raphtalia?" Naofumi exclaimed in excitement as he embraced her again. "A celebration means good food! It'll probably be a ton better than what Uncle Bald Guy makes!"
"Yay!" Raphtalia cheered happily. Her already fast-moving tail blurred as it reached maximum levels of happiness and excitement.
"HEY! My cooking isn't that bad! Why I oughta-!" The blacksmith started grinding his fist into the boy's head, making him groan in pain.
"Uncle Bald Guy!" Naofumi complained.
Motoyasu laughed at Naofumi's plight. "Hey, old man! Let me have some fun with the little guy too!" He said, rubbing his fist more playfully into Naofumi's hair.
"Not you too, Moto!" Even at level 33, he was still being teased like this! He'd gone up at least two levels over the course of the wave, and the Chemeepra gave him and Raphtalia another two levels. When would people stop trying to give him noogies?! Did he have to reach 100!?
The harem of girls giggled alongside Raphtalia. Myne stood off to the side, forgotten as everyone enjoyed the festive mood.
'I didn't even get a chance to shine in the spotlight! I got stuck with killing stupid weak monsters!' She thought angrily. Staring at the little boy in the middle of the happy gathering. 'Oh, I have to make this little runt pay. I have to-'
"Justice…"
"Would you shut up, already!?" She screamed at Itsuki.
The blonde boy blushed a bit and coughed into his fist. "Sorry… force of habit." He went over to the Chimera carcass along with the other heroes. It was time they absorbed the monsters to unlock new weapons before they headed back to the castle for the celebration.
'What kind of stupid habit is that!? Freaking weirdo!'
Author's Notes:
Allen: Ah, so many wonderful things in this chapter. From Aultcray pulling off that awesome spell, to Itsuki muttering the word "Justice." Glad Naofumi helped inspire the heroes to 'protect' first before they attacked. And now, they have a celebration. And one pissed off Myne planning on doing something to make little Naofumi look bad. Can't be the slave thing though, since he doesn't have one. And it's likely (100% certain) she won't have Daddy's support for it.
I also want to see more fanart of KidFumi and KidTalia together. That sweet diabetus scene is too cute to not draw out.
RLTygurr: And here we finish another good chapter! The king gets to show off a little, and a little cooperation between heroes goes a long way for making everything easier. Stay tuned for one heck of a party in the next chapter!
Hero clips!
Super Batman Bros
"Justice."
"No, you have to say it deeper, Naofumi. You sound like a screechy bat."
The blonde teen and the raven-haired kid were dressed in their armor. "Isn't that what I was supposed to go for?"
"No, you're supposed to go deeper, like this." Itsuki coughed into his hand. "Justice."
"Just- I can't do it! It makes you sound constipated!" Naofumi laughed but stopped as he saw the bow hero's disappointed look. "Fineeeee, I'll try again."
He coughed into his hand again. "Justice."
"Almost! Try drawing it out a bit more so it sounds a little...I dunno...edgy? I think that's the worst I'm looking for."
"AHEM! ACK!" Naofumi broke into a fit of uncontrollable coughs but eventually recovered. "Justice..."
"Yes! Like that! Exactly like that!" Itsuki said happily.
"I, am, Justice." Little Naofumi uttered deeply.
"No, I, am Justice," Itsuki said back in his deep voice.
"We, are, Justice?"
"... Yes. We are the night. We are the dawn. We… are justice..." Itsuki muttered deeply.
The two made poses and flexed, but their small statures made it seem more silly than intimidating. "Justice..."
Motoyasu leaned down to whisper in Ren's ear. "Don't you think they're taking this a little too far?" he asked. The Sword Hero merely narrowed his eyes. He was glad the two were finally getting along. But...
"Justice..." Itsuki and Naofumi said at the same time. Taking another pose.
"Yeah. Definitely too far. Before you know it, they'll have matching outfits and-"
They looked down again and saw the two in matching black outfits. Cowls over their heads. And the bat symbol emblazoned on their chests.
"Justiceeeeeee!" They both drew out in deep voices that were silly for anyone else listening in.
"... is that copyright infringement?" Ren asked.
"If we get sued, you're my witness," Motoyasu responded with a facepalm.
Itsuki pulled out a Batarang. But when Naofumi tried, his Shield shocked him for holding a weapon. "Stupid Shield! I'm trying to be Justice!"
Off to the side, Raphtalia nudged Erhard's leg. He leaned down so she could whisper in his ear. "Remind me to burn those costumes. Naofumi looks too weird in that."
"Agreed little lady. Agreed."
"Justice!" Naofumi and Itsuki flexed again.
Till Next Time
Allen and RLT