"I said, SCREAM!" he shouted, as two of the knights held Van between them, and Idol pulled back his arm, the weapon flickering with power as he used some skill to activate its curse effect, and then lashed out with it, slamming the thing into his body again with a sound that caused me to jump, trying to rise from the chair I was in, and finding myself unable to do so thanks to the knight above me, holding me down.

Melty was not being held by guards, and had nothing on her stopping her from attacking the knights, save that she couldn't take them all, and Rabier. Heck, given his abilities he'd shown off, I wasn't sure she could take him on his own. Apparently, while age, gluttony, and sloth had eroded him even in this world, his prowess as a warrior was still there, proven when one of the knights had objected, and he'd smashed the man so hard with his weapon, he'd died before he'd hit the ground.

The other guards, even when Melty had commanded them again, had shown reluctance to move against him, especially as he reminded them of her being under the spell of the 'Devil of the Shield' as he insisted Naofumi was to be called. He was still growling at Lord Reichnott for a moment, holding the end of his weapon in his hand, pulling on it like a dog worrying a toy, before turning towards me.

"And what of you, Sir Bowman!? You still claim the Devil was only protecting the Second Princess, and refuse to divulge his location?" he demanded, his whip glowing, but he'd not strike me with it again. Apparently the 'Curse' property was something I resisted naturally, as a Hero, and so while it hurt, it was no worse than a slap, which meant it failed to leave the painful looking lash marks on my body that it did on Lord Van's.

"Idol, my good psycho, I told you before, we parted ways with the Shield Hero some time before we saw you. I do not, in all honesty, know where he is at this point, as I believe he trusts me to keep the Princess safe on our way back to Sanctuary," I tell him, and to be fair, it is the truth. Though 'some time' was like a minute or so. As for keeping her safe? Well, that was a lie, given I was not even able to protect her from him, which galled me to my core.

"Lies!" he shouted, and slammed the whip into my face, forcing me to jerk my head back, before he curled it around his arm again, the fact that he'd hit me causing him to start for a bit, as he took several deep breaths, and with a click of his fingers, ordered one of his servants, a Demi-Human girl, younger looking even then Filo, to come forward with a tray and a goblet. Taking the thing, he downed it in a single pull, and then slammed it back onto the tray so hard, the girl couldn't hold it, causing her to drop both to the floor.

"You stupid, useless demi!" he shouted, even as she was trying to pick back up the silver things that hadn't even been dented by the fall. He kicked her, however, hard, holding nothing back, and I could hear her bones crack a little under his boot, making me try to rise, but finding my captor held me tightly, an action Idol noticed, and sighed about, as he looked towards me, forgetting all about the girl who was laying, groaning against the wall.

"You see, that's the thing that's been spreading lately. Even the Pope, a man I used to hold in highest esteem, has been saying that we must let go of the hate in our hearts for their kind. Forget about all the terrible things Siltvelt and their horrid race did to our kingdom," he said, coming up to me, the scent on his breath one of alcohol as he got up close to me, placing his hand on my chin, and forcing me to look him in the eyes.

"I will admit, I had feared once, long ago, that my place in Heaven, alongside my ancestors and the Heroes of old was in jeopardy, as I gave into my vices as I grew older. I lost the luster of the battlefield, lost my edge, and they look down on you for that, or so I used to understand," he began, keeping my gaze locked on him.

"Then, by some miracle, the Waves struck, in my lifetime. The Messengers of the Weapons, the Heroes, would walk this sinful earth, and I would stand beside them. I would defeat the hordes, and when it was done, I would ascend with them into the light, ensured for an eternity of pleasures in the beyond," he said, smiling as he sort of rubbed at my chin with one of his fingers in a way that implied something about those pleasures I chose to ignore.

"Then the Shield Hero's followers, before he was summoned, tried to interfere with my glorious battle. Lord Seaetto tried to halt your coming, divide you amongst us and the nations around us, lessen our connection to Heaven," he said this as he rose back up, and then spun around, the whip coming out and striking Lord Reichnott in the side.

"With this traitorous scum in his employ, he almost succeeded, until his 'accident', and the deal with the north, showing, at least, that the animals that we share this world with are good for something after all, if we can sell them for profit," he declared this loudly, showing that either the Pope had told him what he'd done, or it wasn't nearly as big a secret as Balmus had assumed it was.

"The Shield, of course, was ever one for the animals, and he was found wanting right away by the Princess' own hand. Yet he has gone to the rabble to plead his case, and has begun to make some amongst them love him, damning them. More room in Heaven for the saints, I suppose," he said with a wicked grin as he turned back towards me.

"But you, Hero of the Bow, took on only one human companion, and with her too young to remember the wars, the death, the destruction, she allowed you to employ Demis, Beastmen…animals, feral things that deserve not to stand at the side of a Hero," he said, grinding his teeth, legitimate outrage in his voice, though he refrained from shouting.

"And now we come to find that the Shield possesses powers to warp minds…perhaps even those of his fellows. All I ask is that you disavow him. Tell me where he is, allow me to end his threat, once and for all, and earn my place in Heaven," Idol Rabier, Lord of the Land, sounded like quite the madman, as he held up the symbol of the Three Heroes Church, shoving it in my face, like it would somehow break whatever hold he assumed Naofumi had on me.

He was about to say something else, when we heard what sounded like explosions from outside, the Lord turning towards his knights and then towards the window, rushing to it, and looking out, but cursing as the lights inside the room made it impossible for him to see outside, turning the windows into mirrors in all but name. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long, as a guard rushed into the room.

"Idol, sir, the Her-Devil of the Shield has breached the walls and is inside the estate!" he shouted out, and Lord Rabier turned to him, looking angry, confused, and scared all at once, as we heard more explosions, ones that were growing closer by the second, as the man himself got up from me, and stalked over towards Melty, the knight holding me down pressing hard to keep me from moving as Idol stood beside her.

A moment later, the wall behind me blasted inwards, scattering bits of the wall everywhere, and filling the air with dust and debris. The blast knocked the chair I was being held in, and the knight doing the holding, forward, sending us both to the floor. However, the moment I was out of his grip, I rolled to the side, and then stood up, my back against the wall to turn to see what was responsible.

That happened to be Filo, who used her wings to blow away the cloud, alonging Raphtalia to emerge out of it dramatically, her blade held at the ready. Oddly having not a drop of blood on it, showing that, for all they'd been smashing stuff, they'd apparently avoided killing any of the knights, which was rather impressive honestly, though her face as she looked around the room said she wouldn't mind seeing what it looked like in red, if anyone pushed her.

"Filo! Raphtalia!" shouted Melty, trying to rush past Idol, only for him to grab her, his body moving far faster than his mass should allow, as he pulled out what I could only call the most unholy weapon I'd ever seen in the form of a dagger. It crackled with black lightning, and every sense I had told me it needed to be destroyed right away.

"Stand where you are, or I'll have to do something to the Princess that I think we're all going to regret!" he shouted, and the knight, looking towards him, sees what he's threatening her with, and doesn't hesitate. He charges forward, hefting up his blade, and knocking the dagger from Idol Rabier's hand, as apparently the man hadn't expected that from one of the soldiers under his command.

"You will not harm the Princess while a Royal Knight watches!" he declares, and tries to strike at the man, but Rabier smirks, and moves the Princess in between him and the knight forcing the man to stumble past him, lest he hit Melty, which allows the fat bastard to trip him, and then pull out his whip. It doesn't threaten quite as well visually, but given the way he held it, and the way she flinched from it, it still worked well enough.

"Insolent cur! I'll have your head for that insult! Now everyone stand still, our I'll give her a lashing she won't forget!" he demanded, and the knight growled in frustration, but the way Rabier backed away from him, into the corner, it made it impossible for any of us to approach him this time, putting him on guard.

"So, you want us to stand still? I can work with that!" came a voice from out of the hole, the dust cloud behind Filo showing only a silhouette for a moment, before it moved a hand and pointed forward.

"Air Strike Shield!" cried out Naofumi, the shield appearing, and literally pressing Idol into the wall, knocking his hand down to his waist, and allowing Melty to rush away from him, with myself being the closest, and so she came to me. The knight, seeing this rose to his feet, brandishing his blade in one hand, while digging in his armor for a moment, then tossing me something with his other.

Catching it, I was shocked to see the key to my manacle, as I was not sure when or why he'd have it, but I didn't bother asking, quickly stabbing it into the terrible thing, and causing it to clatter to the floor. Rubbing my wrist for a heartbeat, as Idol finally shattered the shield with a motion of his whip, and stepped forward, as if moving towards myself and Melty, I grabbed her shoulder, and then used (Blink) to move us to the other side of the room.

Interestingly, there was another knight in the hall, whom Naofumi tossed a bottle of…something to. The man chugged it down, but then, rather than fleeing, entered the room, and suddenly, Idol was facing two Heroes, two knights, a very displeased Princess, a pissed off filolial, and a tanuki with her tail looking like a cactus from the way the hair was standing on end. Even so, he was still not done, lashing out with his whip, forcing us to keep away, as he blathered something about his place in Heaven.

The thing was still crackling with power, but strangely, out of all of us, it was Raphtalia who advanced on him, Idol screaming at her as he struck her with it, leaving a mark on her body that flickered with dark purple flames. First on her face, then on her shoulder, and finally on her leg. Not one of them gave her even the slightest bit of pause, and the moment she was close enough, she struck out with her sword.

The hit was…actually to the whip itself, slicing the lash part of it off the handle, leaving the fat guy standing there, still waving it around as she came up to him, and with her fist, laid him out, smashing him in the stomach, and sending him sliding along the wall, landing in a heap, growling as he raised his head, only for everything to go quiet, as she brought the tip of her sword to the tip of his nose, and held it there.

"Heaven? You think someone who did the things you did to my friends, to my people, to every innocent life in the dungeons here has any place in that paradise!?" she screamed the last word, kicking him in the face, and causing him to literally flip onto his back, as she advanced, and held her sword at his throat now, threatening to end him with a stroke.

"No please, spare me! I'll give you anything!" he whimpered now, bereft of his weapon, of his guards, of anything save his words that might stay her hand. And given the way Raphtalia's tail was fluffed up, I doubted she had a mind to listen to him.

"Pleading for your pitiful life now? How many Demi-Humans, innocent people, have done that to you? How many…how many were like Rifana, rotting away in your damned prison after you had your fun with them?" she said, venom in her words almost enough to invoke a curse…literally according to my senses, as the minor (Curse) effect she was under from the whip attacks was actually drawing on her rage to grow stronger.

"I…who…wait, I know those ears!" he said, recognition dawning on his face, as he stared into hers, and then he did the most unexpected thing. He smiled, threw back his head, and laughed.

"I see, so this is what became of you. A far cry from that lonely, desperate little girl from a few months ago. A grown woman, and standing with a power syphoned from a Hero," he was still smiling as he turned his head, Raphtalia actually backing away a little, as it cut into his throat. Not deeply, but enough to draw some blood, and yet, it was doubtful he noticed.

"You see, Hero of the Bow. This is what I'm talking about. The path to Heaven, to true, glorious strength! Even the most foul of the Four Weapons can turn a pitiful creature like her from a mewling welp, into this fine specimen of war. Think of what I could do with the same glory! Think of the spot in Heaven I could earn with it!" he said, and then he…kicked backwards, his fat body moving with a grace that it didn't possess a moment ago.

As if he were in fast forward, he slid to the side, and snatched his fallen dagger, and then stood there, brandishing it towards Raphtalia. No words passed between them, instead they began to fight, the dagger and sword striking each other in rapid succession, sparks and black arcs of lightning coming from their collisions. Her curse status was growing worse with each contest, and I quickly began to load up a (Curse Break Arrow) in my bow, waiting for the fight to end.

My expectation was it would do so in her favor, but Raphtalia was a newly minted warrior, and Idol Rabier, one with decades of experience behind him, dull with his life of debauchery though those skills had grown. He used the dagger expertly, finally knocking the weapon from Raphtalia's hand, and forcing her to draw…some kind of light sword thing I'd never seen before, but he scoffed, as she was too slow, and he lunged.

"(Air Strike Shield)!(Curse Break Arrow)!" Naofumi's voice and mine rang out together, our skills sailing forth. The first, his, got between Raphtalia and the bastard, causing him to to be knocked backwards, his hands going up, and allowing me a clear shot, blasting out with a golden shot that struck his weapon, the lightning fighting the attack for just an instant, before it exploded in a shower of sparks and shrapnel.

Rabier cried out, pain fueling his voice as he pulled his hand, covered in marks, but not missing any digits. Still, it was a close thing, and the moment the shield faded in front of Raphtalia, with him still stunned, she struck out with her weapon, slashing him, though his HP did not go down by as much as I expected, especially given the way the glowing blade skewered him.

Still, he stumbled back, clutching his chest where she'd pierced it with his hand, his mouth opening and closing, as he tried to process what had happened. That backwards step proved too much, as the severed handle of his whip wound up under his foot, and his body went flying backwards, as he tried to push off it, while also trying to keep backing away from Raphtalia, whose eyes did not seem shocked at all as he sailed away.

He slammed into the glass of the window, cracking it, but the window burst open before he could break through it fully, the sides of it shattering as they slammed into the walls outside, letting shards tinkle down into the courtyard, as the Lord of the Estate himself landed with a dull, squishy thud on the stones. His body looked for a moment like he would rise, but then falling over, looking quite dead to my eyes, as we heard the shouts of knights all over the yard.

"Lord Rabier has fallen!" one of them said, the tone not sure if it was a happy or sad thing, and leaving us all just staring at each other for a moment.