Author Notes:

Firstly, I'm apologies for the short chapters, as I predicted the next chapter will be around more than 10k words. I hope you can enjoy this chapter, as the next chapter will break every canon rules of ROTSH.

Chapter 12: The Truth

The next morning…

"Whoa?! Slow down, Xceed!" Tomori shouted as he gripped the motorcycle handlebars as if his life depended on it. "Who's supposed to be riding you right now?!"

"Xceed!" The red motorcycle happily leads his master through the rigid landscape.

This is the first time Tomori has ridden a motorcycle on an off-road track, and of course, he's terrified about it.

"I know that it only scratches if I fall down, but the feeling of it is scary!" He thought to himself as he tightly grips the handlebars. The front and back brake doesn't work as Xceed is the one in control. "Xceed, let me have the controls back or I'll tell Audrey to turn you into scraps for my new sword!"

"Xceed?!"

The motorcycle immediately stopped.

" Sigh* I know you're excited, but please think about my safety. When I said that I had experience riding a motorcycle cycle like you, it doesn't mean that I can just do tricks like backflip or something equally dangerous as that. I'm more of a chill rider. And I'm more happy to ride you in that kind of situation. Do you understand?"

"Xceed!"

Vroom* Vroom*

"I guess that means you understand. Let's return back to the base." Tomori pulled the throttle slowly so that Xceed could move calmly.

"Hmm…" Tomori is humming as he slowly rides Xceed through the terrain.

All of the sudden, there's something blocking the sun.

"Huh?" He turned up, and saw a huge *ss purple dragon with humanoid limbs, flying on top of him. "What the f-"

Poof*

The dragon flies ahead of him, and then with a poof of smoke, a person ascends from the sky.

"A person?" He pulled the throttle to catch up with the person falling from the smoke.

Screech*

He pushed the back brake using his right foot to stop a few meters from the person. Tomori gets off from Xceed and walks towards the person. The person was a woman whose height was similar to Reika. She has black hair and purple eyes, while her attire is a simple black dress and purple robes. Not only that, but she also has a choker with a purple gemstone on her neck.

"Is it just me or she kinda reminds me of that masochist dragon from Arifureta?"

"Oh… Sorry disturbing you, Blade Hero. I was on my daily flight back then when I saw you. I really wanted to meet you, as I was a huge fan of Blade Hero." The woman said to him.

"Oh yeah? Who's your favourite Blade Hero the last time?" Tomori asked jokingly.

"Oh, it was around a few centuries ago." The woman responded, taking the question seriously.

"Centuries? You live that long?!" Tomori exclaimed, then he remembered. "Ah, you're a dragon. Of course you can live that long."

"My apologies, Blade Hero, but you're mistaken. I'm not a dragon."

"Huh? What do you mean-"

" Portal Ring!" The woman shouted. A golden ring appears on top of both Tomori and the woman.

"Return! Xceed!" Tomori pointed the buckle at Xceed, which he takes from his pocket, to store it inside of the buckle.

Both of the rings then went through them.

Daela's Hideout

After the ring went through him, Tomori backed down and pulled his sword out, quickly changing it to TBKDCS.

"Why did you bring me here?!" He said while pointing his sword at the woman. "And the words you shout back then… All I know is that whether you're from Armorian… Or you yourself are a hero. So which one are you?"

"Such precise insight! As expected from the Blade Hero himself." The woman said. She then slowly bowed down to him. "My name is Daela, or you can call me Ela for short. I'm just a humble Dragon Huma-noid and the wielder of the Vassal Ring, the Ring Hero."

"Dragon Huma-noid? And you're the Ring Hero?" Tomori asked. "What's Huma-noid supposed to mean?"

"As for that, Huma-noid are basically artificial monsters that resemble humans. Unlike the Hybrid humans, who get their genetics from syringes, we, Huma-noid, were built from scratch to become a living being with a will of our own. The only downside to it is that we can't reproduce like hybrids. That sucks as I really wanted to be a mother…"

"Okay…" Tomori said as she shifted the course of the discussion. "So… Why did you bring me here into this… Cave, I suppose?"

"I just wanted to have a talk alone, you and me." Daela said in a tone that Tomori very much didn't like.

"Okay… I don't know if it's really going to happen… But I get a hunch that she's probably going to sexual assault me…"

"Hehehe! I'm just messing with you. I wouldn't do something like that to a young, cute man, am I?"

"...Okay, I really need to prepare for something IF anything happens." Tomori thought to himself. "For starters, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well… I was wondering… Where did you get that sword?" Daela pointed at TBKDCS.

"This? It's just a gift from a friend. That's all." Tomori replied.

"Oh, I see…" Daela then walked towards Tomori and placed her right palm onto his chest.

"What are you-"

Daela shushed Tomori up with her finger. As she holds her palm onto his chest, Tomori feels like something is going through his chest. He immediately backed down from her hands.

"What are you trying to do?" He asked to rub his own chest, wondering what that feeling was.

"I just wanted to check your magic affinity. And it was splendid! A crimson red lightning… This is the first time I saw magic like this. As expected from the great Blade Hero!" Deala exclaimed while praising Tomori's magic affinity.

"Damn… She's a hardcore fan of Blade Hero, I suppose. And why the hell am I talking like this?!"

But that's not what Daela intended to do in the first place.

"As I imagine, there's a dragon hibernating inside his body. It's safe to assume that the Blade Hero had absorbed the last atom of the Dragon Emperor Shard into his own body. For a hero that was just summoned for less than a year, he had done many things that rivalled what the past Blade Heroes had done, including forming a pact with a Spirit Beast. Amazing… Truly amazing!"

"Umm… Hello?" Tomori waves his hand in front of her. "Are you still here?"

"Oh, yes! Yes, I am!" Daela immediately snapped back to reality.

"Okay… Is there anything else that you can talk about?"

"Hmm… How about your life since you're a child?"

"Eh? You really wanted to know that?"

"Of course! Really need to know how the Blade Hero is made of, you know?"

"Well then, I suppose I can tell that."

He then walked in front of Daela.

"It all started in a hospital at Saitama. I was healthy baby, weight around-"

"No, no, no! I don't mean that far! I mean, how about your family members?"

"Well, there's my mom, my dad and my little sister. I also have a cousin who's the same age as my sister. And I also have a really cool aunt."

"Oh… Might tell me more about her?" Daela asked.

"She's very skilled at Kendo, like my mother. I did Kendo too as a kid, but I quit as the other kids didn't like me that much due to the fact that they can't defeat me. It's a decision I kind of regret doing, but hey, I'm just a kid back then."

"I see… Who's your mother and aunt's name?"

"It's Towa Tanaka. As for my aunt, her name is Toshika Akane. Why did you ask?"

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to know, that's all." Daela said, but there's something wrong with the way she said it.

"Why did she want to know about me…" Tomori then started thinking. "Unless…!"

Every neuron on his head started connecting with each other.

"You…" Tomori spoke up. "You know… My aunt, didn't you?"

Daela's face right now resembles the surprised Pikachu meme. Everything makes sense now. Tomori almost forgot how he got summoned in the first place. It was from a book that his aunt locked in a box from the world. And why did she had that book in the first place, unless she used to be summoned as a hero in the past.

"Is she… The Blade Hero from centuries ago?"

A moment of silence passes as Deala is shocked to know that Tomori is Toshika's nephew and the fact that he found out immediately that she used to be the past Blade Hero.

"...Yes. She was. And she's the greatest Blade Hero I've ever seen in my entire lifespan."

"I see…"

Tomori then walked to the sides of the cave and then lay down on the ground. Daela then slowly joins him.

"Is there anything wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing… It's just… I don't even know why I am like this in the first place…" He said as he stared at the ground.

"Hmm… Did Toshika tell anything about us?"

"Not from what I remember. I don't think that I would believe her if she said that she has a friend that can turn into a dragon, but not actually a dragon in the first place."

"Hehehe… I suppose that's correct…"

"So… You just wanted to find out whether or not I'm related to her, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, you already got your answers, then." Tomori then stood up. "So, can you please send me back to the base?"

"Oh my, come on… Don't leave so soon. I still wanted to talk with you."

"There's nothing interesting about me at all. I'm just a normal dude with a holy sword. That's all…"

"No, I wouldn't say that." Daela then stood up and put both of her hands on Tomori's shoulder.

"You see, in terms of candidate selection, the Holy Weapons are more picky than the Vassal Weapons. The fact that you, who's related to the past heroes, get chosen to be the next hero, is not merely a coincidence. This Holy Weapon saw you as a suitable candidate to hold it. There are thousands, or even an infinite amount of candidates that it can choose, but it decides to choose you instead.

"You might be a normal dude back home, but your story hasn't been written yet. Just because you mess up in the beginning, doesn't mean you will mess up all over again in the future. All you have to do is to trust yourself, and the ones who stand besides you."

Tomori's eyes widen when he heard Daela say that.

"Isn't that…"

"What Toshika used to say? Yep! She always says this to me when I mess up a lot. And look at me now! I'm far more greater than my past self." Daela exclaimed proudly. "I can see from your eyes that you have gone through a lot, Tomori. And never ignore those feelings. As painful as it feels, that experience is what shaped you to be the person you are today. But don't ignore those feelings. It will bottled up and turn yourself into a person you wouldn't want to be. Well… That's all I wanted to tell you about."

…

" Sigh* Even in another world, her influence is still strong, huh? For goodness sake, Toshi-nee…" Tomori then finds himself smiling. "Well… What you said is right. And… Thanks for it… Ela-nee."

To Daela's surprise, Tomori suddenly hugged her. But nevertheless, she returned the hug back, as the person in front of her really needed it.

"Well… That's a roller coaster for sure." Tomori said as he released himself from the hug. "But really, I need to get back to the base. I have a gut feeling that someone is super worried about me."

"Oh well, I suppose we can continue talking in the near future. But before we depart…" Daela then points her hands to the ground. A sword and four accessories with different colours appear on the ground. "It's some gift for you and the rest of the heroes."

"Is that so?" Tomori then picked up the items off the ground.

As for the four accessories, it has four colours, red, blue, yellow and green. Tomori instantly knew who to give these to. As for the sword… It really looks similar to a weapon he saw in the past. But he can't quite remember where he knew about it.

"Seems like you're confused about the sword. Let me show you how it works." Daela said to him.

Tomori gave her the sword. As he gripped the handle, the sword glowed brightly, and turned into a staff.

"As you can see, this weapon here can change its form and replicate a hero's skill. However, it used a lot of MP to do that. So the past army put the ideas aside and focused only using the Absorver Weapons." Daela explained.

"It doesn't have any ability to restrict heroes' ability?" Tomori asked. He finally knew where he saw something familiar to the weapon. Although he only saw the prototype, from Reika's story, the pope's weapon can restrict heroes' abilities.

"Not from what I remembered. Perhaps you are talking about the bootleg version?"

"Bootleg?" Tomori wondered what she meant by that.

"It's the same weapon as this one here, but it can only replicate two weapon forms instead of four. The only upside of it is that it can restrict some heroes' abilities. But you don't have to worry about it since there's a few weapons that aren't affected by it, such as weapons made with Absorver technology."

"I see…" Tomori then changed his weapon to SoAII and put the red accessory on the other side of the gemstone.

Sword of Absorver II (Awakened)(10)(X)(Divine) : Ability Unlocked

Skill: Reflect Blade, Switchblade

Special Effect: Element Transmission, Phase Shift, Magic Unison, Howl of Wolf, Magic Assistance, Magic Attack Up (Extra Strong), Magic Defense Up (Extra Strong), MP Recovery (Extra Strong), HP Recovery (Strong), SP Recovery (Strong)

Accessory Equip Effect: Thousand Blades, Comet Wave Slash

Item Enchantment Level 20: SP 28% Up

Eclipse Minotaur Spirit Counter: MATK 100, MDEF 100

Status Enchantment: 100 MDEF

"That should do it. And…"

Deala gave Tomori back the weapon and he instantly copied it.

"The stats are low, but the special effects are kind of good. And hey, I never tried the Weapon Synthesis method. Maybe I can transfer this effect to SoAII." Tomori changed his weapon to the golden sword and sheathed it inside his scabbard. "Well then, I guess you can teleport me back now."

"Okay. Stay safe! Portal Ring!"

A ring appears on top of Tomori and goes through him, teleporting him out from here.

" Sigh* He's such a cute kid. I hope Rusty goes easy on him, though…"

"Excuse me!" Ivaran is running towards the two female heroes. "Have you two seen Tomori-san around? He said that he's going to take a morning walk and return shortly, but it's been an hour since then."

"Maybe he is still on the walk." Reika speculated.

"But it's almost midday. And it's hot outside. There's no way he wouldn't return here, knowing that this place has AC that used mana as the source." Akira said to her.

"Well, do you have any idea where he is-Woah?!" Reika moved back as she saw a giant golden ring from the ground. "What's that?!"

The three of them prepared themselves, only Ivaran realised that he didn't have his shield yet. As the ring levitates, a person appears.

"Tomori-san?!" Ivaran is shocked by him. "Where did you come from?!"

"Didn't I say that I'm on my morning walk?" He responded.

"Forget about that. What I wanted to know is that golden ring. What is it?" Reika asked him.

"That's a hero skill."

"There's another hero here?" Akira asked him as well.

"Yeah. We just had a chat back then. In any case, she has something for you guys." Tomori brings out the accessories and throws the green one at Akira and the blue one at Reika. "Those accessories will power up your Comet skills."

Akira put the accessory onto her staff gemstone. "Yeah, it does power up my Comet skill."

"Not only that, but regarding the weapon that the pope used, it can be countered by weapons that were made with Absorver System." Tomori explained to them.

"Really? And since our weapons were upgraded with that system, doesn't that mean we can face the pope head on?"

"Yep! If we can, I wanted us to return back to Welle as soon as possible to beat the pope's *ss and wait for the queen to return. But we need to talk with Miya first about it since it's her country after all."

"I agreed with that."

"Me too."

Both Akira and Reika agreed with him.

"If that's the case, then I will group up the others for us to have a discussion about this matter." Ivaran suggested.

"Thanks a bunch, Ivaran. We will meet after lunch."

A Few Minutes Later…

"Alright… There's no one here…" Tomori, using the dagger that boosts his Hiding Skill, sneaked into the main kitchen. "Oh wow… It looks like a modern kitchen here. Not only that, they had a lot of ingredients here. Including…"

Tomori goes to a big bag of sacks, only to find something that he thought he will never find in a fantasy world.

"Rice grains! Rice grains! RICE GRAINS!!!"

Never would he think that he would get excited over something simple as rice grains.

"Since this is a special occasion, maybe I can make Hainanese Chicken Rice instead. Let's see what these compartments have stored…"

He went through it all, and found all of the ingredients to make a simple Hainanese Chicken Rice. He also found a huge rice cooker, which is a plus. But he found one issue…

"It looks like a chicken… But is it really a chicken?" Tomori thought to himself as he saw the name of the meat. " Dino-Chic Meat… Meh. If it looks like chicken meat, then it is chicken meat."

Tomori then washed the rice by batch, and put it inside the rice cooker. Then, he poured chicken stock onto the rice cooker. After that, he put a few cloves of garlic, a few slices of ginger, a few scallion onions and poured a generous amount of sesame oil. Lastly, he seasoned up the chicken leg using some salt and white pepper, and put it on top of the rice.

"Close the lid and wait for around a half an hour and we're set!"

Ting*

A sound comes from the rice cooker.

"Great! Now I need to just bring this up to the group-"

Clack*

Someone opened the door to the main kitchen.

"Oh shit-"

"Hmm… What was that smell-"

The person, who's probably a worker in the kitchen, saw Tomori carrying the huge rice cooker with both of his hands.

"Um… I can explain…"

"Ugh… So hungry…"

Growl*

Rylon's stomach started growling.

"Where's the Blade Hero… I thought he said that he's going to bring us the food…"

"Maybe he's having problems with the food." Emil speculated.

"No way! Not when I'm hungry like this!"

"You're not the only one who's hungry you know?" Lowri spoke up. "Look at Mister Royal Knight here. He doesn't even complain about anything."

"Actually… He's currently sleeping…" Miya explained. "Flan usually does this when it's not involve anything with sword fighting."

" Zzz*" Flan peacefully sleeping while he's sitting down.

"Damn… I hope I can just sleep it off when I'm hungry." Rylon said.

"No way. You're going to get even lazier than usual." Mizune commented. "Actually, where's Akira-dono, Reika-dono, Ivaran, Riri and Thea?"

"I think the heroes are around Audrey's workshop. As for Ivaran and Riri, they said that they wanted to check the place around. And for Thea, I don't know where she is." Miya said to her.

"Alright then-"

"I can't take this any longer! I'm going to the canteen!" Rylon stood up and left the room.

"That idiot! Don't just barge out like that!" Mizune started chasing after him.

"Guys! Wait for me!" Emil also followed them from behind.

"Um… What should we do now?" Lowri asked Miya.

"Perhaps we can follow them?" She suggested.

"Well, the food isn't coming here. So I guess we should come to the food instead."

"If that's the case… Flan, wake up!" Miya shakes his body to wake him up.

"Huh? Are we getting ambush-"

"No we're not. Let's go to the canteen."

"A-As you wish, Princess Miya!"

The three of them left the room and went down to the canteen.

As they walked to the canteen, Miya saw that it's full of people.

"Oh wow… It's not packed like this in the morning." Lowri said.

"Maybe there aren't a lot of people in the morning for breakfast." Flan commented, as he did his morning jog next through the canteen.

"And the smell from the canteen… It can't be him, right?" Miya looks at the two people next to her. "Let's have a look first…"

They then dashed towards the canteen, and saw the rest of the group here eating their meals. But not only that…

"Okay, people! These guys are going through the line all over again! You wash the rice perfectly! And you make sure that we have enough ingredients for lunch! And lastly, you guys need to butcher the chicken leg precisely so that they will enjoy every bite of it! What are you waiting for now! Move!"

"Y-Yes!" All the kitchen workers follow the order from… Tomori.

"Um… What are you exactly?" Miya went to the kitchen and asked him.

"You! You don't sanitise yourself! You are going to bring germs to the ingredients! Leave immediately!" He ordered her.

"Hah?! What are you saying right now?!" She retorted back.

"You two, please don't fight here…" Ivaran appeared out of nowhere and stood between them.

"Ivaran? Why are you here? And why are you wearing an apron all of the sudden?" Miya asked.

"Well…"

"To sum it up, I was caught bringing food out from the kitchen by a worker here. As I started explaining stuff to them, I saw Ivaran out from the door of the kitchen… And then here we are. I don't know how it gets to this, but I'm now directing these guys to make food for these people." Tomori explained. "And if you really wanted to stay here, I suggest you to sanitise yourself, or just line up with the rest of the people for the food."

"Fine." Miya went out from the kitchen and lined up with the others, which are the armored people.

"Hey, isn't that guy the person Audrey brings in here?" An armored person asked another armored person in front of him.

"Yeah. I saw him outside in the morning, riding that old school vehicle. When suddenly Commander Daela brings him somewhere." The armored person replied.

"Even the commander is interested in him… Have you heard anything from Commander Rust, though?"

"Nah. Haven't heard of him. But I heard that the Captain is returning this evening."

"Really?! I bet the Captain is going to like our new head cook here."

Both of the armored people stare at Tomori through the line.

"Hey! Why are you shaking this badly?!" Tomori shouted at a worker who's in charge of beheading the chicken.

"I-I'm so s-sorry, sir! I'm n-new in the k-kitchen!"

"Why didn't you say so from the beginning!" Tomori then takes the knife's off from the newbie hands. "Listen here, when beheading a chicken , you just need to-"

Chop*

In a swift motion, Tomori chopped the chicken's head easily.

"Do it like that. Just imagine you're fighting a monster, and you went for the head."

"B-But there's going to be a lot of blood-"

"Did I stutter?" Tomori said menacingly. "If you can't do this, then perhaps you can be a bait to these chickens. At least you have a purpose other than shaking like a damn loser! You hear me?!"

"Y-Yes, sir!" The newbie instantly does his job.

"...Yeah, the Captain is going to like him." The armored person said.

"And I need to remind myself to not let him get near the main kitchen in the castle." Miya thought to herself.

A Few Hours Later…

"Ugh… So tired…" Tomori said weakly as he lay his face onto the table in the kitchen. "But at least these bucketheads aren't here anymore-"

Thud* Thud* Thud*

As soon as he said that, he heard footsteps from afar.

" Sigh* I just jinxed myself… Oh well, it's only a single person." Tomori picked up an empty tray and placed down the rice, chicken, a couple of veggies and soup on the tray. He then proceeded to give it to the person. "Here you go-"

Tomori looks at the armored person straight to his helmet. Unlike the other armored people, this person here is in black, full plate armor. Not only that, he's also super tall. Even taller than Ivaran.

"..." The black armored man silently takes the tray off Tomori's hand and casually leaves the canteen.

"Umm…" Tomori wanted to say that he can't leave the canteen, but he's too tired for that, and probably afraid to say it to him. "Well, it's not my problem."

Tomori takes off the apron and the toque off from his head and leaves the kitchen.

Zzz*

On the canteen tables, Tomori can see the others taking a nap peacefully.

"I can understand Ivaran as he helped me, but these guys as well? Sigh* Teenagers… Well, I'm a teenager too four years ago. Whatever…"

Tomori then lay down on the seat and started taking a nap.

Munch* Munch* Munch*

Somewhere else, the black armored man is eating the chicken rice peacefully by opening the mouth compartment on his helmet. Until an unstoppable force arrived…

"Hey, Rusty… Whatcha doing here, eating all alone?" Daela asked him.

"Can you not disturb me when I'm eating?" He pleaded to her.

"Hey, this is different from what I usually see. And it smells good too. Let me have a taste!" Daela snatched the spoon off from his hand and proceeded to scope the rice into her mouth. "Oh…! It's good! Who's the one who will lead the cook for lunch?"

"I don't know, but I saw the Blade Hero inside the kitchen back then." He answered while snatching the spoon back from her and continue eating.

"Tomori? He's the one who leads the cooks? Impressive… Even Toshika can't cook that well."

The black armored man stopped eating and glared directly at Daela.

"Didn't we promised to not say her name-"

"Tomori, the Blade Hero, is Toshika's nephew." She quickly said.

"...What?" He put his tray to the side and stood up. "Are you really sure?"

"Well, we can do a blood test if we really want to know. But you surely felt it too, right… Rust? This is not a mere coincidence. He might be the person who can change all of this mess into something. We waited for centuries for the Blade Hero to come and here he is, in front of us. He, along with the other heroes, can unite together with other countries to fight the wave!" She exclaimed.

"Daela… Do you remember why we went into hiding in the first place?" Rust asked him.

"It's because the elves, Klinge, those Church of Transpierce people decided to launch an attack on us."

"Yes… People aren't as good as before, Ela… Today, they're our friend, and then tomorrow, they are our foe."

"But we still have relationships with the dwarfs, right?"

"True, but it's because our country is the one who supplied them with Absorver technology, while they supplied us with Mithrils. But there's no telling that they will betray us in the future."

"You really aren't a trusty person, aren't you?*

"I learned from experience, Ela… And those experiences have taught me well." Rust sat down and picked up the tray to continue eating. "I'm thinking of testing the hero's capability this evening, but they all seemed tired. So I will test them tomorrow morning, where all of them are fresh."

"I see… I hope you are easy on them." Daela said to him.

"You know I wouldn't."

Daela then continued to walk away from him.

"Come on, Tomori! Knock some senses into his head!"

Zzz*

Tomori and the others peacefully took a nap on the seats.

Thud* Thud* Thud*

An armored man in green walks into the canteen and stares at Tomori. After a while, he pulled out his blaster from his side and pointed it at him. As his fingers reached the trigger, Tomori instantly disappeared from the seat.

" Chain Bind!"

The green armored person instantly warped in chains. Then, someone kicked him from behind, making him fall forward.

"You got balls of steel to ambush me when I'm sleeping, huh?" Tomori said as he knelt down, facing the armored person. "I have an ability to sense danger, even when I'm sleeping. And it seems like you had some beef with me. Maybe you're from the church-"

"Wait!"

Tomori heard a voice from outside of the kitchen.

"Audrey? Why are you here? And why do you bring a hammer here?"

"For this!"

Bonk* Clang*

"Oww!"

Audrey bonked the green armored man's helmet, letting out a loud clanking noise.

"Ugh… What?"

The others wake up as they hear the loud clanking noise.

"What did I say about not doing that to the Blade Hero?!" Audrey yelled at the armored man.

"I need to make sure whether the Blade Hero has the skill or not-Oww!"

She continued to bonk his helmet.

"I don't want to hear any excuses, Randy! Apologies to the Blade Hero, now!"

"Okay, okay… You don't have to yell at me…" The armored man turned to Tomori. "I'm sorry… For, uh… Pretending to assassinate you, Blade Hero…"

"Yeah, yeah… Everything's fine. But are you okay, man? She hits your helmet pretty hard." Tomori said, worried about the armored person.

"Well, this helmet has Impact Resistance on it. While it still hurts, it will protect my skull and whatnot." The armored man said. "And also… Mind getting me out of these chains?"

"For some reason, I felt a sense of Déjà vu…" Tomori cut the chains off from him.

"Thanks, man…" The armored man stood up and removed his helmet, revealing his black hair and green eyes. "My name is Randulf Gentry. I'm the newly appointed Captain of the 1st Wave Eradicator Squad. My job is simply to lead my team towards the waves to finish off the small fries while the Commanders take on the big boss themselves."

"Commanders?" Tomori asked.

"Oh, by that, I meant heroes. From my eyes, you're basically a Commander right now." Randulf said to him. "Just need to get the approval from the Grand Armorer and you're set."

"And who's this Grand Armorer?"

"He's the one who controls and observes everything here. Basically, he's the leader of Armorian." Audrey explained. "I would like you to meet him, but he's too busy for it now."

"Okay… How about our weapons?"

"Regarding that, I'm almost finished with the upgrades of your weapon. After that, I will move onto the Magic Hero's weapon and then the Projectile Hero's weapon."

"I see… Can I ask for something though? Do you have a spear that has Absorver technology on it?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. If you want it, I can give it when all of the weapons have been upgraded."

"I'm okay with that."

"Hey… What's going on?" Rylon asked as he opened up his eyes.

"Just go back to sleep…"