Since I've been asked about it, the connection between Dou-Lon and the clones is entirely lore-based. There aren't any power-ups planned there, especially since these monsters are inferior to the awesomeness of Dou-Lon's race. Only LN 20+ readers will understand the lore behind the connection.

Also, I'm not spoiling anything about his future that I haven't already spoiled through one-shots.

Warning: While I don't normally warn for this, there is a particularly gruesome death this chapter. If you are uncomfortable with gore, I'd recommend skipping the scene it's contained me. Trust me, just like before, you'll recognize it when you see it.

Chapter Sixty-Two: Midboss Smackdown

"Rowr!?"

Kizuna slid under a monster's wide-open jaws and swung her large tuna knife up into its belly. The beast soared the rest of the way over her before the heroine stood back up again.

The monster, even with the wound that it'd taken, turned back around to face her. A growl escaped from its maw as it prepared to pounce.

"Meteor Shot!"

A bright blue explosion consumed the monster. And when the smoke cleared up, the beast was left laying on the ground. Charred, and most certainly dead.

"Good one!" Kizuna gave Itsuki a thumbs up.

The Bow Hero nodded. Turning to snipe another monster in the eye as it lunged for Rishia.

"Rowr!" With the monster partially blinded, the green-haired girl easily dodged to the side and brought her kodachi down on the creature's back. The defense-piercing attack cleaved through its skin. And a kunai thrown from Maya pierced its other eye, blinding the beast completely. Aksel's axe cleaved through its head, finishing it off.

"Hey, Itsuki! How the hell did you not notice these things approaching earlier?!" Aksel asked frantically.

"I wasn't focused on my skill when they showed up! I was too worried about Naofumi to see them coming!" Itsuki responded as he unleashed another arrow from his bow.

"Talk about convenient," Aksel grumbled under his breath.

Yet more monsters appeared on both sides of the street. On the ground and the rooftops.

"Look at that! They're making things more fair!" Kizuna laughed.

"How is this supposed to be fair!?" Aksel protested while raising his axe back up again.

"Fair for them, I mean." Kizuna's grin turned into a predatory one.

The monsters lunged for her, but the girl's weapon flashed as it changed into a fishing pole weapon form. "Hiya! Ha! Huah!" Kizuna dodged and flipped from one White Tiger Clone to the next. Whipping her fishing line this way and that as a very familiar skill hit a spot on each tiger.

"What the heck is she doing?" Itsuki asked confusedly.

"Fueh! That's Lure Needle! Itsuki, take note of where that hook is hitting the tigers! If you hit that area with an attack, it'll do twice as much damage as usual!" Rishia said excitedly.

"Wait, THAT KIND OF SKILL EXISTS!?" Itsuki yelled incredulously.

Seriously, the more he learned about this world, the more he found it different from his and Rishia's.

Had he been summoned here, it would have been nothing like his game whatsoever. And he never would have treated it like his game either.

Kizuna did one last flip, vaulting over the last of the tigers and hitting it on the head with her skill. "Now, Blood Flower Strike!" Kizuna blazed forward with a large tuna knife again. And this time when she hit the tigers around her, their bodies fell to the ground in bloody pieces. Leaving spurts of blood in the air around her that looked like petals for a flower.

"Bunker Shot!"

"Spiral Strike!"

Itsuki's skill hit the weak point on another clone, burying the arrow inside before blowing it up. And Rishia's ki-covered weapon drilled through another monster's weak spot.

Aksel jumped forward to attack with his axe. The white tiger saw him coming and turned to claw him.

"Ha!" Maya appeared on its head and drove both of her kunai into its eyes. As the tiger roared in pain and tried to shake her off, Aksel drove his axe into the weak point Kizuna made. This time, he tore through muscle and bone, severing the monster's spine.

The tiger clone fell to the ground, unable to move, but not quite dead yet. "Ha!" Aksel finished it off with another blow to the head. "You ok, Maya?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Aksel helped the girl up, but there were four more monsters surrounding the pair.

"Flying Sparrow!" "Erst Arrow!"

Kizuna and Itsuki's skills impacted two of the beasts, injuring them but not quite killing them. Another attack from Rishia hit the other two, allowing Aksel and Maya to slip out of danger. Yet the monsters recovered and charged to attack with more reinforcements appearing behind them.

"Alright, time to unleash my special move." Kizuna prepared her weapon in front of her with a grin.

However, before she could unleash another skill, a different voice shouted from above. "Zero Stance Rondo: Reverse Moonflower!"

A series of energy flashes rained down on the monsters. Slashing into their white and black pelts again and again and again. Kizuna paused in surprise.

"First Form: Wind Blade! Second Form: Sky Blade!"

Two tornadoes were summoned one after the other. The two skills finished off the wounded monsters, dropping them to the ground in a pile of limbs and gore.

"Wha- what the heck was that?!" Aksel yelled in surprise.

"Look." Itsuki, who'd used his skill to look around himself again, smiled as he pointed at a nearby rooftop.

Kizuna looked up, and her eyes widened. Tears slowly appeared in the corners of her eyes, but her smile was so bright that the area around her became lighter because of it.

"Pen!" Chris waved from the rooftop. When had he gotten up there?

And currently, he was standing on top of Glass's shoulder, next to L'Arc and Therese who were smiling and waving as well.

"Hey, Fishing Auntie, Bow Uncle, guess who Filo found!" The humming fairy flying above them called out to the group happily.

"Well done Filo!" Itsuki yelled back. He was laughing from excitement.

As for the spirit woman, she was shaking. And nothing could hide the tears running down the sides of her face. Nor the faces of her close compatriots.

"Kizuna… I… I…

"I FINALLY FOUND YOU!"

"Wha- you! You! YOUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Trash yelled indignantly.

Raphtalia stood coolly in front of Naofumi, taking a ready stance with her blade.

As she stood there preparing for the coming battle, Naofumi took in her new appearance.

She looked the same as before. Like the transition between worlds had hardly changed her appearance. Yet, she carried herself with more confidence. And the expression on her face was fiercer than he'd ever seen it.

And her current outfit.

Gods, THE OUTFIT!

All of his fantasies since discovering kimonos in that one town FAILED to capture just how beautiful Raphtalia looked right now. Not even Maya, who was almost the same species as Raphtalia, could compare to the majesty of the view in front of him.

Raphtalia looked like a Shrine Maiden. And to be honest, she was rocking the look.

Naofumi discovered then that his secret kink was kimonos. Because Raphtalia couldn't have looked better even if she'd tried. She could have been covered in blood and mud and gore and a million other things in that outfit and he still would have thought she looked drop-dead gorgeous. It just fit her so perfectly and-

"Naofumi, is now really the time for those kinds of thoughts?" Raphtalia asked him without turning around.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Naofumi stammered.

"I can feel your eyes staring holes into me. And your nose is bleeding." Raphtalia pointed out.

Naofumi checked.

Yep, it was. It was bleeding heavier than it ever had before.

Naofumi used a healing spell to heal himself. Raphtalia rolled her eyes, but then again, it wasn't like Naofumi was the only one struggling to contain himself.

She didn't know if it was because of the time they'd been separated or not, but the Shield Hero looked better than ever. The rays of the sun shone on his lustrous skin. And his new outfit looked so HOT on him!

She wanted to peel it off him one layer at a time, pin him to the ground, kiss him deeply, and…

Her face flushed a little red. Damn hormones. Even though she'd finished her transition to adulthood again. She still had those damn urges pent up inside her pleading to be satisfied.

Though, thanks to Therese, she now knew what they were telling her.

She wanted Naofumi.

And she wanted him badly.

Unfortunately, she had to slash through another large fireball, as someone else who was present there wouldn't quite allow them to get amorous right now.

"Stop standing there and pay attention to what I'm saying!" Trash angrily demanded.

"You were saying something?" Raphtalia asked flatly.

"Looks like I wasn't the only one distracted by something," Naofumi said dryly as he crossed his arms.

"Shut up! Like you were paying any attention to him either." Raphtalia blushed a deep red.

"Why would I pay attention to Trash like that when I can just leer at you instead?" Naofumi smiled suavely.

He totally knew what he was doing. And Raphtalia would totally be lying if she denied that a part of her didn't love it.

"MY NAME IS NOT TRASH! MY NAME IS-"

Whooooooosh!

Again, that mysterious breeze blew down the street. Covering over whatever his actual name was despite how loud he tried to yell it.

"Can you quiet down there already, Trash? My girlfriend and I are trying to flirt over here." Naofumi spoke dryly.

"Trash? Wouldn't it be Trash II with the way your mind works?" Raphtalia asked thoughtfully.

"Eh, that joke ran itself dry on Aultcray, to be honest. I'll ask Mirellia to change his name back when we return." Naofumi shrugged.

Raphtalia rolled her eyes but smiled regardless. This was the Naofumi she knew and loved. She was sure on that, and she was thankful the loss of her tattoo hadn't changed their relationship whatsoever.

"Stop ignoring me!" Trash demanded angrily. "And give me back my weapon! It's mine! Nobody else can have it but me-!"

"Rowr!" A white tiger suddenly bounded in front of him. Trash's eyes widened, and a gash appeared in the center of the beast's chest. With a roar of pain, the tiger lashed its claws out in front of itself.

"Whoa!" The air shimmered as Dou-Lon jumped back, appearing from the illusion that Raphtalia had crafted for him. "Sorry, Miss Raphtalia, it appears their sense of smell is just as good as mine."

"Rafu!" Raph-Chan complained on his shoulder.

Naofumi's eyes widened. Had that been where Raph-Chan and Dou-Lon had been hiding?! Had his girlfriend just tried a dirty tactic to take out Trash!?

She really must have changed while they were separated! That was a page straight from his book! That was AWESOME!

Raphtalia merely sighed. "It's fine Dou-Lon. I didn't expect things to go that easily anyway."

"Y-You underhanded little whore-" Trash began to yell.

"Oi, you have no right to call her that! Especially not when you're surrounded by them." Naofumi countered smugly.

"How dare you!" One of Trash's harem members yelled.

"All of my women are with me by choice! Don't you dare talk down on them!" Trash roared as more fireballs appeared around him. With a wave of his hand, he sent them all flying at breakneck speeds towards Naofumi and co. The girls around the Katana's prodigy wizard cheered him on.

Naofumi opened his mouth to say a shield skill to block the attack, but Raphtalia dashed forward first, with her weapon shining in her grasp.

She cut through all the fireballs heading her way. Each one exploded in small bursts of power that surrounded her form with waves of light.

Naofumi's eyes boggled in their sockets at the sight.

Raphtalia didn't only look beautiful. She looked powerful. She looked unstoppable.

"She looks like a real Hero," Dou-Lon commented in an awed tone.

Indeed, she did.

She really had grown while they'd been separated.

Trash scowled. Two white tigers bounded past him, going for the Tanuki girl.

"Crescent Moon Sword!" Raphtalia slashed forward, and the crescent-shaped slash of energy slammed into the monster's bellies, cutting into them and stopping their forward momentum in an instant.

"Instant Blade: Mist!" Raphtalia then dashed forward, moving incredibly swiftly. Her blade dug into the deep wounds she'd inflicted with the first skill almost simultaneously, and the White Tiger Clones split into two large pieces with mist surrounding their bodies.

She stood tall again, her katana held in a stance she'd learned from Glass.

"GAH! YOU STUPID BITCH!" Trash dashed forward, pulling out a katana of his own. Ha, his last weapon hadn't been repaired after all!

Still, when he brought it down on Raphtalia, a shockwave of power burst out from Raphtalia blocking his weapon with her own blade.

He hadn't slacked in the power department, apparently. Raphtalia was just barely able to stop his attack.

"Air Strike Shield!" Naofumi summoned the skill, forcing Trash to back off as the barrier appeared between Raphtalia and him. He then parried a strike from Dou-Lon and forced the hakuko back with one strike from his blade.

"What the &%$# is up with that stupid shield on your arm?!" Trash angrily demanded.

"Oh, this little thing?" Naofumi waved his shield arm around a little before continuing in a dry tone. "That's the Cardinal Shield. A Legendary Weapon from my world. I'm its wielder, by the way."

"Hah! That's bull%^&$! Who do you take me for!? Cardinal Heroes can't travel between worlds! Now give me back my weapon at once!" Trash angrily demanded.

"Not a Hero, huh? Allow me to fix that misconception." Naofumi raised his shield above his head.

With a bright flash, it changed to a Shield he'd copied in a shop in this world.

…

Trash and his harem paused. "Still think that this is a trick? Watch this." Naofumi then switched to several other shields. Shields he'd found in this world as well as shields from his world. His favorite reaction was from the Nue Shield, which had the face of a Nue Monster on it.

It looked pretty terrifying, to be honest. He was surprised he hadn't pulled it out sooner.

And to add some extra salt to the wound, he changed to some gauntlet weapon forms as well since his shield could do that too.

"You satisfied yet?! I don't think I need to mention how those barriers I've been summoning before now are all Hero Skills, right?!" Naofumi asked.

Trash trembled, and Naofumi kept his shield raised above him.

"Now, with that out of the way…

"Oi! Shield! Get the &^%$ away from me right now you stupid bitch!"

…

The action was so unexpected that everyone stared at him. Naofumi smirked at Trash. "See? These things are stuck to us. If it was that easy to get rid of them, I would have done so soon after I was summoned to my world. So stop being stupid and edgy with demanding my girlfriend to release her weapon."

"It's impossible for her and me to do that. You're just wasting our time with drivel like that."

…

"... Fine, I'll just pry it from her cold dead corpse then!" Trash snarled. "It wouldn't be my first time trying it!"

Naofumi narrowed his eyes. And not just because Trash had said that he was going to murder Raphtalia. Something about his tone just now was making alarm bells ring in the Shield Hero's head.

Several more White Tiger Clones moved forward around Trash and his harem.

"OI, cool your jets for just a second!" But Kizuna's voice sounded up above, drawing their attention away.

"What the &%$#!? YOU'RE HERE TOO!?" Trash looked up in indignation.

"Filo's brought everyone Daddy!" The little girl flew down onto the Shield Hero's shoulder.

Kizuna appeared over a nearby rooftop and jumped down next to Naofumi. She was followed by L'Arc, Therese, Glass, Chris, Itsuki, and his party.

"Rafu!" Raph-Chan cheered happily at everyone being united for the first time since coming to this world.

"Seriously, what's up with all the fighting? Are we trying to start a war here?!" Kizuna angrily asked Trash.

"Hah! The people starting a war here are you, trash Heroes from Sickle! You stole my weapon right in front of me!" Trash angrily spat out.

"Your weap-" Kizuna looked around her and finally noticed what Raphtalia was wielding. "Holy crap! That's Kenshiro's sword! Hey is this chick your wife friend Naofumi? Nice! She looks even better than you described!" She gave a thumbs-up to Naofumi as she said it.

"You bet she is. Words can hardly do her justice." The shield hero grinned, making Raphtalia blush deeply again.

Why couldn't he remember that they were in a serious life or death situation for more than a few seconds?!

Trash snarled and opened his mouth to spew more crap from his mouth.

"Oh, cut the bull!" L'Arc interrupted before Trash could speak. "We didn't steal anything! You know it's the weapons that choose their wielders, not the other way around! We had nothing to do with the Katana's choice!"

Trash growled impotently again.

"L'Arc. Glass. Therese. Good to see you three again." Naofumi nodded to the group.

"Good to see you too, Naofumi," L'Arc responded upbeatedly. "How's it going?"

"You know, pretty good. Besides Trash here being an idiot." Naofumi rolled his eyes.

"I'm not an idiot! And my name is not Trash!" Trash screamed indignantly.

"Nobody cares, Trash."

…

It became very tense down on the street. Glass looked around at the destruction around them disapprovingly. "Did you cause this?" She asked Naofumi.

"No, you can blame that idiot over there. He's the one who started with launching all his spells everywhere, harming the civilians hiding in their homes." Naofumi pointed at Trash.

Glass's scowl deepened.

"I won't say this again! Give me back my weapon, now!" Trash demanded.

"You literally sound like a child throwing a tantrum," Naofumi said dryly. "Just how old are you anyway?"

"I'm far older than you douchebag!" Trash yelled at Naofumi.

"Whatever. Look. I'm not going to repeat what I said earlier. But if your country still wants the Katana Hero on their side. Then you should be trying to reconcile with her instead of trying to murder her and her friends." Naofumi pointed out.

"Huh?" Trash muttered confusedly.

"Being an idiot here isn't going to help you or your country's case. In fact, you're just going to make things worse if you keep this stupidity up." Naofumi said in a low voice.

"He's right," Kizuna spoke then. "I'm sorry that this has happened. But we aren't looking for a war with you. Please stop this pointless nonsense at once so we can have a peaceful discussion instead."

"I already plan on dealing payback to the Mirror's country. The same thing doesn't have to happen here."

"Pointless?! POINTLESS?!" Trash reeled his head back and laughed. "Who the %^&* do you think you are, you chibi bitch!? I don't want my weapon in the hands of somebody else! It is MINE! You, idiots, don't even realize how &^%$ed you are right now!"

He snapped his fingers loudly. From the streets all around, more monsters appeared. Alongside them were the soldiers of Katana. Within seconds, the group was surrounded on all sides. Among the reinforcements, however, one soldier hesitated.

"Oh hell no! Not again!" The man trembled in his spot, dropped his Naginata, and ran away.

Damn it all! Why did this keep happening to him?! Especially when things were finally looking up for him!

He got promoted and reassigned to the capital for his heroic actions of 'surviving' the events of the massacre at the regression prison and 'heroically' leading the other survivors to safety! He thought he would finally have an easy life! But instead, he'd only run into the ruby-eyed demon and her cohorts yet again!

Well, screw this! He wasn't going to die young!

The other soldiers scowled at their fellow officer but maintained their positions.

"Fuehhhhh!" Rishia trembled in terror.

Itsuki dropped an expletive. He hadn't paid attention to their surroundings again. He'd thought they'd dealt with the majority of the monsters on their way there.

Well, at least they were all reunited now. But that meant they had nobody to help them get out of their situation.

Trash continued to laugh. "Give up! I'll be taking what's mine this time! Nothing's going to stop me! Not my worthless Father! Not my useless uncle! And certainly not some mangy rats such as yourselves!

"Soldiers, destroy th-"

"You know you can't kill me, right?" Kizuna cut the boy off.

…

"Huh?" Trash scowled.

The Hunting Tools Hero looked surprisingly calm. Her gaze wasn't directed only at Trash but moved over everyone present.

"You all know that the Waves of Catastrophe are happening right now, right? I honestly didn't know up till a week ago because of where I was imprisoned. But I haven't slacked in learning what I can about them since escaping my unlawful detainment.

"If you kill me, what'll that mean for our world with the other Three Cardinal Heroes not fighting right now? Even though they aren't fighting, the Waves haven't become stronger since they're still alive, right? Do you really want to risk killing me here and risk being unable to overcome the stronger Waves that your country would have to face because of my death? Surely you all know the importance of Cardinal Heroes in fighting the Waves off?"

…

The soldiers gripped their naginatas unsurely. But they still kept them pointed at the group.

Trash smirked. "Hah! That's easy! We can just capture you and imprison you somewhere else. That'll keep the Waves from becoming stronger! And if that &%$#wad Albert and the other Mikikage morons managed to pull it off then so can we!"

"I'll never allow you to do that!" Glass scowled, and almost moved forward to attack. However, Therese stopped her and Kizuna suddenly started to laugh.

The action caught Trash and the soldiers off guard. "I'm sorry, but that plan won't work a second time. You see, I didn't appreciate spending several years of my life trapped in some labyrinth. And I'm not going to ever allow that to happen to me again. So I made sure to come prepared this time." Kizuna triumphantly held out a communication ofuda.

"What's that supposed to do?!" Trash asked mockingly.

"I've given Ethnobalt a written record of our journey here. And the Boat Hero knows for sure where I'm at right now." Kizuna said smugly. "If I disappear like before, it'll be known that it happened in your country. And then, you won't just have Sickle to fight when that happens."

"We have communication ofudas blocked all around the city and the entrances barricaded off! We could easily argue that a third party kidnapped you outside the walls without us noticing!" Trash argued back.

"Ah, but you forget, Chris here is a shikigami." Kizuna gestured to the penguin familiar.

"Pen!" The penguin monster saluted.

"In my last message to Ethnobalt, I made it clear that we thought Glass to be inside the city because of him. And it's well known how hard it is to fool a shikigami.

"Not only was it clear that I was heading here, but it also makes it clear that Katana was hiding Sickle's Vassal Heroes inside its borders. You're not going to have to just deal with the fallout of my disappearance but the deaths of multiple vassal Heroes! Not even Sickle's enemies would be able to ignore your actions here! You'll be attacked by all of my old friends before you know it!"

"... So what!" Trash snarled. "When I'm the Katana's wielder, NOBODY will be able to stand against me! I'll become stronger than even my pathetic excuse for an uncle!"

Really, did he think he'd actually become all-powerful if he acquired a Vassal Weapon? Wow, this guy was seriously off his rocker.

"Don't you dare talk down on Kenshiro!" L'Arc yelled. "You'll never be even half the man that he was!"

Raphtalia frowned and looked down at her katana. It was making that strange humming noise again and the girl was getting a mix of feelings from it. And when she looked at Trash, those feelings only seemed to intensify.

It'd been something she'd felt since the moment she arrived to assist Naofumi. But without them flirting with each other or anything like that, she became more aware of the weapon in her hands.

"Hah! Funny to hear you speak so highly of that pathetic loser! The weakling wasn't even able to take on one of the earlier wave bosses without dying a pathetic death!" Trash snarled.

The hum came from Raphtalia's weapon again, stronger than ever before. A series of images flashed across her mind this time.

She saw Kenshiro in his dying moments. The hazy memories tinted with anger and grief. As well as the feeling of her body seizing up on her.

Raphtalia's eyes widened as things she'd learned before came to mind, overlapping with what the Vassal Katana was showing her, and…

"That fool was all bark and no bite in the end!" Trash shrugged mockingly. "I bet he made most of his achievements up! 'The man who clipped the demon dragon's wings' my %$#! Hah! He was nothing but a-"

"You killed him." Raphtalia suddenly blurted out in realization, interrupting Trash's rant.

…

Nobody spoke. Heads only turned to look at the current Katana Hero.

"The reason Kenshiro died in that wave…!" The girl's eyes widened in horror. "The reason why his ghost glared at you with such hatred before he handed me the Katana… He didn't die because the wave boss was too strong for him to handle alone! He died because you did something to him!" Raphtalia yelled at him at the end in anger.

…

…

The blood drained from the nearby Scythe Hero's face. "Wh… What?"

"...really now?" Trash's grin widened. "And how would you know that? Where is your proof?"

"The Vassal Katana has shown the truth to me!" Raphtalia gritted her teeth. "I don't know what or how you did it, but I can sense the Katana's grief! It's bitter anger! Its deafening cry, demanding vengeance and retribution from you! You're the one responsible for the death of its cherished master! There's no mistake!"

...

Trash stayed unusually silent for a moment with his head cocked as he thought something over before shrugging and grinning again. "The Vassal Katana has shown it to her!" He repeated mockingly and looked around himself at his harem and soldiers with his arms spread out.

The women around him began to chuckle and laugh.

"The Vassal Katana had shown her!" Trash repeated, struggling not to burst out into laughter.

The soldiers present began to laugh too while Naofumi's group frowned in anger.

"The Vassal Katana has shown it to her!" Trash finally burst out into laughter himself and began to clap. At this point, the entire plaza was hollering.

Itsuki and the others looked at Raphtalia in disbelief. While Aksel and Maya stood unsurely with their weapons out. As they couldn't understand any of what was being said outside of their group of allies. But it sounded like the guy in front of them was responsible for killing somebody?

Trash suddenly raised his hand sharply. The laughter all around died off.

His grin, which was already rather unpleasant, twisted into something straight out of a nightmare.

"So what if I did it?"

…

The soldiers that had been laughing at Raphtalia before slowly froze and stared at the boy genius in shock and disbelief.

"Uh, umm, my lord-" The girl with the ponytail tried to speak up with concern as the atmosphere rapidly shifted.

"No… there's no way…" L'Arc looked pale as a ghost. His entire body trembled as he stared at the smug-looking schoolboy in front of him.

Naofumi had a sinking feeling, the same one from earlier. Was this really what he thought it was?

It reminded him of some situations from before. Only, this time, he had something that he didn't have back then. Not when Bitch had confessed in front of Motoyasu and him in that cell. Not when Balamus had been going on one of his rants. Not when those Shadows had attacked him, Eclair, and Melty in the dungeons.

But now? Now he had it. Thanks to the Spear Hero's forethought he had it.

Naofumi took the crystal ball out of his shield and began to record what was going on.

"Man, these junk Vassal Weapons sure are annoying." Trash began to clean one of his ears demonstratively. "Tools should keep quiet and serve instead of sharing their worthless takes with the world at large."

"You- you're admitting it?!" Raphtalia choked out in disbelief.

"Sure." Trash shrugged again with another smirk. "It's true, I killed my uncle. I poisoned his drink on the day of the wave and that resulted in his death."

There were murmurs of shock from the soldiers present as they looked between their country's genius and his enemies in disbelief, not knowing what to do.

"That's-, that's impossible!" Glass suddenly cried out. "Our weapons grant us passive resistances to poisons! Even if it was something dangerous, it wouldn't have killed Kenshiro right away! The Katana would have warned him that his drink was poisoned! And even if it bypassed that, we always carry antidotes inside our weapons!"

"Yea, it's super annoying." Trash rolled his eyes. "I had to get really creative finding a way around all that. There was no way that poison alone would kill him. But fortunately, it didn't have to. A long-acting paralytic agent kicking in at the most unfortunate time, like say, during a wave boss fight, maybe? That could do some damage, don't you think?"

"You... YOU-" L' Arc inhaled sharply as his eyes clouded with anger.

Trash seemed to revel in the grief of his enemies and kept ranting on.

"It all happened on the day of the wave. Here I was, knocking on his room's door. I won't lie, I was a little nervous since that bastard hardly trusted anyone! Not the other nobles, not the other heroes, and least of all, myself.

"I wasn't entirely sure that my plan would work. But hey, fortune favors the bold, am I right?! And I'd waited for long enough! I knew that his weapon would detect any harmful poison! So I used something subtle! A special concoction of my own craft! Something that wouldn't damage him but would hinder him after the Wave had started!

"So. I strut into his room, put the tray with the sake down on the floor, and bowed my head down. My idiotic uncle gets super confused, right? He's obviously not buying it, so I lay it on a bit thicker. I start to shed some crocodile tears. 'Oh, uncle!' I cry out. 'Forgive me, your foolish nephew! I have acted soooo dishonorably throughout my life! I was wrong to blame you for the deaths of my esteemed father and mother! I let my anger lead me down a foolish path, but the terror brought upon by the waves has finally made me see the truth!'

"Man, it was a struggle not to vomit right there and then, but I knew that I had to be patient. That I had to build it up! Even if this time wouldn't work, I could maybe make him lower his guard later.

"But. But...oh man. Get this! I was worried over nothing! The stupid brute suddenly started to cry! Straight up weeping like a little pissbaby! He immediately jumped to his feet and started running up to me from across the room, stumbling. I thought: $%^&, he must have finally gone crazy and is trying to tackle and subdue me, but… ahaha… holy %^&, you're not gonna believe this:

"He hugged me instead!"

At this point, a deathly silence had set in on the section of town with everyone listening to the story in abject horror.

"Then he started pouring out his entire sob life story to me while crying into my shoulder like a bitch! About how stressed he was about failing his dear older brother's son, the only family that he had left! How he thought that I'd lost my way forever. How relieved he was that he was wrong! How hopeless things were looking with the waves happening and with the hunting bitch still being missing as well as the other three idiots he was in charge of not living up to his expectations!

"He, hahaha holy ^&%$, he said that this must be a sign! That things were finally going to turn around! He swallowed my spiel hook line and sinker! I was worried for nothing! Turns out that his huge menacing persona that he'd been building up for years was hiding a little bitch behind it all along!"

L'Arc's trembling grew with each line that Trash spewed from his mouth. The other Otherworlders trembled as they gripped their weapons as well. It almost felt like Raphtalia could hear her weapon screaming in her ears for vengeance.

"He drank the whole damn bottle without a second thought! And when it was time for the wave to start he promised that when he came back, we would speak more! That we had a lot of time to make up for! That I was finally ready to be taught by him!

"The audacity of that piece of %^&! Teach me? Hah! Go teach something to the worms devouring your body now, you burned piece of jerky! Ahahahaha!

"Man, my only regret is that I didn't get to see his stupid face when he realized what I'd done! It must have been hilarious! Strongest vassal my ^&*! Dying like a bitch to an early wave monster! Hahahahaha!"

…

Looks like Naofumi had been wrong all along. This person wasn't your average pile of garbage.

No. He was a complete monster.

In some ways, Trash reminded Naofumi of Kyo. But at least that Male Bitch had apparently started off somewhat good, as hard as that was to believe.

But this guy… was not human. He'd killed his own uncle, risked the safety of his world, and was trying to kill Raphtalia, all because he wanted some stupid weapon.

"YOU BASTARD! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!-" L'Arc roared and tried to rush forward, murder in his eyes. However, Glass, in a shocking display of tenderness, hugged him from behind. Stopping him from doing something foolish.

"L'Arc." She whispered in his ear. "Do not. Do not become like me. We will make him pay. But you must not lose yourself to this feeling like I have in the past."

Tears fell from the redhead's eyes. Therese hugged L'Arc as well doing her best to comfort him as the raw pain of Kenshiro's unfair death washed over his soul.

Kizuna's head was facing the ground. And Trash continued to laugh. "Oooh, does that make you upset, peons? How about this then!? On the day of my birthday, I sold out my own town to the Demon Dragon's army to kill my Father! I wanted his pathetic %$# dead so I could take the weapon from his weak stupid corpse! I wouldn't have had to work so hard to steal it otherwise!

Trash deeply scowled. "Kenshiro just had to be chosen by it in the middle of all that fighting! Kenshiro just had to be a Hero and save those useless clouts of garbage! And the worst part, after all that planning fell apart, I was forced to spend all my time in some safe house here in the city for the rest of the war just so I'd be safe while he grew stronger and stronger!

"I had to work my butt off after murdering my uncle so I could finally gather enough levels to take the weapon for myself because of that stupid bastard getting so strong during his life, and-! Ahhh." Trash sighed in satisfaction.

"But enough. This was an amusing exchange and an amazing trip down memory lane for me, but now I would really like to finally get my weapon back.

"Soldiers! Kill everyone except for the chibi bitch!"

However, none of the men present moved. Not at first, anyway.

…

After a moment they all simultaneously brandished their weapons.

And pointed them at Trash and his harem.

"W-What are you doing?! You're supposed to attack them!" Trash angrily demanded as his harem looked around in surprise and confusion.

"You must be really stupid if you think that the people here will still obey your command after what you just admitted," Kizuna spoke angrily with her eyes narrowed.

"... Tch." Trash clicked his tongue in annoyance as his women stepped closer to him in worry and with questioning looks directed at him. "So much for loyalty to their lord. Has everyone forgotten that good soldiers follow orders?"

"Well, whatever." Trash shrugged again. "I would have had to kill all the witnesses later anyways. It would be annoying if word got out that we killed multiple vassals along with capturing a cardinal hero. Might as well do it now."

The young man raised his hand demonstratively and snapped his fingers.

"Rowr! Roar! Rowwwrraarr!" "AHHHHHH!"

All hell suddenly broke loose and the white tiger clones turned on their handlers in an instant, tearing out their throats and ripping them apart as they feasted on their flesh.

It was so sudden and fast that the Heroes and their compatriots could only stare in horror as the soldiers all around them died near instantaneously. The soldiers, despite all of their experience, were unable to form any meaningful defensive formations as the tiger clones had been evenly spread out throughout their ranks and it all degenerated into a giant mosh pit of blood and violence that the tigers had the advantage in.

It was over before any of Naofumi's or Kizuna's allies realized what'd happened. The sounds of violence suddenly disappeared, leaving only the horde of blood-stained monsters standing around Trash and his harem. "And now, I only have one last loose end to tie up." Trash smirked in satisfaction.

…

"I can see why this blade loathes you so much," Raphtalia spoke out shakily after another moment of silence. She looked at the destruction and death around them, before looking back at him.

Her shaking vanished. If she'd had any doubts before, they were long gone in the face of such cruelty. She walked up next to L'Arc and Glass and took an attack stance. "If me being a Hero keeps Trash like you from taking it, then I shall gladly accept the responsibilities of this blade as my own! WHILE I LIVE, YOU WILL NOT HAVE IT!"

Trash scowled. "We'll see about that." He raised a hand and was about to give another order when-

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Naofumi slowly walked forward, clapping his hands.

"Bravo. Bravo. That was really something there." The Shield Hero walked up to the front of the group. The crystal ball was resting on his shield. "I have to say, excellent performance! Five stars! I could have done without the blood and gore, but it was a hell of an experience overall!"

Trash's eyes slowly narrowed. "And what the hell do you want now?!"

"Oh, nothing! Just complimenting you on doing a fantastic job of exposing yourself! Hell, I especially liked this part!"

Naofumi turned on the crystal ball, and an image sprung up in front of them. It was of Trash in the middle of his previous speech.

"Man, my only regret is that I didn't get to see his stupid face when he realized what I'd done! It must have been hilarious! Strongest vassal my ^&*! Dying like a bitch to an early wave monster! Hahahahaha!"

Naofumi then moved the recording forward to Trash ordering the soldiers to be killed.

The ball had captured everything in gruesome detail.

"W-What's this?!" Trash demanded.

"Technology from my world, dumb&^%." Naofumi frowned. "I did tell you I was from another world earlier."

"What did you do?!" Trash demanded again.

"Oh, I just used this to record your entire confession and subsequent criminal acts." Naofumi continued nonchalantly. "Thanks for being so stupid and full of yourself like every other idiot I've met, by the way. I wonder what the leaders in your country will think when they see all this. Especially the part where you slaughtered Katana's soldiers."

"Not just the leaders here." Glass frowned as well. "Most of the world respected Kenshiro. And many blamed us for his death. They won't take kindly to being deceived like this whatsoever."

"That's even better." Naofumi nodded grimly. "With this, we can solve a lot of your problems pretty easily. Or, at least we can hopefully do that. Not sure how smart the people in this world actually are after all. But hey, it's worth a shot."

"Wha- YOU WERE EXCITED THAT WE HAD PHONES WHEN YOU CAME HERE, BUT YOU HAD A FREAKING VIDEO CAMERA THIS WHOLE TIME?!" Kizuna shouted in disbelief as she stared at the crystal ball.

"Yeah? And?" Naofumi quirked his eyebrow.

"OI! YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THAT WE'RE LUCKY TO HAVE PHONES WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN YOUR WORLD! CAN IT ONLY RECORD?! IS IT ABLE TO BROADCAST LIKE A TV, OR CAN YOU TAKE PICTURES WITH IT!? OH MAN, IF WE COULD COMBINE THESE WITH COMMUNICATION OFUDAS WE MIGHT FINALLY COME AS CLOSE AS WE CAN TO HAVING MAGIC CELL PHONES-" Kizuna would have continued excitedly and endlessly despite the tense atmosphere, however…

"You fools! You really think I'll let you get out of here alive and show this to anyone-?!" Trash shouted harshly.

"Who?" Kizuna suddenly cut him off.

"... W-W-What?" The young man stumbled over his words in confusion. "I mean you of course! I won't let you-"

"I meant who here is going to ask you?" Kizuna interrupted him again with a glare. "Cause I won't. And neither will my friends. Right guys?"

"Yeah." "Uh-huh." "What are we going to ask him again?"

The last response came from Aksel.

Trash just stared agape at the girl like he had just been slapped across the face

"You might want to take a good look around you and recalculate your odds real careful-like." Kizuna continued. "You just killed half of your backup and you are up against six freaking heroes. And that's not counting the rest of our amazing backup. How well do you think this will go down for you?"

"My girls here are far stronger than those pathetic soldiers and they're loyal too! With these clones, we're nigh unstoppable!" Trash roared.

His harem, though looking uncertain, didn't flee and brandished their weapons at the group.

"I see, you still think you have the advantage here." Kizuna's weapon form flashed and changed to a fishing pole. Without a second thought, she flicked it all around her in a wide spiral.

"Grawr!" "Rowrr!"

The fishing hook hit the monsters all around her. Within seconds, all of them had been touched by the lure at the end of it, and with a final flourish, it extended forward and hit Trash on the gut.

"Guh?! What was that supposed to do?!" He angrily demanded.

"Earlier, I wanted to have a peaceful discussion." Kizuna rested her fishing pole in her hands. "But you have made that impossible since you confessed to being responsible for Kenshiro's death." Kizuna then walked forward threateningly, her weapon form flashing as it changed into a large tuna knife.

"I'm not going to lie and pretend that I knew him well or that he was a dear friend of mine. He was mean, disrespectful, and overly strict. No matter what I did, it was never good enough for him. He mocked, demeaned, and insulted me at every turn for my behavior no matter how much I tried. He called me a naive and stupid little girl who was way over her head. But you know what else he did?" Kizuna narrowed her eyes.

"He $%^&ing saved the world with me. And he took a blast of dragon fire for my sake head-on while doing it. Now, I'm going to repay that favor by taking your head, you son of a bitch."

"Save it! We all know you can't harm people! Any threats you make are meaningless!" Trash laughed.

"Why is everyone always so fixated on me versus people? Do you really think a weapon is only worth as much as it's useful against somebody else? No wonder the Katana doesn't like you. No hero weapon would ever willingly choose such a psychopath that prefers murder over saving the world." Kizuna shook her head.

"It's will doesn't matter when I can force it to obey me!" Trash harshly yelled.

People could really be beyond stupid at times. And Kizuna just about had her fill of the people here looking down on her. "I might not be useful fighting against people like you, but monsters…"

"Instant Blade: Sun Flower's Slash."

Kizuna's sword flashed so quickly that the naked eye could hardly follow it. But shortly after saying the words, the heads of all the White Tiger Clones to her left, both on the ground and on the roofs of buildings, were all detached from their bodies. "... monsters are a different story."

The bodies all collapsed. Their heads rolled away from the carcasses and came to rest around the small girl. Blood poured down in small waterfalls from the rooftops, and some hung in the air in the shape of the petals of a Sun Flower.

"You should have really paid attention to the fact that the Hunting Tools Hero is known as the bane of monsterkind before killing your human soldiers, bitch."

… Damn.

Naofumi swallowed hard.

That was possibly the biggest flex he'd seen in a long while. And he'd seen some pretty big flexes in his time.

These weren't just any ordinary monsters that Kizuna had just one-shotted. And the fact that she'd done it to so many so quickly only made it even more terrifying.

It was a really good thing she was on their side.

Trash and his harem took a step back in shock and terror. Kizuna pointed her blade at them with the calmest glare possible on her face.

"You are a walking piece of human garbage that doesn't deserve to take another breath, but I will still offer you this chance once. Surrender, or die."

…

"You chibi bitch! $%^& you!" Trash roared and launched a fireball forward at the Hunting Hero.

It didn't even make it halfway before a purple beam of energy struck it, destroying it midflight.

Glass landed next to her mistress followed by L' Arc, Therese, Raphtalia, and everyone else. They all brandished their weapons, but the eyes of the Otherworlders especially were burning with fury.

Even Aksel and Maya looked furious. Despite not understanding what'd been said by the enemy whatsoever. They could piece together enough to know this guy was nothing but garbage.

"Well." Kizuna moved her neck back and forth with audible cracking. "That's that then."

A series of party invites went out from her to all her allies. And they joined the same party to take Trash down.

That was Trash's final mistake. Kizuna wasn't alone. And her allies and friends were more than capable of harming her human opponents for her.

"Let's finish this, everyone!"

"Yes!" The trio around her answered as one.

It was instant chaos.

"KILL THEM!" Trash demanded as he unleashed a flurry of fireballs.

Naofumi quickly joined the brawl too, switching to the Shield of Hope II. The skill shields he summoned held against the barrage and he quickly chanted the incantation for his spell. "All Zweite Aura!" His buff spell was applied to all his allies there.

"All Zweite Down!" Itsuki finished his chant and his debuff spell fell over all of their opponents.

"What the?! What sort of magic is this?!" A girl demanded when she saw her stats drop down severely.

"A gift from our world!" Itsuki yelled back. "Enjoy dealing with that!"

The remaining monsters charged at the group with snarls and loud roars.

However, between the damage multiplier, the buff and debuff magic, as well as the amount of Heroes in said group, the beasts now hardly stood a chance.

"Bejeweled Sapphire Blizzard!" Therese cast the spell towards Glass.

"Zero Stance Rondo: Combination Form: Reverse Hailstone MoonFlower!" The magic of Therese's attack combined with Glass's normal skill to make an entirely new variation of it. Despite her curse still lowering her stats, a furious blizzard suddenly enveloped the street. The spirit woman's flashes of energy turned into many daggers of ice that left deep chilling cuts in their targets.

"St. Arrow's Rain!" Itsuki's spread skill rained down amidst the hail. The ice and fire combined with the multiple arrows. Leaving many small explosions of fire and ice amongst the monsters.

"Fuehhhhh!" Rishia dove through the midst of attacks. Slashing with her kodachi at the weak points of the monsters left and right.

"D-Don't just stand there! Stop them!" Trash yelled at his harem.

The girls, surprisingly, rushed forward into the fight. "As you command Lord-" Another explosion drowned out Trash's name.

Man, talk about bad timing. Naofumi had a feeling that he was never going to learn the guy's name at all.

Not that he cared, since he was always going to be known to him as Trash.

"Air Strike Shield! Second Shield! Dritte Shield!" Naofumi summoned the first shield in front of the girls, and then the other two on the sides to protect his allies from attacks.

"Daddy, Filo wants to try something!" Filo yelled from his shoulder.

"Go for it honey, but be careful," Naofumi told her.

"Don't worry, Filo's going to support Tiger Guy and friends!" Filo took to the air.

"Shield Prison!" Naofumi tried to encase the harem of girls like before, only, they seemed to have smartened up and all except one moved to the side to avoid becoming entrapped in time.

"Ha!" However, dodging that put them right in Dou-Lon, Aksel, and Maya's path. Together with Chris and Raph-Chan, they fought the girls of Trash's harem to a standstill.

Filo flew above their group, and while Aksel, Maya, and Dou-Lon struggled to hold the girls back, Filo began to sing above the raging snowstorm.

It was a clear, beautiful tone. Naofumi didn't recognize the song. But right after she started singing, a glow surrounded Dou-Lon and his friends.

It didn't tip the fight entirely in their favor. But they were suddenly able to fight on more even ground with multiple opponents. "Stupid bird!" A girl with a pair of kunai prepared to throw them at Filo. But Maya took advantage and punched the girl in the gut, sending her gasping to the ground. A kick from the raccoon girl to the head then knocked the woman out.

"I'd insult them about their lack of fighting style, but I doubt they'd understand." Maya laughed as she backflipped away from another girl's wild attack.

"Ahahahaha! Face us if you dare! I'll beat all of you up even if you are girls!" Aksel roared with laughter and battle mania as he swung his large axe around like a raging bull.

It terrified the girls of Trash's harem even more since they couldn't understand what he was saying.

Filo continued to sing. Weaving between attacks thrown her way as her magic helped to support others on their side.

"Amazing… even though she was just introduced to our world. She is already beginning to grasp the basics of Performance Magic," Glass said in awe from her side of the battle.

"Strange. I don't remember teaching her about that yet." Kizuna shrugged before she grinned. "Naofumi's daughter must be something special."

"Performance Magic?" Itsuki asked.

"Another time. For now, focus on the battle!" Glass responded curtly.

"Get out of our way!" One of the girls, wielding a katana, demanded to Dou-Lon as she swung down.

"Fat chance!" Dou-Lon trembled under the girl's surprisingly powerful swing. Before he was able to try and redirect it like Glass had tried to teach him though, Chris jumped over his shoulder and punched the girl in the face with his fin.

It sent her flying back through the air and into the side of a building.

"Holy- just how strong are you, little guy?!" Dou-Lon exclaimed to the shikigami in shock.

"Pen!" Chris stood proudly. There'd been a very good reason he was considered to be Kizuna's bodyguard.

Had he been there with her the day she was captured, he would have beaten up all those soldiers singlehandedly.

Raph-Chan jumped past them, touching various girls as she ran by. Those she touched suddenly started swinging at the air as they became confused as to where the enemy was supposed to be.

"Ack! Tsugumi!" Trash actually paused in his magic barrage on Naofumi's shields to reach out to the ponytail girl. She looked to have fallen unconscious from the blow and blood was running down from her nostrils.

"RAHHHHH!"

Trash suddenly yelped as he barely managed to block L'Arc's scythe with his katana in time.

The Scythe Hero didn't look laidback at that moment. Right now, he looked ready to kill. It was only thanks to his girls buffing him earlier that Trash wasn't overpowered.

"You're going to pay for killing Kenshiro, you bastard!" L'Arc screamed in his face.

"Get off me, you ugly baboon!" Trash summoned a fireball without a chant and hit L'Arc in the face with it.

L'Arc backpedaled, briefly blinded by the surprise attack. Trash grinned and raced forward to impale L'Arc on his weapon.

"Powder Snow!" Raphtalia appeared as if out of nowhere. Slashing across Trash's back as she did so.

"Gah!" Trash swung at her, but Raphtalia easily parried his strike and jumped back. Beheading a White Tiger Clone that tried attacking her at that moment.

"I'll make you pay for that you-" Trash raised a hand towards Raphtalia, and imagine his surprise when he found his magic power was empty. "What, what did you do?!"

"That attack I unleashed. It doesn't harm the target it hits. Rather, it drains their magic power." Raphtalia said coldly.

Trash turned his head to look at his back. There wasn't an actual wound. Instead, the remnants of his magic power disappeared in the form of snow that joined with the rapidly building up layer of it around the battlefield.

"I have no idea how someone like you is able to use magic without the use of a chant. But however you've done it, it won't save you now." Raphtalia took an attack stance again as L'Arc took on a new stance beside her and spoke in a deep tone.

"War Scythe."

The blade on L'Arc's scythe suddenly turned ninety degrees, almost making it look like he was holding a spear. A red glow surrounded his body as the skill took effect.

Therese's eyes widened. "L'Arc, why are you-?!"

"No Therese! Not this time!" L'Arc said angrily back to Therese. His signature laidback tone was completely gone. "I'm not holding back on this guy! For what he did to Kenshiro, HE WILL DIE!"

Therese frowned deeply. "Master Craftsman. Raphtalia… Please make sure L'Arc doesn't get hurt. That skill he just used raises his attack power but at the cost of his defense."

"Mmh." Naofumi grunted. "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Trash screamed as he rushed at the pair, launching more fireballs from the air around him. He'd just used an Earth Crystal to replenish his magic power.

Raphtalia's blade slammed into his.

"Air Strike Shield!" Naofumi's skill shield also protected the pair from the fireball barrage.

"Now!" They said at the same time.

L'Arc thrust forward, and Trash barely blocked the thrust with his Katana, though the force of the blow pushed him back several feet and left a small crack along the length of his weapon. He scowled as he was forced to take on both opponents simultaneously.

Naofumi observed all the battles all around. Doing what he needed to protect someone here and there.

Dou-Lon and his group were doing quite well. He was surprised to see the hakuko using a different weapon than before. He didn't look entirely used to it yet, but with the shikigami's help as well as Filo singing up above to buff them, they were driving the rest of Trash's surprisingly useful harem back.

"Blood Flower Strike!"

"Circle Dance Cutting Formation: Instant!"

Kizuna and Glass attacked side by side. Nothing could describe the look of pure joy on the spirit woman's face as she and Kizuna worked together to destroy an entire line of White Tiger Clones within the span of a few seconds.

Rishia and Itsuki were doing well too. Itsuki wasn't pulling out life force attacks like he had against Kyo. But it wasn't needed as his regular attacks and skills crippled and killed the tiger clones around him all the same. And while they reeled from that, Rishia would move in and finish them off with a few well-placed strikes from her weapon, the ofuda at her side, or even her fists.

Naofumi assisted here or there. Whenever it looked like the enemy was about to turn the battle around. But besides that, he didn't really need to move from his spot. And with his current shield equipped, he glowed like a bright blue beacon amidst the wintry field of battle as the Robes of Michael flowed around him by some unseen wind.

He simply stood where he could assist everyone at once. And for once, that was good enough for the Shield Hero.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Trash screamed desperately. Raphtalia slashed a large fireball in half as she moved behind L'Arc, allowing the redhead to unleash a skill.

"Flying Circle!" The circular disk of energy above him was sent at Trash. But he ducked under it and made to slash at L'Arc while he was exposed. L'Arc met it head-on with his own attack, not caring for his safety in the slightest.

Trash smirked as he suddenly sidestepped L'Arc's thrust and swung downwards with his katana.

His other skills still on cooldown, Naofumi called out a rare skill to buy the redhead a second to try and move. Even if its defense was low, he thought his current shield would buff it enough. "Royal Shield!"

The gold barrier appeared five meters in front of Naofumi, putting it in front of L'Arc and Raphtalia. When Trash's blade hit it, however, the crest on it glowed bright, and the blade bounced off the skill like it was a solid brick wall, sending Trash stumbling back.

Naofumi's eyebrow arched. The defense multiplier on the skill had activated just then. But it was supposed to only activate if he was facing royalty…

Or defending them…

L'Arc didn't even turn to acknowledge Naofumi. He instead leaped towards Trash, stabbing at him repeatedly with fury consuming his gaze.

Naofumi narrowed his eyes. He had a sneaking suspicion the skill hadn't done what it did because Trash was considered royalty.

The fight between the two Heroes and the wannabe trash villain continued from there. Even as the monsters began to thin and Trash's harem grew tired from cold and multiple injuries, he was still fighting on with everything he had. Using his weapon and magic simultaneously. He was only uninjured since the pair in front of him were trying to target the damage multiplier area Kizuna had made, hitting him with Lure Needle earlier.

Trash showed he wasn't completely incompetent in that regard. As he'd pieced together what Kizuna's skill had done, so the majority of his defense was spent on guarding that area.

The head of the harem, Tsugumi, slowly started to awake after the shikigami's punch from earlier. But the battle by now was a mere formality. Or, it would be if Trash stopped refilling his magic power.

That chantless magic was really annoying. Naofumi was wondering about it when Filo landed on his shoulder again. "Daddy, Filo's noticed something with Trash Guy's magic."

"What is it?" Naofumi asked.

"It's hard to describe. It's like Trash Guy is forcing raw shapeless power at Mommy and Scythe Guy. But the magic is very bad." Filo began to explain.

"Of course it's bad. It's-" Naofumi tried to reply.

"No, Daddy. Filo means bad as in weak. There is great potential in Trash Guy's magic. But because Trash Guy isn't chanting, Trash Guy's magic is very limited." Filo said seriously.

Trash continued to scream. And Naofumi was forced to take a closer look at his magic.

He was unleashing a lot of fireballs. And his body kept glowing as he tried to buff himself to overpower his two immediate opponents… he was unleashing some impressive spells. And Naofumi recalled the attacks he'd used before.

Looking at it through Filo's eyes though… yeah. It really did look flimsy and useless after a while. And his moves were so choreographed that it wasn't even funny.

It reminded him of Ren and Itsuki before they studied magic from grimoires. This guy was literally just throwing power around and wasting a lot of energy doing it.

But then, Trash had still damaged Naofumi with his magic attacks even with how high his defense stat was earlier.

Was this really the power of his magic being held back without chanting? Just how powerful would he have been if he'd taken the time to structure his magic power through chants to make spells instead of using this shortcut? Sure, it would have taken more time, but wouldn't it be worth it if you could nuke your enemies off the map with a powerful spell instead of a hundred weaker ones?

It was too bad Naofumi would never know. As with one more strike, L'Arc finally shattered the cracked dai-katana in Trash's hands, leaving its wielder with just the weapon handle.

"Oh sh-" The nobleman paled as he looked up from it at the enraged King of Sickle.

"This is for Kenshiro! RAHHHHHHH!" L'Arc began to thrust forward one last time to the damage multiplier spot on Trash's gut.

"NO! NO! NOOOO!" Trash fell over backward into a pile of snow out of fear and, thanks to sheer luck, it was enough to avoid the deadly jab.

L'Arc raised his warscythe again to finish the job for real this time but at the same time, Trash raised his hands as well.

Boom!

A two-handed fireball met the tip of the warscythe at point-blank range, creating a massive explosion that launched the redhead backward. He rolled through the snow, bleeding and burned, struggling to get up.

"L' Arc, no!" Therese yelled in fear and rushed towards the redhead.

"No!" Glass quickly joined her, as most of the tiger clones were dead by this point.

"Big bro, hold on!" Kizuna was right behind them. Itsuki and Rishia moved to deal with the last of the tigers for the Otherworlders.

Before anyone could reach L'Arc, however, Trash staggered out of the smoke cloud. He looked worse for the wear too with burns on his face and hands as well as some hair that was missing from his head. But he was still fighting.

"I'll, I'll kill you all! I'll do it if it's the last thing I do!" Trash rained fireballs on the Scythe Hero. Entirely focusing on him so he could kill the bastard, and be able to focus on-

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The volley harmlessly bounced off the Shield Prison that the redhead was now safely entrapped in.

"Not on my watch, #$%&^%$." Naofumi gritted his teeth.

"Urgh!" Trash threw another large fireball forward. But thanks to Naofumi observing him earlier, he was ready for Trash to do that.

"Air Strike Shield!" Boom!

"AHHHH!" The skill shield appeared right in front of Trash. The massive fireball he'd summoned exploded against the skill shield in front of his face, hitting him with his own spell. "YOU BITCH! I-"

"You're finished."

Raphtalia appeared in front of the young wizard right after the explosion. Trash had no time to look towards her or to try and hit her with magic or anything, the half-Tanuki had moved too fast.

Raphtalia's face was a mask of calm, but her eyes held deep anger that guided her blade and selection of skill more than anything had before.

It was like it wasn't just her. Like there was something else, someone else, gripping the katana at that moment. And with one move, the two together unleashed their justice on the sniveling midboss before their eyes, with that other figure guiding her blade as she swung.

"Instant Blade: Mist!"

Raphtalia slashed upward, coming out behind the young nobleman as she finished her attack.

…

"H… Huh?" Trash cracked one of his eyes open. Then the other one. He looked around himself in confusion. "What?"

Raphtalia slowly lowered her blade and set it against her side. "This battle is over."

She turned around and began to walk away. The Shield Prison around the redhead faded away and Raphtalia moved in to help L'Arc to stand back up.

Thankfully, he was only left medium-rare, so he wasn't in any danger. Especially since Therese had joined Raphtalia and began to heal her beloved immediately.

"Sorry for taking your revenge from you," Raphtalia apologized softly.

"It's... it's fine," L' Arc turned around, scowling at the confused trash. "Glass is right. There's no need to break myself over this piece of $%^&. Justice has been served. Even if it wasn't done by my hand, it's good enough for me."

"L'Arc..." Therese whispered and carefully hugged his side to steady him. "Thank you."

The Scythe in the redhead's hand switched back to normal and the three of them began to move away to join the rest of their friends. At the same time, it finally stopped snowing as the combo skill from earlier ran its course. The sun began to shine on the red and white stained battlefield.

Patches of blood still floated in the air from Kizuna and Glass's attacks. They really were something else.

"Hah…? Ahahahaha!? What the hell was that about? Did you forget about me!? Are you giving up?!" Trash's eyes widened in maniacal glee. "You think I'll allow it!?"

Trash crushed another Earth Crystal in his grasp, restoring more of his magic power again as he raised both his hands over his head to conjure another massive fireball. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT IT MEANS TO WALK AWAY FROM ME! YOU'LL REGRET THE DAY YOU EVER LOOKED DOWN ON ME! YOU'LL-"

THU-THUD!

"Hurk!" Trash felt his heart seize with a strange sensation.

"It doesn't matter if you'll allow it or not." Raphtalia spoke flatly without turning to face him. "It's over."

"Mommy?" Filo landed on her shoulder curiously.

"Don't look back, honey." Raphtalia's hand gently covered Filo's eyes.

Naofumi, who was holding Raph-Chan again, covered her eyes too. And Kizuna put a hand over Chris's eyes.

"Rafu?" "Pen?"

While the shikigamis tilting their heads curiously was adorable, that wasn't important right now. "Everyone, turn away," Raphtalia spoke with a strange hard tone.

Hearing the hardness in her voice, almost everyone besides a few of the Heroes did so.

"G-gghhh-" Trash shuddered and suddenly spat out a gobful of blood from his mouth.

Tsugumi, the girl with the ponytail and the head of Trash's harem, shrieked. "Lord-"

"AaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Trash interrupted her with a scream that gradually grew louder. He felt an overwhelming, surging pain throughout the entire length of his body.

At the same time, a very thin vertical cut split open across the length of his face. Small droplets of blood began to escape from it and leak down. The wizard's armored chest plate parted, splitting in two and falling down on the ground with a clatter. The stereotypical high school uniform beneath it parted as well, revealing that the thin cut on the young boy's face traveled down the entire length of his body.

Trash choked as more blood spurted out of his mouth. He could also feel an overwhelming agonizing burning sensation, along with a deafening ringing in his ears. His vision began to swim as one of his eyes began to furiously twitch and look in random directions while the second one rolled into the back of his skull. One half of his face went slack while the other spasmed violently, taking on a terrifying inhuman expression as his life force bar drastically lowered and lowered on his screen.

His limbs were trembling, and the magic he tried to conjure uselessly fizzled out. It was a moment of pure pain and agony the likes of which he'd never experienced before. His life force bar kept on dropping, and dropping, and dropping…

And then… just as suddenly as it began, his frantic motions and the gurgling noises coming out of his mouth ceased.

…

"M-My Lord?" Tsugumi unsteadily moved to his side. But Trash didn't turn his head to acknowledge her.

"P-Please, get a h-hold of yourself. I-I believe you c-can still w-win." She hastily pulled out a healing crystal from her belt pouch and tried to hold it over her lord's chest.

As soon as the crystal touched him, however, his body split in two vertically with a sickening sound of parting flesh. The two halves fell on opposite sides of the horrified woman. Mist sprang from his carcass as his shredded guts and blood poured out on the snow near her feet with a wet splatter.

Naofumi felt bile rise to his throat at the sight.

Itsuki, who'd turned away, but who saw the whole process thanks to the skill of his weapon, felt the same as Naofumi. And Rishia, despite turning away when Raphtalia had told her to, began to vomit from the horrible sounds she'd heard behind her.

Itsuki grimaced and gently pulled her twin braids back while patting her on the back reassuringly as she continued to vomit up her breakfast from that morning.

The harem of girls stood in shocked silence. Tsugumi stared down at the two halves of Trash's mangled corpse, her face frozen in shock and terror as Trash's blood-soaked into her shoes.

But after a few seconds…

"Ah-" The girl choked, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fainted onto the snow.

"Ah… aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!" The rest of the harem screamed in horror.

A few ran away in terror. Several more hid and vomited because of what they'd witnessed.

The rest simply fainted, just like their friend. So sickening was the sight they'd witnessed. Despite being his battle harem, nothing could have ever prepared Trash's girls to see their lover killed in such a manner.

"W… What the hell just happened?" Aksel asked worriedly but he did not dare to turn around at the inhuman screams he heard behind him.

"Trust me. You'd be better off not knowing man." L'Arc looked very uneasy. He'd stayed looking just to make sure Kenshiro's murderer got exactly what he deserved.

Gruesome deaths like that were never a pretty sight. Yet... "Just know. What happened to him was exactly what Trash like him deserved for murdering Kenshiro."

"Not just him." Glass murmured. "That boy might have very well set forth the chain of events that led to the Holy Heroes refusing to help with the Waves, along with everything else that has led to the state of our world now. You have my thanks for ending him, Raphtalia."

Indeed, Trash Midboss's actions in trying to acquire the Katana had led to many of the problems in Glass's world. And to many of the world's problems with Sickle, to be specific.

While selling out his Father might have arguably been a net gain due to Kenshiro becoming a far superior wielder of the Vassal katana. His subsequent actions in murdering his uncle had doomed millions all over his world and nation.

In a strange twist of fate, despite his pettiness and small amount of influence, Trash held a surprising amount of importance somehow.

But no one would mourn him.

Besides his harem, perhaps. Unless they were like the harem that Motoyasu had before. Though since these girls had actually been useful in battle, Naofumi suspected they'd at least cared about the piece of Trash…

Somehow.

"Let's… let's get out of here," Naofumi suggested weakly. "Before I actually vomit from this."

Raphtalia put an arm behind his back and helped turn the Shield Hero away. The two began to walk down the street away from the scene.

…

Gods… even after all that, all that Naofumi could think about was how hot Raphtalia looked right now. He couldn't help but smile at her, and her serious demeanor disappeared under a blush.

"Again, is now really the time for that?" She asked Naofumi harshly to hide her embarrassment.

"Is there never a time for it?" Naofumi smiled softly. "Especially when you did so great back there."

…

Raphtalia didn't answer. She simply buried her face in his shoulder to try and escape her embarrassing situation. Her other hand was still covering Filo's eyes.

"Is it ok for Filo to see now?" Filo asked sadly.

"Rafu." Raph-Chan sounded just as sad.

"Not yet. You'll have to wait a little while." Naofumi replied gently. Everyone was following behind them, but they were still surrounded by the gruesome scene of battle. And even if Filo was a monster, her parents would rather she didn't see how Trash had died.

"No… my Lord." A member of Trash's harem slowly stumbled out into the snowy street from her hiding place. She looked at them, but there was a blankness in her stare. A look of shock and grief that kept her from seeing reality.

Tears fell from her face as she collapsed to her knees in the snow and began to cry.

"Is… is that really it?" Dou-Lon asked. Some of them had scratches and cuts on their arms and legs, including him. But they'd definitely gotten the better end of the stick compared to their enemies.

Dou-Lon's heart clenched seeing the lone girl. Even though she'd been an enemy, it hurt to see such raw grief before his eyes.

"Yeah. We're done here..." Naofumi said.

…

Dou-Lon didn't speak, but he instead walked back over to where Tsugumi lay. The others paused to look back at him, only to turn away when they saw where he was going.

He did his best not to look at the mangled body of their foe. But instead, he picked up the unconscious girl so she wouldn't have to lay next to her lover's pile of blood and gore. He then carried her over to the other member of Trash's former harem that was still crying on the street.

Without a word, he set his enemy down next to her. And then, in what could only be described as an act of mercy and kindness on the hakuko's part, he stripped off his outer kimono and gently wrapped it around the two girls to help warm them up.

The girl briefly paused in her crying. Her eyes focused somewhat through her tears on the gold irises of the hakuko in front of her.

Dou-Lon didn't say anything. He merely rested a hand on her shoulder, nodding his head at her, and then, he stood up and walked back toward the group.

The girl resumed crying behind him. Gripping tightly to her unconscious friend as she did so. Naofumi stared at Dou-Lon as he approached.

"As much as I hated our enemy… I know too well what it means to grieve for the loss of a loved one… no one should ever have to go through that all alone. Be they enemy, or friend." Dou-Lon simply explained.

…

L'Arc rested a hand on the hakuko's shoulder. "That, Dou-Lon, was pretty deep."

"Thanks, man, I try." Dou-Lon echoed the Scythe Hero's words to him earlier that day.

Itsuki frowned where he stood, but not because of Dou-Lon's small act of kindness. In fact, he was kicking himself for not thinking of doing that before the hakuko did. Not moving that girl could have been traumatizing for her in so many different ways. Had he really gotten himself used to such violence that he could look at the scene from above and not even feel the urge to vomit from it?!

What the hell had happened to him since being summoned to the world? It was like the Bow Hero had become numb to these kinds of scenarios. It was worrying in more ways than one, and he didn't know what that meant for him entirely.

"Alright, let's portal out of here," Naofumi spoke.

"Sorry, Naofumi." Itsuki shook himself out of his thoughts. "I already checked a little while ago. It looks like whatever they're using to block the hourglass here, it's citywide. We won't be able to portal while we're inside the walls."

"Of &^%$ing course." Naofumi closed his eyes in frustration. "Alright, just a bit of a walk then. I doubt we'll meet anything else that can trouble us."

With that, Naofumi and his group walked through the rest of the city unopposed. Not one person stepped out to try and stop them.

Their rescue mission had been a gruesome success.

...

"I told you getting their attention on us would work," Naofumi said with a smirk.

"Shut up." Naofumi laughed at the pouting expression on the Bow Hero's face.

…

…

"GAH!"

Trash's head burst out of a tub full of a bluish liquid. He coughed and spat as he tried to get the foul stuff out of his lungs.

"Where, what-" Trash looked around himself in confusion.

He was inside some dimly lit laboratory. Around him were other vats with bodies floating in them. Many looked like clones of him.

Or, rather, they were homunculi. His homunculi.

"Why, why am I here? Didn't I just-" The memories of the fight rushed through the boy's mind. And he nearly fell back into the liquid that he used to hold replacement bodies in.

"That, that… THAT TANUKI WHORE! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Trash screamed violently as he thrashed in the liquid broth. It ran over the sides of the tub and splattered all over the floor.

"I'LL KILL HER! I SWEAR! EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I EVER DO! I'LL KILL HER AND ALL HER WHORE FRIENDS! &^%$!"

Trash continued to swear as he began to pull himself out of the vat he was in. He was completely naked. But he wouldn't have cared even if someone was around.

He was too pissed off. All his thoughts were on revenge. And on getting that stupidly stubborn weapon!

Just when he'd finally garnered enough levels to steal it and force it to obey him, it just had to choose somebody else, again! Who knew just how much stronger that girl would be the next time they met! This was so unfair!

In fact, he didn't even notice that he'd been restrained until he fell back into the vat of liquid and realized that he couldn't stand back up.

"Ghh- what?! What the f-?!"

"Hmhmhmhmhm." A voice chuckled in silky pleasure from the darkness. "How fortunate that you showed up. Now, I won't have to go out looking for you."

Trash stilled at the voice that came from the darkness in the room. "Wait… that voice! You!"

"That's right. Me." A figure stepped forward. His spectacles reflected the dim light of the room giving them a menacing shine.

"Me." The man with the platinum blonde hair took another step forward.

"Me." The man with the many potion vial belts wrapped around his body.

"Me." The man who wielded the vassal book.

"K-Kyo!" The schoolboy said in shock.

The Book Hero was in his usual outfit. Though he was currently missing his right arm. But at least the stump wasn't burning anymore. Whatever had been covering that Sword Idiot's weapon had finally worn off, so now Kyo could get to work on replacing the missing appendage.

Looking down at himself, Trash found that he was bound by pages from Kyo's open book, which was grasped in the guy's left hand. "W-What are you doing in my lab?!"

"Your lab? " The book hero looked confused but then grinned maliciously. "I do believe you mean, my lab," Kyo smirked as he snapped his fingers.

Magic lamps came to life on the walls all around, bathing the room in a light blue glow. The revealed room was far bigger than Trash's own secret lab. The midboss's eyes widened in shock.

"But, but how did you-" Trash began to say in surprise.

"When I learned about what you were researching, it piqued my interest." Kyo shrugged as he walked by Trash's vat. "But you were having all sorts of difficulties, and you seemed busy with your other projects, so…"

Kyo suddenly turned back to Trash and extended an open palm of his sole gloved hand at him. "Congratulations on that portal scroll by the way. That'll definitely come in handy. Though I wish you would have dedicated more time to these lovely homunculi. It's quite impressive that you managed to make something humanoid at all…

"Oh well. I was able to improve on your developments myself after stealing them and bringing them here. So it's no big deal." Kyo shrugged. "You know, at first I was confused on why you'd put in so much effort into something like this when we naturally respawn after a while. But now? Now I'm starting to see the benefit of being able to choose when and where you do it."

"W-Why do you have me bound?! What the hell do you want from me?!" Trash demanded an answer.

"From you, specifically?... nothing, really." Kyo chuckled darkly. "Even I have standards on who I work with.

"I've been listening to the rumors going on outside my kingdom. I have no need to work alongside someone as bastardly inferior as you." Trash's eyes narrowed, but Kyo simply smiled cruelly in response.

"But, working on you, that I can do."

…

"W-What?" Trash choked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Hmhmhm. There are still some theories that I need to test out on our kind before I attempt some… drastic, things, on myself. It wouldn't be wise to put myself at risk before I see some results, right?" Kyo said naturally.

"Y-You can't! They wouldn't allow you to do that-!" Trash began to scream.

A page slapped over his mouth, cutting him off. Trash's eyes stared in horror as Kyo's cruel smile only grew bigger. "They won't care what we do to each other. After all, we're expendable in their eyes. As long as we weaken the worlds and don't reveal them to everyone, they'll let us do whatever we want. Even murder each other, if the ends justify the means."

Trash's eyes widened in fear. Kyo patted his fellow reincarnator on the head. "Thank you for donating your body… well, bodies, plural, to science. It's a good thing we don't 'die' like normal people. And look at all these homunculi I have ready for you! I'll be able to do all 'sorts' of fun stuff with your soul in the meantime!"

Trash's face lost all color. A terror unlike anything else filled his being. His hands tore the page off his mouth so he could speak. "W-wait! Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait! Y-you can't do this to me! We're supposed to be on the same side! The bosses-"

"Won't do #$%^." Kyo interrupted him with a mocking smile. "I already told you, we're allowed to in-fight as long as it's for the sake of furthering our mission. And considering your poor performance...heh. It's been what, a decade? And you still haven't managed to seize one of the vassal weapons? Yeah. The only reason 'the bosses' haven't terminated your contract yet is because you're so irrelevant that they must have forgotten that you even exist."

"Y-you bastard!" Trash screamed impotently and tried to conjure his magic to no avail. His magic power was empty for some reason.

"But me, on the other hand?" Kyo put his hand on his chest. "I have made some very good progress. By my estimates, I'll be able to finally finish my ultimate weapon within a month's time. And you, my... 'comrade', will be instrumental in the final stages of its completion.

"Ah, I so look forward to experimenting on you." Kyo cruelly smiled.

"No, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-" Kyo's pages brought the Trash midboss back into the blue liquid that held his homunculi bodies in stasis. Kyo smirked and made an attempt to rub his hands together in anticipation as he saw Trash struggle in vain, only to realize his predicament and frown.

Well, whatever. Soon, he'd be able to make himself a new arm. And he'd even be able to make sure it worked by using this clown here as a test subject. Then, he could get to work on all the other experiments he had planned in his mind thanks to his time in the Otherworld and…

Finally. This had been just what he needed to make his week better.

Author's Notes:

You know. A thought for those of us who've read the Light Novels. I always wondered why Trash didn't 'respawn' like normal reincarnators since that's a special power this brand of antagonists has. This ending scene is more my theory on it based on later events for the next arc in the light novels.

Also, in case you're wondering, Trash has no official name in the light novels or the manga. It's a running gag that's canon. And I love it.

For those wondering what the hell I'm even talking about in regards to 'reincarnators', I recommend reading the light novels. You'll then understand why Trash is nothing but a garbage pile of Trash and have the unfortunate pleasure of knowing that he isn't the only piece of Trash out there that Naofumi and co will have to deal with. And even worse, there are actually many substantial valid reasons for why these cardboard cutout figures exist in every single world in the first place. And they're quite relevant to the story even though they are so purposefully bad to the point that you'd already be sick of them after this piece of art in this chapter.

Next up is the falling action for this arc. And then, we'll get to see Kyo next Arc. Can't wait for that to happen. Though there'll probably be an interlude chapter or two in between to cover some things in Raphtalia's world. Depends on how much I need to cover in those chapters.

Stay tuned!

Hero Clips

Dumb Shield

"Oi! Shield! Get the &^%$ away from me right now you stupid bitch!"

Naofumi expected nothing to happen. But instead:

Fine.

Naofumi's arm flashed brightly. And the Shield disappeared, only to reappear on Trash's arm as it chose him out of pure spite for its original wielder.

"W-Whoa! That was unexpected!" Trash exclaimed.

Naofumi lost his job class of Shield Hero and lost all the benefits he had tied to it. He was no longer invulnerable and he was no longer able to stop a moving mountain with his bare hands.

But on the bright side, his attack stat went up a heck of a lot without the stupid shield restricting his attack stat! Meaning he'd finally be able to kill something besides a level one balloon without resorting to status conditions or the environment!

On the downside, he couldn't protect Raphtalia and the others now. And Trash began to grin maliciously. "Now with this weapon on my side, I'll finally be able to destroy you! Ahahahahahah…"

His laugh trailed off.

At first, Trash looked confused. And then, he looked indignant. "What do you mean I can't use fireballs anymore?!"

L'Arc and the others slowly put their weapons down in confusion. "What's with him all of a sudden?"

"Oh, he's realizing that he can't use offensive magic any more thanks to the Shield on his arm." Naofumi shrugged. It was a problem he'd discovered when he tried to learn Decay Magic since it was a branch of Healing Magic.

He couldn't use any offensive Magic as the Shield Hero though. And now, neither could Trash. He'd been limited to only support and healing spells in fire and whatever other affinities he could use.

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Trash pulled out his katana and tried to charge forward.

ZAP! "YEOW!" Only to have the katana painfully shocked from his hand. "WHAT THE &^%$?!"

"Heroes can't wield other weapons besides their own, dumb&%$," Naofumi stated dryly. "Everyone with a single brain cell to their name knows that fact."

"I don't know. Have you seen some of the fanfics out there?" Itsuki asked unsurely.

"&%$# you! I'll just have my girls deal with you then!" Trash turned towards his harem gleefully.

However…

"Ew."

"Shields are like, so lame."

"I'm out of here."

"Same."

"Rowrr."

Even the tigers rolled their eyes as they walked away alongside his harem!

That was so unfair!

Trash's eyes boggled as all but two of his girls left his party. Tsugumi, his loyal retainer, as well as the unnamed girl Dou-Lon helped, who still stood nearby.

"Tsugumi, uh… I forgot your name, but you both think shields are cool, right?! Right!?" Trash pleaded.

"Well, um…"

…

"You have other interesting talents, my Lord." The ponytail girl offered weakly.

Her friend shrugged weakly in support.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Trash screamed.

"Alright, I've had enough of this show! Time to avenge Kenshiro!" L'Arc rushed forward and attacked, but…

Clang!

Both their eyes widened. L'Arc's attack had done no damage whatsoever since Trash's defense was now so high.

The cardboard cutout villain grinned. "So this is what it's like to be untouchable, huh? I guess even with all the downsides, I could get used to-"

Clang!

He tried to punch L'Arc back. But because of the shield's weapon restriction, his attack stat had been made as low as Naofumi's when he had the shield.

Because it doesn't matter who you are. The Shield is a stupid jealous yandere bitch that restricts the attack stat of whoever is wielding it. And NO ONE will ever get around it.

…

"Well, this sucks." The two separated.

"I can't kill you, and you can't harm me. Looks like we're at an impasse." Trash smirked.

"Not necessarily." Naofumi shrugged. "There's still one way to kill you."

"What do you-"

"Hengen Musou: God Blow!"

Rishia's defense rating attack hit his face, and Trash's body exploded from the amount of damage he took from the attack.

"Ahhh…" Tsugumi and her friend fainted at seeing their lover die before their eyes.

"Eh, not the worst thing I've seen." Itsuki shrugged.

"Definitely not as bad as the actual death scene." Glass grimaced.

Naofumi sighed. Just like that, it was over. He could move on with his life and enjoy his newfound freedom-

Flash!

Nope. Of course not. The Legendary Shield appeared on his arm once again. And his stat build returned to what it was before. No attack. God tier defense.

Guess who's back bitch? It's ya boi, Yanderae Shield!

"Yeah yeah, I know."

"Man. Talk about a tough break," Itsuki said.

"You okay, Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked worriedly.

"... Eh, it's whatever." Naofumi merely sighed and didn't elaborate further when questioned by the others.

And thus, Trash's anticlimatic showdown reached a sudden end. And they were all able to go home.

Of course, this scenario could never happen, since weapons can't leave their wielders until their wielder dies. Or the weapon is stolen by people like Trash.

But it's fun to explore crack scenarios in a nonserious setting where lore and rules can be explained in better detail so people can laugh while getting a better understanding of how the world works.

Oh! Speaking of crack!

"God Blow. Was that, could it be?"

Trash stood on a floor in space. His eyes widened as he saw the back of a throne in front of him.

"My beloved Eris-san!" Trash cried out joyfully.

Oh, how he'd wanted this for so long! To escape the cruelty and unfairness of his world and to soak in the light of Eris's bosom!

Screw Aqua and what she said! Eris-san's chest was real and nothing would convince him that it was padded like Kizuna's and-

"I'm sorry, Eris-chan isn't available right now." The throne turned around, and Trash froze.

It wasn't Aqua.

It was worse!

IT WAS SO MUCH WORSE!

"Don't worry. I'll be sure to keep you company until the time you resurrect in a new body." Kyo winked sulkily as he stood up. He was dressed in Eris-san's outfit! And since it looked like he had boobs, it meant the goddess really did wear pads to make it look like she had a sizable bust!

His whole world had been ruined!

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

And thus, Trash suffered unspeakable horrors while the actual chapter boss took his villain chair once again.

Enjoy your own personal hell, Trash.

You deserve it.

Till Next Time

Allen