Alright, just like that, we're at the start of the next arc in the Otherworld. I hope you all are ready for this because the anime really did shorten this part here. Though, I guess if you've read to this point, you've already figured that much out seeing all that happened from Arc 6 till now. I really wish they'd had the budget for 24 Episodes. It would have worked so much better that way.
Not sure how long this arc will be with some of the fun things I have planned for it. But one way or another, we'll get to Kyo soon enough. Don't rush me and let things progress naturally.
Start of Arc 9
Chapter Sixty-Five: Otherworld Wave
-Foreword-
Strange. Ever since ████████████, I've felt the urge to keep a ████████████.
Due to the ████████████ I suffered ████████████, my anger management counselor suggested I write my daily activities as a way to release my stress.
However, I never went through with it, since ████████████ never allowed me any privacy and any attempts to keep a journal back then ████████████ for some reason.
Now that I have access to the ████████████ that no one ████████████, I think I'll give it a shot. The idea from that guy isn't entirely without merit. Not to mention he was… ████████████.
To start off, I'll remind myself of my core. I have ████████████ from acquiring knowledge. And I have ████████████ to preserving knowledge. It is one of the few things I absolutely ████████████ whatsoever. I don't care if ████████████ in any way possible.
Knowledge, all knowledge, is sacred. It shouldn't be ████████████ but should be kept ████████████.
With that out of the way, I, ████████████, shall document my life.
The weather forecast for the day was cloudy. With a chance of thunder, rain, and decapitation from the monsters falling from the Wave rifts in the sky.
Or as the Shield Hero would put it: business as usual.
"Air Strike Shield!" Naofumi summoned the skill shield, blocking in a row of elephant-like man monsters that'd fallen to the ground.
"Rahhhh!" A line of adventurers fell on them. Tearing the large monsters to pieces before the skill shield pinning them down expired.
Naofumi nodded to them as he moved on. A flock of bird monsters that looked like a mix between peregrine falcons, eagles, and snakes flocked the Shield Hero. They were called Interdimensional Garuda Shadows on his HUD.
Clangs sounded every time their taloned feet or beaks hit against him and his armor.
These monsters were definitely stronger than any of the wave monsters they'd fought in his world, but compared to the Spirit Tortoise and everything else they'd had to face recently, this was nothing.
Arrows whizzed past him and AoE spells hit around him as L'Arc's army protected the village they were evacuating and targeted the monsters Naofumi was aggroing for them, but he took no damage from any of the stray attacks whatsoever.
The reason for why was simple. Naofumi's level was currently 63+83.
This was because the wave going on right now was connected to his world. Meaning that, while the Wave was open, he had the power he'd accumulated in both worlds.
Yes, despite Naofumi wearing the same armor he'd been wearing since escaping Mikikage with Kizuna, and despite the fact that he was suffering from a fifteen percent defense debuff right now, his defense stat was higher than it'd ever been before. Especially since he was able to equip the strong Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield again.
He wasn't even using Aura to boost his stats right now. He could make his defense stat more ridiculous if he wanted.
With his high stats, the monsters were barely an annoyance that he batted away from his face. And no one besides the other Heroes stood a chance at hurting Naofumi.
The monsters seemed to realize that fact and tried to move away from the Shield Hero towards the village where people were still being evacuated.
"Hate Reaction!" With one simple skill, Naofumi brought them raging back to himself so Therese and the mages with her could continue to destroy the swarm around him with fire, ice, lightning, and a whole variety of cool spells.
"My name is Therese Alexanderite, and I am your friend. Give me the strength to annihilate them! Shining Stones: Ruby Flame!"
"Flying Circle! Combo Skill: Ruby Flame Flying Circle!"
Therese and L'Arc's combo attack wiped out a whole line of monsters. Causing many of the soldiers behind the redhead to cheer. Only a group of monsters named Interdimensional Ifrits, which looked a lot like fire spirits, withstood the initial attack. And a group of mages supporting Therese hit them with ice magic, finishing them off.
The redhead was dressed like a member of the Shinsengumi. Just like those adventurers he'd noticed a while back. And Therese was dressed similarly while the gemstone on her forehead was in plain view.
Weird gear to wear. But it apparently passed as gear in this world, so Naofumi couldn't make any complaints.
The duo was a pretty intimidating sight. And their attacks eliminated most of the monsters around Naofumi. So he walked away from the village to aggro the attention of more monsters, single-handedly pushing the line of monsters back up into the hills away from the village where the cracks of the wave were located.
Since he didn't have much to do while being a walking monster attractor, Naofumi thought about what'd happened since the festival earlier that week.
Naofumi and Itsuki, as well as their parties, had moved from their castle quarters into Kizuna's home. It wasn't because they'd avoid judging eyes there, which they hadn't seen much of anyway due to recent events. But rather it gave them a place to work and rest without being surrounded by lots of people.
Naofumi didn't mind a distraction every now and again. But having five different people knock on his door while he was trying to make medicines was beyond aggravating. Did the people here not know the meaning of the word 'privacy'?
The Hunting Hero's home had been as spacious as the Shield Hero remembered. There'd been plenty of rooms for all of them to stay in. There were also conveniences like plumbing and magic lamps to light the rooms and hallways. The kitchen had all the cooking tools he needed. There was a room where he could compound medicines in peace. The beds were nice and comfortable, and big enough for two people.
On a related note, the walls were also soundproofed. A good thing since Itsuki was just next door to him and Raphtalia.
Naofumi's personal favorite thing, however, was that Kizuna had an honest to god hot spring in the basement of her home.
Therese had set it up in the past using gems that could emanate heat… or something. However it worked, Naofumi had definitely taken advantage of it. Alongside his girlfriend Raphtalia…
Honestly, Naofumi was feeling better than he had in months. He was almost skipping across the battlefield in delight. He didn't know how to describe it. But it was like the morale boost she'd given him made even the wave going on around him look trivial.
Naofumi casually deflected an Interdimensional Ganesha Shadow's weapon, which looked like a bunch of oversized Buddhist prayer beads slapped together, away from himself with a deafening clang. He then used the attack's momentum to turn the larger monster away from him while simultaneously pushing it in the back of the knee.
The monster crumpled and fell with a bellow after losing his balance, and Raphtalia was right there to take its head clean off with her blade.
With a quick flick, she cleaned her weapon of the excess shadow residue before flashing a smile at her companion and resuming her massacre of the flocks of raptors around Naofumi with a skill from her weapon. Even covered in gore from the countless monsters she'd slain, the half-raccoon girl looked beyond beautiful in her Shrine Maiden Outfit.
If Naofumi had to say anything, it was that things between him and Raphtalia were good.
Actually, they were great! Beyond great!
It was currently somewhere in the realm of awesomely fantastic and God I hope this never ends.
Naofumi was going to hate it when they left the honeymoon phase and went back to bickering with each other like an old married couple again. The Shield Hero had never been happier in his entire life. Nothing else could possibly compare. And the reason for that was more than obvious.
Sex.
Lots of loving, passionate, couples sex.
Nothing from the visual novels that he'd read back in his home world had prepared him for it. It made everything Naofumi had seen before look like a sham. All those videos and games and comics he'd seen/played back in his world absolutely failed to capture what the real thing was like.
How the hell could anyone live their entire lives without this sense of intimacy and closeness with someone else. It was absolutely crazy to think there were people out there who willingly lived their entire lives celibate.
That one night they'd shared together had brought the pair closer than anything else in the past. And they'd only deepened that bond with each other in the time since…
Okay, so maybe there was more than one reason why he'd wanted to move into Kizuna's home. For the sake of propriety, however, they at least tried to keep their activities limited to the night in their bedroom since there were other important things they had to do. Things that'd help them in the battle against Kyo like level grinding and accessory making, as well as commissioning new gear for all of them from Kizuna's blacksmith friend.
Still, Naofumi couldn't deny it. His new deep bond with Raphtalia was, by far, the most important thing that'd happened to him these last few days.
Besides petting Raph-Chan, of course.
"Rafu!" "Pen!" Raph-Chan and Chris dashed across the battlefield to the side, tackling a large monster together, and saving a random adventurer's life. Dou-Lon followed up, his form looking a little more like Glass's compared to before as he weaved fluidly behind it and cleaved it in half with his blade.
Raph-Chan and Chris both cheered as the hakuko let out a victory roar from the amount of power coursing through his limbs.
Heh. Just like her mother, even covered in monster gore, Raph-Chan was beyond adorable. Naofumi wished that he had a spare moment to pet her right now.
"Naofumi, can you please not think about petting our daughter in the middle of a battle… again?" Raphtalia asked.
"Would you rather I pet you instead?" Naofumi grinned mischievously.
"... Focus on the monsters. And then we'll see tonight if I don't pounce you before then." Raphtalia grinned back.
Damn. Raphtalia was so hot when she talked like that.
That reminded him. They needed to go by that store to buy more condoms. They'd already run out of the ones Therese had given them at the celebration.
…
What? Naofumi did say they tried to limit their shenanigans to the night. They weren't always successful in doing that.
They were two horny young adults in the middle of their honeymoon phase. It was a miracle they'd even been able to accomplish anything else.
Going through one box of condoms in just a few days was completely normal.
Heh. Life was great…
Anyway, to get his mind on less lewd pastures, and since he'd spotted him with Raph-Chan, Naofumi thought about how well Dou-Lon was doing lately.
From what little Naofumi had seen of the hakuko, he was really starting to come into his own training with Glass. His boost in progress came from him not having to worry about reuniting with everyone. As well as the fact that he could dedicate more of his time to training now that they were safe.
Naofumi was a bit worried at how the Hakuko male threw himself into the learning curve with a burning passion. He seemed almost driven to learn as much as he could. To the point that he often finished his training sessions with Glass covered in bruises and barely able to move.
But as soon as Naofumi healed him up, he'd be right back to practice a kata he'd learned from Eclair in the past, or practicing a series of steps and movements Glass had beat into his body that day. He still meditated at night, but not before stretching his body with another kata.
His training sessions with Eclair must have made him go crazy. There was no other explanation for the Hakuko's current irrational behavior.
"Dieeeeeeeeeeee!"
Yep, he hadn't rubbed off on the hakuko whatsoever.
…
At least he'd shown great improvement with the blade in a very short time. Naofumi looked forward to seeing how much he'd improve before the fight with Kyo.
Speaking of training, Naofumi had gone to Rishia with Raphtalia the day after the celebration as promised and, after getting a little jab from his girlfriend to encourage him, he'd gotten on his knees and pleaded with the green-haired girl to train him and Raphtalia in the art of Hengen Musou.
The girl hadn't even Fuehhhhed in surprise. Instead, she'd high-fived Raphtalia and promised to begin training both of them immediately.
Judging by the smirk on her face, the two girls had planned this the night of the festival.
Not that he'd minded, since Raphtalia was absolutely right about needing to learn this. As hard as it was to do, it was necessary if he wanted to keep everyone safe down the road.
It was also something Naofumi and Raphtalia could work on together, when the Katana Hero wasn't training with Glass and Dou-Lon, and when the Shield Hero wasn't busy with accessories or the other things on his plate.
The training itself was different. Rishia had asked Kizuna for a place to train somewhere in a mountain range far away from civilization, and the Hunting Tools Hero had used a skill to bring her precious Squishy and her friends to her favorite fishing spot in the mountains.
It was an enclosed area that contained a large lake in the center of it. It was filled by a spring from underground and was so hard to reach that not even the locals knew about it. Only those with flight capabilities could hope to find it. Meaning that it was the perfect spot to begin learning to sense and manipulate ki.
Naofumi spent several hours in meditation there each day. Attempting to recognize and to connect with the 'ki' in his body.
He also had to spar against Rishia and try to mitigate or otherwise block defense piercing and defense rating attacks she threw at him with said ki. Something he hadn't managed to accomplish at all thus far.
He wasn't currently using it in this battle. Not because the monsters weren't strong enough to damage him. But because he was still struggling to even understand how ki worked.
And to think that Itsuki and Motoyasu could both use it to a degree.
He'd really shot himself in the foot waiting to train in it till now.
…
Then again, the last thing he'd needed while trying to reunite with Raphtalia was another impossible frustrating task to overcome physically and mentally. And he really was in a better place mentally so the failures didn't frustrate him too much.
Rishia was also a good and patient teacher. She was as patient with him as she was with Raphtalia and Itsuki. And sometimes Glass or Ethnobalt when the former came to observe.
Speaking of them, a fireball from Therese cleared away the monsters above Naofumi, and he looked up to see Ethnobalt's ship high up in the sky.
Itsuki relentlessly spammed his ranged attacks all over the battlefield from there. Spanning from all the way near the village to deep in the mountains where Kizuna was likely fighting, unleashing hell on the main monster's ranks. Rishia stayed on board to fight any monsters that landed on the Invincible near the Bow Hero.
Volleys from the bottom of the ship crashed down on the monsters in the distance every now and then. But the attacks hardly did any damage. It appeared that what the Boat had in Defense, it lacked in Attack, and at best, it briefly distracted and startled the monsters so they couldn't move forward to attack the soldiers and adventurers across the battlefield in droves.
No wonder Ethnobalt didn't normally join in on fights. He'd only joined this one because Kizuna put her foot down and refused to bend.
As for Glass, she stood at the prow of the Invincible. She yelled something to Itsuki, who threw a bottle of Soul Healing Water at her as a large flock of Interdimensional Garuda Shadows came towards Ethnobalt's ship. She dumped the contents over herself, glowed brightly like a beacon, and then unleashed a massive skill that sliced all of the monsters all around the ship out of the air.
Hundreds of their carcasses fell all over the battlefield like a rain of blood.
It wasn't just the item's effect on her race. The spirit woman was at full strength at last. Thanks to being able to finally rest in a safe place, being reunited with Kizuna, forgiving herself for some of what'd happened in the past… and possibly Naofumi using his Blessed Shield's ability [Ray Of Hope] to absorb the remainder of her curse which she'd inflicted on herself when destroying Label's Regression Prison.
Nothing major, really. Just an extraordinary ability that made Kizuna really envious.
That was the reason Naofumi had the defense debuff too. Not that it mattered since his defense was still high despite that.
As for why they were at a Wave, instead of hunting the rogue Book Hero? Well, just because he was Naofumi's and Itsuki's primary goal did not magically make the regular waves disappear. And while Kizuna and co would be able to take care of them on their own, sitting out felt rude to the duo and their allies. Especially since they promised to help save both of their worlds and all.
Not to mention. They could get weapon forms from this that'd benefit them down the road.
This was the second wave that they were participating in during their stay in Kizuna's world. The first one took place in a country called Lapis two days ago, while this one was happening somewhere in Sickle.
Kizuna's assistance at that previous wave had allowed her to get a foot in the door and to get the neutral-aligned country to agree to host an upcoming International meeting.
…
Oh yeah, he almost forgot, since this Wave was connected to their world…
"Ha!" Filo ran past in her Filolial form. Smashing into a large monster like it was made of putty.
Yep. Filo was a Filolial again. However, she would become a humming fairy again after the Wave's conclusion. Weird discovery, but it was still pretty cool regardless.
"You doing good sweetie?" Naofumi asked.
"Mmhmm! As much as Filo likes being a hummingbird, it's great to be a Filolial again!" The girl said happily as her large foot squashed another monster beneath her feet. She then turned and kicked another elephant man in the groin.
It was uncertain if it had testicles or not. The monster still flew through the air screeching in pain regardless and crashed into its compatriots with zero health left. Melting away into shadow once that occurred.
Filo was doing good. She'd taken time since the fight in Katana's country to raise her level out in the wild with help from Itsuki and his friends. She was currently around level 60, plus the 75 or so levels she had back in their world. When she wasn't playing with her younger sister, she was learning how to cook from her Daddy.
Had she been in her humming fairy form, she would have looked bigger compared to before, though the real change would have been to her vocal cords.
Humming Fairies were apparently good at a form of magic in this world called Performance Magic. The reason for this was that as Humming Fairies advanced in growth, their vocal cords gained the ability to sing more harmonies at the same time.
In English, this meant Filo could sing with three or more different voices at once. Which was a major boon when it came to doing Performance Magic.
"Alright. Keep up the good work." Naofumi nodded while Filo raced past him and continued forward.
His daughter began to sing as she did so, and a layer of energy covered her and Naofumi. Naofumi saw his defense and agility stats receive a boost and smiled in delight.
The Shield Hero finally saw Kizuna in the distance. She was doing battle with a legion of different monsters, just like he'd suspected.
Interdimensional Ganesha Shadows. Garuda Shadows. Ifrits. Nagas. Nagarajas Shadows. There were so many different kinds that Naofumi lost track. It seemed the monsters of this wave were based on India Mythology. Something he only knew about because he was an otaku.
They all came to the Hunting Tools Hero in droves. But Kizuna was in her element. With a wide smile that seemed out of place in the middle of a battlefield, she effortlessly cut down all those around her. With skills, with her fishing pole, with a tuna knife, whatever she needed.
A few attacks landed on her, but they hardly left a scratch. Kizuna said all her stats were doubled when facing monsters. Meaning her defense was doubled too. The weak ones stood no chance of beating her.
Kizuna had looked genuinely happy during the last few days, and even now she battled with a smile on her face. Being reunited with all her friends had done wonders for her emotionally and mentally. And she'd spent a lot of time making sure to catch up with those she'd missed.
Naofumi didn't see her much since the festival because of that. But the spunky girl Hero still chatted with him whenever he and Filo were cooking dinner for everyone. And she helped out whenever he was preparing seafood dishes.
While the girl still struggled with some inner conflicts that Naofumi didn't pry about, she was genuinely much better off than she'd been when they first met.
"PAWOOOOOOO!"
As Naofumi drew close, the Wave Boss finally fell from the sky.
It was an elephant. And a very big one at that. It's title was Interdimensional Girimekhala.
It was at least half the size of the Interdimensional Whale from the Cal Mira Wave and just as tall. It squashed several of its minions underfoot just from landing on the ground. Its tusks were far longer than any spear. It had war paint in the shape of a swirl on its forehead. Its overall appearance gave in full the Indian vibe the other monsters possessed.
Naofumi wasn't sure if that was right or not. He'd never been that good at history. But it seriously made him wonder where these monsters lived in his world since he'd never encountered them before.
However, when the monster brought its large trunk down to attack Kizuna, it still Clanged when Naofumi protected the Hunting Tools Hero with his shield. Kizuna's Fishing skill then hooked the great beast by one of its tusks before it could recover from its failed attack, sending it high into the air before it crashed down belly up in a daze.
"Impressive. That has to be the biggest thing I've seen you use that skill on yet." Naofumi said admirably.
"Yeah, I was just barely able to manage that." Kizuna hit the beast on the stomach with her Lure Needle skill. Then, she jumped high up into the air.
"Second Shield!" Naofumi's skill shield gave her an extra platform. But instead of using it like a normal person, she twisted her body and pressed her feet against the underside. She then launched herself down at the monster that was struggling to get back up.
"Instant Blade: Sun Flower's Strike!"
Her attack cleaved the entire monster in two.
…
Had… had she just one-shotted the Wave Boss with one attack?
"Thanks for the assist, bro." Kizuna gave him a thumbs-up as the two halves of the monster fell on both sides of her.
…
…
Yeah, she was definitely showing off. She probably hadn't even needed to use that Lure Needle ability of hers to double her damage.
Or maybe this was just a sign that Naofumi had forgotten the meaning of the words "power scale" after Trash's pathetic battle with them.
"No problem, sis." Naofumi gave Kizuna a thumbs up with a deadpan look, and she had the audacity to laugh.
"You can thank Raphtalia for sharing her strengthening method with me! I'm just a little bit stronger now because of that!" Kizuna admitted gleefully.
Oh yeah, he'd almost forgotten. Raphtalia was now the Katana Hero of this world. Meaning she was now able to use the strengthening methods used by the weapons in this world, making her even stronger than before.
Raphtalia's method was similar to Motoyasu's [Smelting] method. And sharing it had also given the Otherworld Heroes a boost in strength after they used it. It wasn't too major since it was only one method, but Kizuna had still noticed the difference. Everyone kept benefitting from their alliance more and more.
"N-No fair! I was going to help my sis defeat the Wave Boss Kiddo!" L'Arc finally caught up, cutting down the last line of Ganesha Shadows between him and Kizuna with his Scythe.
"Oh, there you are, boy." Naofumi continued his deadpan tone at the nickname L'Arc used. "Any luck catching up on all that work?"
"Hurk!" L'Arc looked like he'd been punched in the gut again.
If there was anyone he hadn't seen much of the last few days outside of the Waves, it was L'Arc. All Naofumi knew was that he'd been beyond busy catching up on his 'royal' duties. And with Kizuna back, he spent the night in his room at her home in an effort to escape said duties for a few hours.
Not that it kept Therese from dragging his butt back to the castle each morning. By the ear if necessary.
"Well, boy?" Naofumi pressed.
L'Arc turned to the side, unwilling to acknowledge the Shield Hero. Naofumi had taken a liking to calling him boy whenever the redhead referred to him as Kiddo. However, when L'Arc called him Naofumi, he would refer to him by L'Arc.
Naofumi wasn't cruel like before. He was only using the nickname to encourage the redhead to break free of his annoying habit.
Though his reactions to the nickname were pretty funny.
"Master Craftsman. I saw what you did. Thank you for protecting our friend from the Wave Boss's attack." Therese walked up, smiling happily as she did so. "L'Arc, aren't you going to thank him too?"
"HURK!" L'Arc nearly doubled over, an agonized look on his face.
Naofumi smirked. "Come on, boy, it isn't that hard."
"F… fu…" L'Arc looked so tempted to say something bad as he began to raise the bird. However, he did manage to swallow his pride eventually and kept from raising his middle finger at the Shield Hero. "Thank you… Naofumi."
"Your welcome, L'Arc. Was that so hard?"
L'Arc flipped him off and turned to deal with some of the remaining monsters on the battlefield. Naofumi and Kizuna both laughed at the sight.
"Kizuna, are you ok? Did any of the monsters hurt you?" Glass descended from the sky as the Vassal Boat made a pass over them low over the ground. Her red eyes were filled with worry and concern.
"Of course I'm fine! Thank you for worrying about me though, Glassy!" Kizuna rushed up to the spirit woman and hugged her happily.
Glass's face went through several shades of red. She almost wasn't able to return the hug but managed to do so with a smile.
The spirit woman really had relaxed compared to before. Naofumi almost felt bad as he coughed into his fist and interrupted the moment between the two. "So, are you two going to help clean up the remaining monsters, or are we just going to stand around doing nothing?"
"O-Of course." Glass stuttered in embarrassment. "Let's go, Kizuna."
"Talk to you later brooooo!" Kizuna said cheerily as Glass took her by the hand towards another group of monsters.
Naofumi chuckled to himself. "What's so funny, Master Craftsman?" Therese asked curiously.
"Nothing really. Just surprising to see Glass like that still." The Shield Hero smiled.
As embarrassed as she got, Glass genuinely seemed a lot happier as of late. Even when she was in serious mode when training Dou-Lon in her dance style of combat, the calm reserved woman had a small smile on her face.
It was odd. But in a good way. Even if they were still working on winning over the people and everyone in this world, they'd made friends with these Otherworld Heroes for life.
A bit unfortunate that L'Arc was included in that group. But eh, at least calling him boy made Naofumi feel better. In this instance, immaturity was well warranted.
Even Raphtalia approved of it so long as it was because L'Arc referred to them by Kiddo. He wondered if he'd feel bad when… if L'Arc broke free of that very annoying habit.
"Kiddo, I swear to God if you're thinking cruel things about me again, I'm going to-" L'Arc began to yell in the distance.
"Master Craftsmen, L'Arc." Therese corrected.
"ARRRRRGHHHHHHHH!" L'Arc took his anger out on the monsters near him. It didn't help that he would have to go back to his 'boring kingly duties' after this wave was over. So he might as well vent out as much frustration as he could.
Raphtalia, who was nearby, laughed and gave a thumbs up to Therese, before diving into the monster horde herself.
"Thanks." Naofumi smiled.
"Of course." Therese looked up and gestured at the sky. "The wave cracks aren't closing yet."
Naofumi looked up at last.
Yep, they'd managed to defeat the boss. Yet the cracks were still open.
With the knowledge on the Waves that both groups had thus far, this meant that either the Boss on the other end hadn't been killed yet, or…
"Daddy, Fitoria's here to see you!" Filo ran up to him again.
Yep, somebody from their world was there to pay them a visit. Naofumi smiled at Filo's approach and at the news she brought him.
"Let's see her then before she has to go back."
Thankfully, with Naofumi riding on Filo's back, it didn't take long to find the Legendary Filolial Queen.
As Filo ran, Raph-Chan jumped on and joined the pair. Looking as eager to see the Filolial Queen of legend as Naofumi. The Shield Hero gleefully took the moment to pet the shikigami's soft fur, and Raph-Chan cooed in delight as she rested on his lap.
Awwwwww, precious. Her enjoyment of the petting only encouraged Naofumi to pet her more. So pet he did.
Pet! Pet! Pet! Pet! Pet!
…
The Carriage Hero stood at the base of the valley they'd been fighting in. Hordes of dead monsters surrounded the small girl. Because the wave was still open, she had all the power from their world. Plus whatever she'd just acquired killing all these monsters away from everyone else.
Every now and then, a blade of wind came off her, slicing another monster that began to approach her in two. It was awesome in a way that words couldn't describe.
"Naofumi. It's great for Fitoria to see you again." The little girl said, a small smile on her face as Naofumi rode up on Filo.
"It's great to see you too." Naofumi jumped off, then got on his knees and hugged her tightly. Fitoria returned the hug with a content look on her face.
And still, another blade of wind came off her, decapacitating one last monster in the distance before the hug ended.
She was really something. He was glad that Fitoria would never be their enemy. It wasn't even a thing about being allies. Naofumi genuinely cared for this little girl as he would for any member of his family. And like them, he didn't want to make her sad ever again.
"Rafu!" Raph-Chan ran up, nuzzling against the Filolial Queen's neck and making her look down at the shikigami curiously. "So, this is Filo's new sister?"
"Rafu!" Raph-Chan nodded happily.
"Yes. I'll take it Filo already filled you in on some of what's happened through her ahoge?" Naofumi asked.
"Yes. I started sensing her on the other side of the Wave, and left my flock and the Spear Hero in charge of cleaning up the remaining monsters. I mainly wanted to come to make sure you and Itsuki were doing ok." Fitoria admitted, her eyes shining with worry. "We haven't heard anything from you since you left our world."
"Sorry. We were separated into groups when we first arrived. But we're back together again. We even found the Cardinal Hero missing in this world and befriended her." Naofumi said. "Things are going much better here thanks to her being around again."
"Good… very good." Fitoria relaxed, relief filling her form. She then focused on Naofumi again. "You look like you're doing better than before too."
Naofumi's eyebrow perked up. "I wasn't in a good spot before?"
"No, not like this. You were trying to do better, but you were still troubled… it's hard for Fitoria to describe…" Fitoria's face scrunched up in concentration, reminding Naofumi of Filo since she did the same thing.
"Daddy looks really happy and not so weighed down by past events." Filo provided happily.
"Rafu!"
"Yes, that's a good way to put it Filo." Fitoria looked up at Naofumi again. "It hasn't been that long, but you've changed for the better since coming to this world. In a very good way."
"Well, I…" Naofumi didn't know how to respond to that.
"That's because Mommy and Daddy have started mating with each other!" Filo said happily. "Filo can't wait to have another sibling!"
"Rafu!" Raph-Chan and Filo began dancing as if to celebrate the arrival of a sister or brother nine months from now.
"Oi! There's no way that's happening!... at least, not until after the Waves are dealt with!" Naofumi exclaimed angrily.
"Awwww, Boo!" Filo pouted at him, and Raph-Chan did the same.
Gods, did they have no common sense whatsoever?! If Naofumi got Raphtalia pregnant while they were still fighting the Waves…
The Shield Hero didn't even want to consider that. That was more than enough motivation for them to use protection, no matter how horny they got around each other. If she got pregnant…
"Oh? So the two of you have finally engaged in the act of sex? That would explain it, I suppose. Sexual tension between two individuals is definitely unhealthy when left unresolved. And it looked like there'd been plenty of it built up between you two. Congratulations to the two of you." Fitoria said casually.
Naofumi flushed red in embarrassment. Had it really been that obvious for that long?
Instead of allowing the conversation to continue as is, he hugged the Bird Queen close again.
…
"... what about the rogue Book Hero?" Fitoria finally asked after a moment. After she'd sensed that the Shield Hero had calmed down.
"We'll be facing him soon enough," Naofumi said with relief at the change of topic. "L'Arc is having his army mobilized. And the Hunting Tools Hero is going to host a summit for the nations here to convince the Book's nation to either give that Male Bitch up or if that fails, which I find likely, to gather military support for the campaign against him. After my group levels up a bit more, we should be dealing with him permanently within a week, maybe two if things don't go according to plan."
"Good… not as good as I hoped, but it's better than nothing," Fitoria said sadly. "I was really hoping that you'd be done already so you could come back home. Stupid human politics."
"Are things not going well in our world?" Naofumi asked worriedly.
"It depends. Clean-up is still being done for the damage the Spirit Tortoise and its minions caused in our world. Along with that, the Spear Hero began a journey for the human nation of Zeltoble two days ago. He said the village received a message from someone who used to live there asking for the Hero's help."
"Is he up for that?" The Shield Hero quirked an eyebrow up. Motoyasu had been in pretty horrible shape last he checked.
"Yes, he should be. He recovered from his injuries remarkably well over the last week. And he's definitely grown strong enough to fend for himself." Fitoria answered. "He's progressed far faster than I was expecting. I didn't even know if he'd be able to help with the Waves in a week's time or not, but he's done really well today and-"
"Wait, one week?! It's been over two weeks since we arrived in this world!" Naofumi said in surprise.
"That would be because of the way time flows differently between worlds," Fitoria explained. "A week in our world can be several months in another world. Or perhaps a day, or an hour... Fitoria can't remember the details."
Naofumi frowned. That was interesting to learn. But did that mean time moved twice as fast here than it did in their world? It was so strange that he had to shake his head to clear it of the fact that he was technically aging twice as fast as everyone back home right now.
"If Motoyasu is off to Zeltoble, how is he helping in the Wave? And why isn't Ren helping out?"
"Motoyasu saved the location he was at to his weapon, then got summoned with Fitoria to help in the Wave. After that, he'll teleport back to where he was before and continue to Zeltoble." Fitoria answered. "He's been traveling during the day and teleporting back to the village at night to rest."
…
Wow. That was actually a pretty smart way to travel. Suddenly, Naofumi had the thought that he and Itsuki could have just teleported everyone back to Sickle to rest up before continuing their journey in Katana's country instead of camping out. Why bother with overnight camping when you could save your progress and rest on a good bed?
"As for the Sword Hero… he is in no shape to help out with the Waves currently. He is in better shape than he was a week ago. But it will take a while for him to… Fitoria thinks it is best to leave him with his friends for now."
"Alright. I'm sorry we're not ready to go back yet." Naofumi said apologetically.
Fitoria smiled a little for him. "Fitoria would volunteer her assistance since the fate of our world is at stake. Unfortunately, if I stayed, I'd become very weak, and…" Fitoria frowned. It was likely she'd heard something from the Wave cracks, as she turned around to face the one she'd traveled through.
"What's wrong?" Naofumi asked.
"Motoyasu just dealt with a group of strong poachers. They were trying to capture members of my flock. Even though they were dealing with the monsters from the Wave…" Fitoria frowned deeply. "No… they're not poachers, that isn't the word for them… it's just like every other time I revealed myself in the past… what did they call themselves…"
"You mean, they're like the people you told me about who betrayed you?" Naofumi's eyes widened in realization.
"Yes. But I can't remember them." Fitoria's face saddened. She looked conflicted about talking to her Hero or going immediately back to protect her flock from any further attacks. "If I stay, they'd either target my flock while I'm gone… or they'd come here to kill me while I'm weak."
"They can do that?" Naofumi asked in disbelief at the sudden turn their conversation had taken. "Just who are these people?"
"I… I can't recall." Fitoria shook her head in frustration. "There is too much that Fitoria can't recall. But somebody just tried to kidnap members of Fitoria's flock like before, likely to try and get at me, and…"
3:00
A timer appeared over their vision. Showing that they had three minutes left before the Wave ended.
"Ah. So little time…" Fitoria shook her head again. "Before I go, Naofumi, one of Ren's friends asked if you'd found anything on the Waves while you were here. Fitoria has been searching her Sanctuary and her memories for answers, but has neither found nor remembered anything besides what I said before."
"Well, me and Itsuki haven't really found anything but there's another hero here, the Boat Hero, Ethnobalt. He's like you in a way. He created my shikigami daughter here." Naofumi gestured to Raph-Chan, who waved at Fitoria again. "He and Rishia have begun studying some of the ancient texts he has on the Waves. But so far, they've only found what we already know."
"Have any of the texts been tampered with?" Fitoria narrowed her eyes.
"No, thankfully. They were stored in a very secure place in a very dangerous dungeon that Ethnobalt is in charge of." Naofumi answered.
Fitoria shook a little. Naofumi thought it was relief, but Fitoria spoke in a voice of worry. "Make sure that he guards those texts with his life. According to Ren's friend, our enemies are actively working to destroy any knowledge on the Waves."
"You mean like those books the Three Heroes Church owned or the mural in the Spirit Tortoise temple that was tampered with even before we were summoned?" Naofumi pointed out.
"No, your friends have gotten more books from the countries allied with you against the Spirit Tortoise. Dug out from the depths of their libraries. But the day after they arrived at the village, several of the books had pages torn out, and others were missing entirely. Neither Fitoria nor her flock noticed anyone strange entering or leaving the village the night it happened."
…
"How?" Naofumi breathed out.
"They don't know. I don't know either. But however the enemy is doing it, they are showing themselves to be more active in our world than before. I'm sorry if it's Fitoria's fault for revealing herself and-"
"No, it's not your fault." Naofumi clenched a fist. It appeared things had gotten more serious since they'd left their world. "Don't worry. We'll be back as soon as we can. We just have to deal with Kyo so the Phoenix doesn't awaken early and cause us even more issues while we're trying to deal with that. It hasn't awakened yet, right?"
"No," Fitoria answered. "What Ost said before is true. Somehow, she has kept the Phoenix from learning of her death. For how much longer this will last, I am uncertain. Fitoria is preparing herself for such a battle, just in case."
That's right. That was the other reason Naofumi couldn't go back yet.
Ost had given her life to protect the world she loved. Naofumi wouldn't dare let the sacrifice of his good friend go to waste while her killer was still alive.
1:00
"Whatever you do, make sure to recover the soul energy of the Spirit Tortoise and return as soon as you can." Fitoria smiled sadly. "Hopefully, things will improve when you do. But if not… Fitoria would still rest better knowing that her Heroes are ok."
"Got it." Naofumi rubbed the little girl's head. "Keep your head down if you have to. Don't risk yourself or your flock with our problems if it puts your lives in danger."
"... if only it was that simple." Fitoria smiled sadly up at the Shield Hero. "The Heroes and their flock are now Fitoria's flock, after all."
…
Naofumi was touched by that in a way that couldn't be put into words. A tear formed in the corner of his eye as he hugged the little girl to himself one last time.
Fitoria relaxed and hugged him back, tears also appearing in the corners of her eyes. Filo, who'd been quiet for the two of them, hugged Fitoria as soon as Naofumi had let her go.
"Take care, Fitoria. Don't do anything Filo wouldn't do." The little blonde girl said.
"I will. Continue being there for your Father, Filo. Continue to love him as you promised me in my Sanctuary." Fitoria replied calmly.
"Rafu." Raph-Chan took one last chance to snuggle against the Bird Queen. And Fitoria graced her with one pet on the back.
L'Arc and the others showed up at that point. Fitoria looked at them, smiled, and waved. Then the Carriage hanging on her necklace glowed, and she disappeared in a pillar of light back through the Wave Rift to return to her flock.
...
"Oh… oh man… to think somebody as powerful as her could have crossed into our world during a Wave." L'Arc looked like he was going to be sick.
"How curious. Who was that, Naofumi?" Ethnobalt asked quizzically.
"Her name's Fitoria," Naofumi answered. "Don't worry, she's pretty nice once you get to know her."
"Hmmm…" Ethnobalt looked up at the Wave Rift Fitoria had disappeared into curiously. "So there are Guardians on other worlds too…"
Naofumi tilted his head curiously at that. However, his thoughts were dashed thanks to the person who spoke up next.
"She looked so cool! I want to try fighting her the next time we meet!" Kizuna had a strange glint in her eyes.
The spirit woman next to her sputtered in shock. "A-Are you kidding me!? WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT?!"
"Could you not see the waves of power radiating off that monster?!" Kizuna asked excitedly. "I could probably fight her with all of my power and still have a chance at losing!"
"DID YOUR TIME IN THAT LABYRINTH FRY YOUR BRAIN?! THERE'S NO WAY ANY OF US COULD WIN AGAINST HER!" Glass grabbed the small girl by the shoulders and shook her. Not even Glass at her worst would have been stupid enough to fight an enemy like Fitoria.
It wouldn't have been a fair fight even if Fitoria was forced to fight in her human form!
"Pfft. I can take her. Right, Naofumi?" Kizuna pouted as she crossed her arms and turned away.
"NO, YOU CAN'T! EVEN WITH MY COMBINED LEVEL THANKS TO THE WAVES, HER LEVEL STILL APPEARED AS QUESTION MARKS TO ME! SHE TOOK ON A GUARDIAN BEAST SINGLEHANDEDLY FOR OVER A DAY!" Glass screamed before Naofumi could answer.
"Meh. Levels aren't everything Glassy. You should know that already." Kizuna began to happily pull on Glass's cheeks again, as was her usual when Glass became too uptight for her own good.
"Gah!"
While the others laughed genuinely or nervously, the cracks in the sky began to glow, and then they visibly closed before their eyes.
After a moment, the sky turned back to normal. And the Wave they'd been fighting was over.
The sun showed it was barely even afternoon. That whole wave hadn't taken very long after all.
"Well done today, Naofumi." Raphtalia pecked him on the cheek appreciatively.
"Day's not over yet." Naofumi hugged Raphtalia close before she could back away and kissed her on the lips.
Filo cheered in her humming fairy form, and she and Raph-Chan both climbed onto their parents. Raphtalia, though surprised, closed her eyes and returned the kiss with fervor.
And here she was thinking she'd be the one to pounce on Naofumi first.
"Axie-poo, we can't let them outdo us!" Maya said excitedly to her knight.
Oh? Naofumi had forgotten to mention Itsuki's party members being on the ground too. He guessed it was because he hadn't seen any of the battles they were participating in during the Wave.
"As you say, my strange yet lovely raccoon girl." Aksel swept Maya off her feet, bringing her down close to the ground before locking lips with her happily, much to her delight.
There wasn't much to say about them. The show they put on said more than enough about how things had been going for the two of them lately.
"F-Fuee…" Rishia whimpered nervously, and Itsuki blushed at the dual displays before them.
"Hey, um, Therese, maybe we can try that too-" L'Arc started to say hopefully.
"Ask me that after you're caught up on all that work and then I'll think about it, L'Arc." Therese deadpanned.
…
Yep, L'Arc's life was hell.
She then smiled and gave him a wink. "But if you behave like a good boy and finish it, I might give you more than just a kiss."
…
Gods. It was probably another way to get his hopes up like she had at the festival. But at least she gave him the motivation to want to get through everything else left over from his time away from his country.
Just a kiss from the beautiful Gem Girl would make this living hell worth it to the redhead.
After that, the soldiers and adventurers cleaned up the remaining monsters so they wouldn't become an invasive species in their world. The villagers were escorted back to their homes. And Naofumi and co portaled back to the capital of Sickle after absorbing the various monsters and acquiring new weapon forms from them.
It was just another day in the life of the Shield Hero. And it was barely lunchtime.
Author's Notes:
This was going to be longer, but after how much this fleshed out, I decided to save what I had later in this chapter for another one. This was a joy to work on, and I hope you all enjoyed it.
See you all next week. In the meantime, enjoy this omake.
Hero Clips!
Fitoria Vs. Kizuna
Naofumi had thought these random scenarios were weird before. But this…
Boom!
Bigger Boom!
*random explosion noises*
This took the cake.
"Impressive, even after that barrage, you're still standing," Fitoria said with amusement shining in her eyes.
"You're not so bad yourself, bird queen. Perhaps you may draw out my full power yet." Kizuna grinned as she held her large tuna knife up towards the monster girl.
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing." Fitoria grinned as layer after layer of wind slices appeared in front of her. Launching themselves at the small Hunting Hero faster than the eye could follow.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The landscape around her was utterly decimated by the attack. Yet Kizuna, who'd avoided getting hit in her dash forward, brought her blade down towards the giant bird queen's head, forcing her to block with a barrier of magic that cracked from the hit.
"I guess you have proven yourself worthy. I shall now show you 2% of my full power." Fitoria yawned into her wing as a wave of green energy covered her form.
"Great, because I haven't even reached 1% of my full potential yet! Bring it on bird loli!" Kizuna said with a manic grin as energy covered her blade.
Naofumi didn't know what was more ridiculous. The fact that these two were fighting like characters from an anime. That Kizuna of all people was calling Fitoria a loli…
Or that said fight had been going on… for the last three days.
Yes, Kizuna had outlasted the beefed-up Spirit Tortoise. Somehow. Did fighting monsters give her an endless energy supply or something? That would be incredibly broken.
"Aren't either of them tired out yet?" Raphtalia yawned into her hand as she and Glass appeared behind Naofumi.
"Nope. Not even close." Naofumi sighed.
Glass hung her head sadly. She'd worried for Kizuna's safety at first. But now, she was wondering if the fight would ever end so she could spend time with her best friend again.
It was uncertain since the two individuals fighting were freaks of nature in their own right.
And thus, the battle between the two raged on. With no clear end in sight.
And Naofumi didn't even want to consider the amount of crack behind letting this fight between two individuals of different worlds at their full power happen outside of a Wave.
Till Next Time
Allen