Diligence of the Shield Hero

by Allen Blaster

Hope is not enough to survive the trials ahead. If they're to live, friendships must be retained. Knowledge has to be acquired. And as Fitoria said, Naofumi will have to learn to be Diligent to protect the friends and loved ones he has come to cherish. Multiple pairings. Cover by Temero. Covers Season Two territory. Arc 9: Ch. Seventy-Seven: Rise of the Otherworld Heroes

137. 73: Attack on Sickle

For those wondering why I had two one-week delays on chapters in a row since it has been a while since that happened, my Senior Year of college has taught me that a Final Project can be due IN THE FIRST MONTH OF CLASS.

So yeah. Homework is still a bitch. Work has been great though. And this chapter was long and definitely took a while to get right. Sorry for the wait. And sorry if next week also reveals another chapter delay. I hope this chapter is worth it.

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Chapter Seventy-Three: Attack on Sickle

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- ENTRY #8 -

Finally, I get to the point I'm at now. This took a while to get to, and I had to pause on and off because of the things going on in the world right now. But I can finish ████████████ up till now at the very least.

By the time I was 18, I was pretty much independent. My parents had helped me all they could but when they realized they'd just be getting in my way, they went to living a quiet life back in our home while I took the reins of our family's affairs. I decided to ████████████.

Unlike before, I had a hefty amount of ████████████ thanks to some ████████████. With these ████████████, I managed to ████████████ and refurbished it. I'd always wanted a ████████████. And I finally got what I wanted.

At ████████████ insistence, we traveled the world together. Peddling my ████████████ by demonstrating their effects and helping various groups of people. I was still reluctant to do so, but I suppose there are merits to a smart ████████████ even if it cuts into your profits initially. The people were happy to receive free help and became much much more interested in what I was selling afterward. It also got ████████████ off my back while making more money for me.

I got to deal with plagues. Natural disasters. Famines. Monster attacks. Etc. I worked with plenty of different folks. The Gem People were especially fun to work with.

They've been this world's most notorious pursuers of progress for centuries and made for some very good business partners. By working together with them, I managed to help improve crop payoffs at farms and advance medicines in certain areas with the right amount of machinery and gems.

In short, I was beginning to make a name for myself in this world.

Around the time I was 20, however, my employers started to become impatient. After all, I still had my contractual obligations to fulfill and I no longer had the excuse of being ████████████. I'd raised my level somewhat by facing monsters with ████████████. But if I truly wanted to stand a chance, I'd have to steal a Hero weapon.

That is another ability that was granted to me and other reincarnators. Once our level is high enough, we can steal a Hero weapon and force it to obey us with our power. Or at least, ████████████.

Thanks to my connections, it was easy for me to get into ████████████ Capital and enter the building where the ████████████ sat on a lone pedestal. It was in the middle of a library with some of the shelves dedicated to stories about the past ████████████ Heroes.

It didn't look like much. But I was going to get elevated in status even further if I 'made' it choose me. I could even take some of those other books and destroy them. Since that was also something that my employers wanted me to do.

It was supposed to be a simple matter, but…

The ████████████ disappeared from the pedestal in a flash of light, only to reappear directly in my hand. It chose me to be its wielder willingly.

I was speechless. Was it defective or something?! I didn't have to steal it or force it to obey my will or anything! It was ludicrous!

Though, then again, I have noticed that my attack stat has gotten a lot lower since getting it. So maybe it just did this so it could inflict me with its stat build or something?

Whatever. I normally let ████████████ or anyone else around me deal with monsters anyways. The ████████████ is mainly useful as a support weapon. And more importantly, becoming its wielder elevated me into a very important position in ████████████. That was my main reason for wanting to steal it anyway.

The people in this world look at Heroes as political icons or tools depending on who they are and how they can be used. The ████████████ and my connections in ████████████ shot me to the top of the pecking order more quickly than any ████████████ ever could have.

I consider it one of my greatest accomplishments. It was too easy. Even ████████████ looked at me with sincere happiness and…

That's right, there is one thing that I forgot to mention. She had confessed her love to me shortly before I became the ████████████ Hero.

It was an uncomfortable conversation. I was aware of such concepts from my studies but I have never experienced the sensation myself. It was alien and confusing to me. But ultimately it was just another chemical reaction in humanity's collective lizard brain that made everyone feel good about themselves. So its absence had never bothered me.

Until now that is.

I contemplated marrying her to fulfill my social obligations, but the notion of a sexual relationship with ████████████ filled me with dread and disgust. I had no interest in her in that regard. She was physically attractive and her personality was a pleasant one, but watching her slowly grow up from a malnourished child into a beautiful young woman over the years killed all potential sexual thoughts I had regarding her.

So I rejected her as gently as I could, using that argument.

She'd looked destroyed back then when I rejected her, but it was better to make our relationship clear right now instead of stringing her along. ████████████ is a beautiful and smart girl. A bit annoying at times, but an overall good person. I am certain that she will find a suitable partner in time.

And if not, I suppose I could dedicate some of my time to play matchmaker for her eventually. She deserves that much for her exceptional work and dedication to me over the years.

Well, regardless, she got over it fairly quickly. And she even stuck around for some reason despite my rejection. I have long since terminated her slave ofuda, since it was pointless and detrimental to the kind of work I needed her to perform. She could have left at any time without any hard feelings, but she didn't.

I still wonder, why? Did she have some false hope that I'd change my mind? Such foolishness. I can't understand her at times.

Well, I am now caught up on my life in this world. I honestly can't say if the words of my anger management counselor have helped me out or not. I have no idea if I'll write in this stupid thing ever again. I still feel resentment toward my former life, and every day is another step forward to me ████████████.

But given that I can store this Journal inside the Vassal ████████████, no one else, not even my employers, can access it while it is in here.

So maybe I'll continue to write my private thoughts in it? I don't know. That's what smart people do, right? It has become easy to notice when 'they' are observing me and when they're not. This is one way for me to keep something over them.

It does appear that more trouble is starting to be stirred up in this world thanks to the Demon Dragon. So maybe some more interesting things will happen from here? I can guess my employers will want me to start taking out Heroes soon though. Maybe they'll have me take out the Hero that Sickle plans on summoning?

If not, well, I can at least detail how I took over the world through either economic or military force.

---

Naofumi moved in front, blocking Yomogi's first attack with his shield.

Clang!

As expected, he took no damage from the attack whatsoever.

However, he was pushed back by the force of the first strike. This girl was surprisingly strong. It felt like he'd just blocked a blow from the Spirit Tortoise there. How the hell was that possible?!

Their opponent was dressed in a light purple hakama. Her sky-green hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She was taller than Raphtalia, but not as tall as Naofumi. She wielded only a sword, but it didn't make her look any less menacing.

Yomogi's blue eyes had a look of murder in them. She was pissed off, and as she charged him, she screamed at him once again.

"Get out of my way!"

Naofumi blocked her thrust, but this time he set his feet firmly below him. He felt like he was pushing back against an immense weight and the floor beneath him cracked.

"Yomogi-!" Kizuna tried to yell for the girl to stop, but Glass and Raphtalia moved in to attack.

"Hah!" Yomogi quickly pulled away from Naofumi, deflecting Glass and Raphtalia's fans and katana strikes with a wide sweeping motion that made the two heroines stagger and fall back.

"RAAAAHH!"

Dou-Lon lunged at the girl's exposed back with his katana held overhead with both hands. But the home invader turned around deceptively fast, using the momentum of her spin to clash against the overhead swing with her own weapon.

The hakuko's blade shattered with a deafening crash and the resulting explosion of force sent the white tiger flying through a wall into the next room over, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process. The handle of his weapon landed on the floor with a metallic twang next to the hole.

"Dou-Lon!" Naofumi yelled in worry.

The white tiger man didn't reappear from the room he'd been launched into. The Shield Hero's status magic at least informed him that he was still alive. Naofumi didn't have time to ponder Dou-Lon's fate though, as Yomogi cracked her neck back and forth audibly before charging forward again, only for Kizuna's penguin familiar to tackle her from under the cover of invisibility conjured by Raph-Chan.

The two were sent rolling back on the floor wrestling with each other as Chris rapidly crawled all over Yomogi's body like some deranged squirrel, preventing the girl from tearing him off.

"What's with that monstrous strength!? Is she a Hero too!?" Raphtalia asked urgently as she gripped the hilt of her weapon with both hands, afraid of going in and hitting the penguin by accident.

"No, that shouldn't be the case," Glass answered back. "Yomogi's a very competent swordswoman but she never held this level of power before."

Kizuna stared in horror, unable to do anything but watch due to her weapon's limitation. Yomogi finally grabbed hold of the annoying penguin familiar's head and slammed it into the floor with another deafening crash! Sending it tumbling down into the basement level below.

The rabid girl's head then swerved sharply at the tanuki familiar as Raph-Chan tried to trap her in an illusion with no apparent success.

"Rafu!" The shikigami cried out as the boar-like girl charged at her with a powerful sideways swing.

Clang!

Naofumi blocked her attack with his shield again. He had a visible scowl on his face as his body glowed from Filo's Support Performance Magic. "Oh no you don't!"

"Hah!" It was Rishia's turn to strike, and Yomogi was forced to backpedal this time as the forest-green-eyed girl began her assault.

The two green-haired girls became entangled in a battle with each other for a few short seconds. Their blades moved back and forth against each other at lightning speeds. No normal person could have followed their strikes.

Blasts of fire and wind and other elements interspersed the exchange as Rishia threw one ofuda after another with her free hand. Landing glancing blows through Yomogi's attacks.

The boarish girl swung down, destroying another part of the tiled floor in front of her. The walls of the house shook and groaned from the impact.

Yet Rishia not only avoided the strike, but also the shockwave of power that spread out from the attack. Then, Rishia's blade, covered with energy for a defense-piercing attack, hit Yomogi's shoulder before she was able to raise her blade up.

Yomogi howled in pain as she took a step back. But then, as Rishia landed on her feet, the girl dashed forward to slash Rishia while she tried to catch her footing on the uneven ground.

"Second Shield! Dritte Shield! Shield Prison!" The green skill shields appeared in front and behind Yomogi, with the final sphere encasing her, trapping her in place.

"T-Thanks Naofumi. I didn't expect her to recover so quickly." Rishia said while shaking from exertion.

Naofumi frowned as the others gathered around the skill shields. Readying to take down the threat inside.

"Pen!" Chris leaped out of the hole on the floor and slapped his flippers together.

"Rafu!" Raph-Chan's fur stood on end. She was trying to look menacing, but she was still adorable in Naofumi's eyes.

"I need to capture that for my manga." And Hoshi's too. The Ofuda Hero had nearly forgotten that everyone else was in the middle of a battle.

Raphtalia sighed internally. This was going to be a recurring problem in the future. She could already tell.

"Cowards! Fight me head on!" Yomogi yelled as she slammed her blade into the shield wall again and again.

"This is how I fight." Naofumi drawled back. He prepared to activate a skill to line the inside of the metal ball with paralysis-inflicting needles to make the others' jobs even easier.

Yomogi's blade hit the skill again, and the shield's outer shell cracked.

Naofumi paused. The others around shuffled nervously.

How the hell was she this strong? He was in his 70's level-wise. He had his strongest shield equipped, which he'd made even stronger via Motoyasu's methods. Filo had used her magic to buff his defense further. On top of all that, he was a freaking Cardinal Hero.

How was this possible?

Normal people were supposed to get capped at Level 100, right? How could she damage his shield skills then? How could she keep up with Raphtalia, Glass, and Rishia in battle at the same time?

Had Kyo somehow helped her to break her level cap? Had he used his weapon to make her far stronger than a normal person? But even then, Raphtalia had become even stronger when she became a Vassal Hero. This made no sense.

Another strike. Cracks webbed out from the impact area.

The gemstone of his shield suddenly began to glow. His HUD highlighted the girl in his vision. And then focused on the Sword that she was wielding.

Now that he thought about it, it looked a lot like Ren's weapon in its base form. Except for what looked like an eye on the hilt instead of a gem… …!

There was no way. Ren's weapon…

Energy started to come off of Yomogi's form. Naofumi recognized it from the time he used that one skill to destroy Ost's core. And that's when he made the connection.

Kyo had somehow used the soul energy of the Spirit Tortoise to make a replica of Ren's weapon!

"Change Shield! Bee Needle Par-"

"Thunderbolt Slash!"

An electrically charged skill slammed into the skill shields, shattering them on impact.

Kyo hadn't just made a replica that made the wielder as powerful as a Cardinal Hero. He'd also made it so that the wielder could use the corresponding hero's skills.

It seemed like the three Church's Sanctuary spell wasn't the only thing that the Book Hero learned about during his stay in their world. He had even managed to design a new and improved variant of Balamus'es replica weapon.

Much to Naofumi's irritation.

Yomogi charged forward, free at last with her blade still glowing from the discharged skill as she struck at Raphtalia.

"Air Strike Shield!" Naofumi barely protected his girlfriend in time as the cooldown on that skill finished. Yomogi busted through it almost immediately, but Raphtalia managed to disappear into an illusion before Yomogi could land a strike.

This was insane. She'd become even stronger than she'd been at the start of the fight!

"Reverse Four Seasons!" Glass retaliated with a skill of her own. But Yomogi ran through the haze of slashes without a care for the damage she was taking. Her eyes were filled with rage and not even the Spirit Woman could halt her advance.

"Crimson Blade!" Her flaming sword slammed into Glass's Chest and sent the powerful spirit woman flying through a wall. It and part of the ceiling above it collapsed down onto her.

"Glass!" Kizuna screamed as she turned her head.

"PEN!" Chris, angered at the attack on his mom, slammed into Yomogi's back again.

"Rafu!" Raph-Chan dashed forward to help as well. Slamming into the girl's gut while she was distracted with Chris.

Filo continued singing from above. Twin glows began to surround the two shikigamis as she made them stronger.

"Form One: Pitfall!" Kizuna's skill appeared at Yomogi's feet, tripping her up and allowing the two shikigamis to pile on her at last.

"Glass, are you ok?!" Kizuna then yelled worriedly as she pulled rubble off of the pile.

"AHH!" But her attention was quickly drawn back to the fight as the two familiars weren't able to restrain Yomogi for even a second. They were thrown off, with Kizuna having to catch Chris and Hoshi managing to catch Raph-Chan.

Yomogi raised her sword up to send a skill at Filo, but Naofumi charged forward with his shield, an angry look on his face as he tried to grapple the furious girl before she could try to harm his other daughter.

"Dragon Buster!" She launched the skill meant for Filo at him, and he was forced to block at point blank range.

BOOM!

All the windows in the building burst and shattered simultaneously from the released shock wave.

The force of the attack sent Naofumi sliding back a few feet. He'd also taken a bit of damage. Light burns covered his arms and some fires were starting to spread around him.

&%$#.

"Raph-Chan! Are you okay?!" The Ofuda Hero asked worriedly.

"Rafu!" The shikigami gave a thumbs up to the Ofuda Hero.

"Pen!" Chris jumped from Kizuna and waves of ice came from his flippers, quickly covering over the fires before they could spread.

Kizuna grimaced deeply, looking at the destruction around her. So many good memories had been lost in an instant.

Rishia and Raphtalia began fighting side by side against Yomogi to hold her attention. Rishia threw ofudas as Raphtalia made illusions of the both of them to try and throw their opponent off balance. Filo continued singing up above to support Mommy and Broccoli Girl. Occasionally sending a wind magic spell at Yomogi to try and knock her off balance.

Naofumi moved to charge forward again, but then, Glass extracted herself from the pile of debris she was under. Much to the nearby Hunting Hero's relief.

The damage she'd sustained was healing over, but the fan heroine looked slightly more translucent than before. She was also breathing in and out deeply.

"Zweite Heal." Naofumi quickly chanted and cast the healing spell on Glass, healing the rest of her wounds.

"My… my thanks." Glass said tiredly as she stood back up.

Raphtalia and Rishia were doing their best. But Yomogi was now fighting even more aggressively than before. And despite her violent, single-minded, and brutish approach; it was difficult to exploit her offense without risking severe injury or death in return. Raphtalia and Rishia with all their magic and skills as well as Filo's help were barely keeping her in check.

"Rafu!" Raph-Chan ran up to Naofumi, a worried look in her eyes as she gestured to the hole Dou-Lon made earlier.

He still hadn't come back to the fight.

"Raph-Chan, use this on Dou-Lon and make sure he's ok." Naofumi handed the shikigami a Healing Crystal from his shield.

"Rafu!" The shikigami saluted as she ran to do what Naofumi had ordered.

"Do you have any ideas for how we can take her down, Hero Naofumi?" Glass asked tiredly.

"Disarm her. That weapon of hers is based on something from our world. It has to be the reason for why she's so powerful right now. If we can separate her from it, that should make her much easier to deal with." Naofumi answered hastily.

He remembered the same thing had happened with Balamus. When he'd been separated from the Replica, he lost all the strength and power that it gave him.

Though doing that here would be easier said than done.

"First Form: Pitfall!" Kizuna used the skill again, but Yomogi sidestepped before it appeared. It caused Raphtalia to trip up instead, and it was only thanks to Naofumi quickly reacting with Shield Prison that Yomogi didn't manage to hit her.

Unfortunately, she broke through the skill immediately afterward. Filo used another wind spell to try and blow the girl back, but it hardly even damaged her.

Yomogi continued to grow more powerful as if her rage was fueling the weapon in her hands. Naofumi grimaced as he considered their options.

Their current power levels weren't cutting it here. So he decided to pull out his ace and began to chant.

"All Zweite Aura!" Naofumi finished his chant, casting the magic on everyone there.

Raphtalia and Rishia immediately moved faster, dodging the girl warrior's next strike. Raph-Chan finished her own spell and illusions of the two girl warriors jumped forward as they simultaneously jumped to the sides and slashed at her.

Yomogi tried to block all their strikes. But the real Rishia managed to land a small gash on her arm.

"Ahhhh! Thunderbolt Slash!" Yomogi swung at Rishia in retaliation, but Naofumi moved in front of her and blocked the strike with his increased defense.

Clang!

There. Now there wasn't a thing that she could do to him. Not even the electricity of the attack phased him.

"Kuh! So that's the cheat ability of yours?!" Yomogi grimaced.

"Call it whatever you want, you damn psycho! I'm done playing nice!" Naofumi spoke through gritted teeth.

He not only blocked the attack with the Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield but its counter C Magic Snatch activated as well. A magic missile fired out from the shield's gemstone, hitting Yomogi.

While it didn't damage her, it stole some of her magic power and refilled Naofumi's own in the process. Yomogi recoiled, but more from surprise than from any damage she'd taken.

"Meteor Slash!"

"Second Shield!"

The two skills collided, destroying each other, but Naofumi blocked the rest of the attack with his shield. He then jumped to the side as several Raphtalias charged where he'd been standing.

"Life Force Blade: Guard Breaker!" All of them thrust their katanas forward in a move that she'd learned from Rishia.

While Yomogi tried to block them all, it hardly mattered as the energy of the real defense rating attack went right through Yomogi's blade and into her chest. "ACK!" She collapsed to one knee, spitting up blood from the damage she'd taken.

Yet she still deflected Rishia and Glass's follow-up strikes. Both girls were forced to dance away when Yomogi used another skill to strike at them. Naofumi managed to grab their assailant's arm though, sending the skill flying off-course and destroying another part of the house instead.

Clang!

Yomogi's elbow slammed into the Shield Hero's face, and the force of it made Naofumi stumble back again.

"Tortoise Shell Cracker!" Glass's next skill hit Yomogi's injured shoulder. But she marched through the pain and forced the spirit woman onto the defensive before Naofumi summoned another two shield skills in front and behind Yomogi, trapping her in place. Rishia threw a wind ofuda and Filo used more wind magic, trying to blow Yomogi off balance as Glass and Raphtalia rushed forward to disarm her.

But Yomogi, despite being outnumbered and nearly dogpiled, broke through the shield in front of her by slamming her body into it. And Naofumi got in front of her to block another strike yet again.

Even with their stats increased. She wasn't going down easy. At least she hadn't pulled out any defense piercing or defense rating attacks of her own.

"H-How are they supposed to b-b-beat her?" Hoshi stood back with Kizuna.

The two of them were pretty much useless in this battle. Kizuna had tried summoning another pitfall when the cooldown expired, but Yomogi had avoided it yet again.

Kizuna had no way to fight her, and Hoshi's stats were too low for him to participate. Chris was still putting out fires. The living room of Kizuna's house was basically destroyed.

Kizuna felt sad at the destruction in her home. It hurt in more ways than one when the picture of her sitting in the King's lap was destroyed by another skill thrown by Yomogi.

Naofumi blocked another strike and attempted to grapple Yomogi's arms yet again. But she slashed at his hand and forced him to pull back.

Despite the sadness, Kizuna forced herself to focus on their opponent. As she did so, she began to notice something. "I'm really starting to get a bad feeling from that weapon."

The longer she seemed to stare at it, the more malicious it felt.

Naofumi got in Yomogi's way again with another skill shield, giving Glass time to back away and catch her breath. The Spirit Woman had accumulated more injuries from Yomogi during their brief brawl but had managed to land another slash across the top of Yomogi's dominant hand. It was becoming harder for Yomogi to grip the weapon with her blood dribbling into her grip.

"Damn it! You're so annoying!" The home invader screamed in indignation at the Shield Hero. "You're just as bad as Kyo described you! Just lay down and die already, you damn cheating shielder!"

"Funny how you call me a cheat while wielding a weapon powered by the souls of the people from my world!" Naofumi responded sarcastically. "Is hypocrisy something that the Book Bastard taught you, or are you just an idiot in general?!"

"Shut up! I won't fall for your lies, invader!" The aura of malice deepened around Yomogi as she howled. A bizarre, alien-looking red eye suddenly opened on the hilt of her sword and started to look around frantically. The malicious glow around her body seemed to be increasing.

The Shield Hero's eyes narrowed at that. He was feeling a deep sense of deja vu, but not in a good way. Yomogi let out another guttural scream as she began to charge forward once again and Naofumi raised his shield to block a thrust-

"Daddy! Get back!" Filo shouted frantically as she stopped singing and casting magic.

Metallic tendrils suddenly burst out from the handle of Yomogi's sword.

The others in the room paused in surprise.

"Huh-" The sky-green haired girl's eyes widened in shock. And then the tendrils wrapped around her arms and stabbed themselves into them, drawing blood. Naofumi dropped a cuss word as he jumped back, just barely avoiding a similar fate.

"Screeeeeee!" A deafening screeching meowl came from the sword. Forcing everyone to cover their ears.

"What's… what's it doing?!" Raphtalia asked with her hands holding her head.

"Filo doesn't like this! It looks like a lot of energy is beginning to surround that weapon!" Filo pointed out.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Yomogi screamed in pain as she tried to drop her weapon. But the vines were tightening around her wrists as the weapon drained the girl's blood. And it seemed like the eye was now glowing crimson on the hilt as it kept looking around at all of them.

"Daddy! We need to separate Dumb Girl from that weapon now! Filo thinks it is about to go boom!" Filo yelled.

Naofumi knew exactly what she meant. He finally recognized both the eye design and the material the weapon seemed to be made out of. It was just like the exploding spike familiars that had ravaged the coalition's army camp during the Spirit Tortoise's second awakening.

Naofumi opened his mouth to order Raphtalia to attack the vines.

"Ha!" However, Rishia was faster to act.

A flame ofuda thrown by her hit the metallic vines near the hilt at the perfect spot. With a loud screech, the weapon let Yomogi go.

"Aha!" Before it hit the ground, a freshly healed Dou-Lon in his therianthrope form rushed out of the hole he'd made in the wall with Raph-Chan on his shoulder. With one hand, he caught the weapon. And before the vines could latch themselves to him, he pivoted on one paw and tossed it out through an open window with all his strength towards the ocean.

It was a spectacular throw. A few seconds later, the still screeching weapon glowed a bright white as it fell into the water.

Boom!

A large explosion shook the walls of Kizuna's home while simultaneously creating a massive pillar of water in the distance. But it was far enough away that it didn't damage the house any further than their fight had already done.

…

…

After a few tense seconds, Naofumi let out a sigh of relief.

At least that was finally over with.

"I'm… I'm sorry I missed out on the entire battle-" Dou-Lon began to say.

"Good job." The Shield Hero walked up to the hakuko and interrupted him. Before he could try and apologize more for being taken out of the fight so early, Naofumi rubbed the top of his head between his ears. "I knew you'd pull through right when you were needed. You're just as reliable as ever, Dou-Lon."

"…" The hakuko's face melted as his paw began to tap the ground while his tail wagged with the headpats.

They still felt as great as ever.

"Rafu!" Raph-Chan rubbed against his neck happily.

That only made the hakuko's happiness rise all the higher.

Chris slumped tiredly to the ground after putting out the last fire. While many of the pictures had been destroyed, the one of Kizuna with her friends on her fishing trip had been spared.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but good job to you as well, you damn penguin," Naofumi muttered.

"PEN!" Chris rose indignantly at those words. He'd contributed far more to the battle than Raph-Chan had! Why did the Shield Hero still look down on him!?

"Grrrr…" However, despite losing her weapon, and despite her injuries, Yomogi still got up, looking ready to continue fighting.

"... I guess I didn't miss the entire fight after all." The Hakuko corrected himself as he raised his clawed hands.

"Rafu! Rafu!" Raph-Chan's fur bristled as she stood on his shoulder.

"Yomogi! Stop it! That's enough! Haven't you caused enough damage to my home?!" Kizuna pleaded while trying to force down her anger but finding it so hard to do right now.

The girl didn't even listen though. She charged at Naofumi again with the intent to strangle him with her bare hands if she had to. "I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you for hurting Kyo and threatening our world!"

Naofumi raised his hand at the hakuko who was about to intercept Yomogi, making him stop. The others watched as Yomogi's body crashed into the Shield Hero and her hands squeezed around his neck.

Had this been a normal world. He would have fallen to the ground, and she would have strangled the life out of him. Either by asphyxiation or by breaking his neck.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

But here with his stats, it was completely ineffective. It was like she was trying to squeeze a metal rod. Completely impossible.

Naofumi was right. The weapon had turned out to be the source of her power. Just like how the Replica had been the source of Balamus'es power.

Without it, she wasn't even close to being able to hurt him. Or any of the others for that matter.

"I'll kill you! I swear that I'll kill you for what you did to Kyo!" The girl continued to scream, tears of rage trailing from the corners of her eyes.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

"Are you done yet?" Naofumi responded, sounding bored. "Violence has clearly failed you, so maybe try parlay next?"

Raphtalia sighed to herself once again.

"I'll never speak to scum like you!"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"You'll tire yourself out eventually," Naofumi responded dryly.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

What the hell?! She still wasn't showing any signs of slowing down! Even the others were beginning to frown. Yomogi's wounds were still bleeding too.

At this rate, she was going to pass out from blood loss before anything else.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Raphtalia, can you knock her out for me, please?" Naofumi groaned in annoyance.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Raphtalia quickly approached and hit the girl in the back of the head with the hilt of her weapon.

With that, Yomogi finally collapsed on the floor next to Naofumi like a sack of bricks.

Clang…

Had she really tried to attack him even as she was being knocked out? Her stubbornness knew no bounds.

At least the Clanging sound had stopped for now. Now their battle with the girl was over.

The explosion outside had dissipated by this point. Through the ruined set of front doors, Naofumi saw some familiar blue energy hanging in the air outside near the ocean.

After walking away from Yomogi without a second thought, Naofumi approached the energy with his shield raised in front of him. The Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield began to glow, and Naofumi raised it above his head.

The energy was sucked out of the air like a vacuum and stored in his shield.

He'd wondered how he was supposed to store it in the shield before. At least he knew how to do it now.

"Let's chain her up and head to the Capital. We can try interrogating her later after we deal with the attackers there." Naofumi said.

"Naofumi…" Glass's voice spoke quietly.

The Shield Hero turned around.

Kizuna was staring at the destruction all around her.

"My… my home…"

…

A tear fell from her eyes. More tears were beginning to form in them.

The damage to the living area was extensive. Parts of the floor and ceiling were collapsed. Destroyed furniture lay all around. The fireplace was ruined. All the windows all over the house were gone. Then there was additional fire damage and ice damage everywhere from Chris's attempt to put the fires out.

But what hurt the most was what happened to the pictures. All of Kizuna's memories now laid in tattered, burned pieces on the ground.

Glass hugged the Hunting Girl close. Trying her best to comfort her.

"Pen…" Chris also hugged Kizuna's leg. The Hunting Hero was clearly shaking from anger and a deep sense of loss.

Glass felt the same way. Seeing pictures of the two of them and their friends gone without a trace opened a deep pit in her stomach.

Naofumi's mouth remained closed, and Raphtalia rested a hand on his shoulder. He knew they had to get going. The castle was on fire in the distance. Fighting was going on in the city.

But it felt so wrong to pull the Hunting Hero out of her grief.

He seriously considered leaving her behind. Then remembered that L'Arc said only Kizuna's weapon had access to the hourglass right now. If she didn't help, they'd have to run. And if they ran, they might be too late.

What the hell could he do?

…

"U-Um, K-Kizuna?" Hoshi spoke awkwardly. He hadn't managed to participate in the whole battle. "I-If you're th-that sad a-about l-losing the pictures. I-I, w-w-well…"

"What? Spit it out already." Glass snapped at the Ofuda Hero.

"Eep!" Hoshi jumped back. Kizuna though sniffed as she looked up at the Ofuda Hero.

He still looked incredibly nervous. He also felt guilty that he couldn't participate at all.

But, after a few seconds, he reached his hand into his weapon's gemstone and…

Pulled out a drawing of Kizuna sitting in the King's lap.

Kizuna's tears immediately stopped. A stunned expression appeared on her and Glass's faces.

It wasn't an exact copy. It was arguably better! Their clothes in the drawing rested on their bodies more realistically than in the previous one. The shading perfectly captured the light of the room, and their smiling faces looked more full and alive than what had been originally drawn.

It was like Hoshi had been there that day and drawn the scene exactly as it'd gone down. Even to the happiness radiating in their eyes.

"H… How?..." Kizuna said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"W-Well. I… I kind of have a p-photographic memory, and I was so impressed by all the art here when I first arrived, a-and I really liked that one a-a-after I s-saw it. S-So I drew it in my f-free time, b-b-but then I l-learned how p-personal it w-was later on. A-And I d-didn't realize it w-wasn't art, but m-memories of y-your life h-here, a-a-a-and I'm r-really sorry I d-d-didn't ask for permission f-first, I-I just c-c-couldn't get it out of my m-mind, a-and-"

Kizuna tackled the Ofuda Hero, wrapping her arms around him in a big hug while cutting him off. "THANK YOU! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" She shouted happily, the tears coming from her eyes were happy tears. "IT'S PERFECT!"

Hoshi was stunned speechless. He muttered several incoherent things, none of which were audible.

"Photographic memory. Does… does that mean you could remake everything that was lost here?" Glass asked hopefully.

"U-Um… y-yes? I think so, at least." Hoshi responded timidly.

…

Glass joined Kizuna in hugging the mangaka Hero tightly. Hoshi eeped in surprise and pain at the action. His stats were much lower compared to the spirit woman so the hug really hurt. If only he wasn't so cowardly and could raise his level as high as the other Heroes.

But Glass couldn't care less how cowardly he was. He'd just redeemed himself in her eyes with this act of kindness.

Raphtalia's hand fell into Naofumi's and they both smiled at one another. While Kizuna would have to repair her home and replace some furniture, at least she hadn't lost the valuable memories from her life here in this world.

They were far more important to the Hunting Tools Hero than any material possessions that she possessed…

'Hmmm. So Hoshi isn't just fantastically good at drawing. He also has a photographic memory.' It was nice for Naofumi to know another Hero who had weird talents not suited for the battlefield like him.

He gave the small group a moment to express their gratitude before clearing his throat loudly. "Alright. Enough being sappy. We still have a problem to deal with over there." Naofumi gestured towards the distant burning castle.

"Oh! Right! Sorry about that! I forgot we were dealing with a large group of people!" Kizuna straightened in surprise.

"It's not your fault. You thought you lost something very precious to you. I understand what that's like." Naofumi said sincerely.

When he and Raphtalia had been separated… he still had nightmares about that happening all over again.

"Still, L'Arc needs our help! This is no time for me to wallow around in depression!" Kizuna grinned widely. "Gather around, my students, Kizuna-sensei is going to take us straight to where the fun is!"

---

Itsuki would not describe his current situation as 'fun.'

"Chaos Thrust!"

He jumped back, avoiding the cascade of attacks from the spear wielder of the group. But when the two sword wielders attacked him from the sides simultaneously, he had no time to fire off a skill and was forced to swing his bow like a very awkward club to try and hold them back.

He completely missed, since he was used to firing at targets and not trying to block their attacks with his weapon. It was only thanks to the use of his Down spell earlier as well as the Defense Up (Large) boost from Naofumi's accessory that the blades left small bleeding gashes on his arms instead of cutting through them entirely.

Yeah, this was definitely not fun.

"What's the matter? I expected more from one of Lord -" Another breeze blew down the street. "- murderers! Not this lame sideshow!" The spear girl yelled arrogantly.

Itsuki scowled. He would have jumped for the rooftops to snipe at them from the start if not for the two Heroes he was protecting on the ground behind him.

It was also the reason he couldn't use some of his stronger skills. As this close, they would have been caught in the crossfire. This just wasn't Itsuki's day.

He charged up a spread skill while trying to avoid the two sword girl's attacks, but the spear wielder's spear began to glow as she pointed it at the other two Heroes cowering behind a training dummy. The Bow Hero's eyes widened in frustration.

"Air Strike Javelin!" The Spear wielder fired the skill at the two.

Itsuki quickly canceled the skill and shot the opposing skill out of the air with Erst Arrow instead. The energy javelin destroyed a nearby wall.

"Thunderbolt Slash!" "Crimson Blade!"

The fact that they could all use Hero Skills too was really pissing Itsuki off. He barely avoided the fire skill but was shocked by the electric attack.

"Nghh."

To explain why he was stuck in this predicament, the two other Heroes had tried to help earlier. But their attack skills hardly damaged the three girls. And one of them retaliated against the pair, forcing Itsuki to take the attack to protect them since they were not only weak but not wearing any armor.

That had more or less revealed to his enemy that he was trying to protect them. And it'd made it easier for them to open him up to attacks since then. A cowardly tactic, but one proving very effective for them. The other Heroes couldn't even escape as anytime they tried, they were targeted by different attacks.

"Second Javelin!" The spear wielder launched another skill at the pair of Heroes while they tried to dash behind more cover since the training dummy was too exposed, and Itsuki fired Second Arrow to again knock the attack off course. Blowing out another hole in the wall of the arena.

While he'd knocked the skill out of the air with his precise aim a second time in a row, the two sword wielders cut through his outfit and left bleeding gashes on his side.

"He's really tough to cut." One of the girls complained.

"That'll just make taking our revenge on him all the sweeter." The other girl smirked.

This went on for a little while. Akane and Daitan had found some better cover by then. And after a little bit, Itsuki started to charge up another spread skill.

But then, the spear wielder looked at the two Heroes again. Itsuki was forced to prepare Dritte Arrow to intercept yet another attack.

"Dritte Javelin!" Only, she sent the skill at him, and Itsuki barely moved his body enough that it impaled his shoulder instead of his chest. His skill fired off, only hitting the spear wielder's arm.

"Ack!" She clutched the wound, as even the weaker skill did a considerable amount of damage.

"Ahhh!" Itsuki cried out in pain though as the attack tumbled him back onto the ground with the light javelin sticking out of his bleeding shoulder.

He barely raised his bow to block the two downward strikes from the other girls in time. And it was only pure luck that he managed to pull it off.

He would give up anything right now to have counter-attack abilities like the ones Naofumi had! Even if they didn't do much damage, it'd make his situation a whole lot easier!

Where were all the soldiers left in the Capital?! Itsuki wasn't going to hold out much longer by himself!

The Spear girl raced forward gleefully. The spear in her hands glowed brightly as the other two girls jumped to the sides to clear the way for her to make the kill. Itsuki charged up another skill. It wouldn't be ready in time, but he'd be damned if he allowed himself to die now after everything he'd been through.

Even if he had to take this attack. He was going to come out of it swinging… shooting… whatever the hell was the right words for the saying in this situation.

"Crimson Thr-"

Pow!

Aksel charged out from an illusion, his armored shoulder slamming into the spear wielder's side. Her skill was cut short as a shockwave emanated from the impact, and she was sent screaming through the air into one of the arena's walls.

The scream cut off as she was buried into the hard stone.

"Sorry for the delay, Itsuki!" The blood knight roared as he brandished his ax. "Now, who's next?!"

"Wh-what the-" The other two sword-wielding girls backed away in shock.

They tripped over a wire and fell onto their backs. Before they could recover from that shock, the hilts of two kunai slammed into their temples simultaneously, knocking the pair out.

…

Aksel's ax became limp in his grip. "Oh, they're actually pretty weak. Now I feel a little bad about that shoulder tackle from earlier." He glanced at the woman who got buried into the wall of the arena with a wince of sympathy.

"Don't go underselling them just yet, Axie. We caught them off guard. I'm sure they would have put up a fight had we let them. I mean, just look at Itsuki." Maya pointed out. Her eyes then widened in realization. "Oh yeah! Hey, Itsuki. You good? You should probably use one of those fancy healing crystals on yourself since Sir Naofumi isn't around." The raccoon girl suggested with a smile.

"You… you two…" Itsuki breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for the assist. Really, I'm not made for melee combat, especially while trying to guard two other people at the same time.

"I really wish that you'd have come earlier though! Actually. What are you two doing in the city anyway?! I thought everyone was over at Kizuna's place!"

"We were in the city for dinner since Axie-poo can't eat seafood," Maya explained. "And then we heard fighting outside and we didn't see you at your lookout post. We've been rushing around the area trying to find you."

"That freaking hunting girl is too obsessed with having fresh fish for every meal." Aksel crossed his arms with a scowl, which eventually melted into a serious frown. "Oh well, perhaps it's a good that she is since it allowed us to be here to help you. You really shouldn't try to get up close and personal in a fight, Itsuki. They could have killed you if we hadn't arrived."

"You think I don't know that!?" Itsuki asked angrily.

By this point, he'd used an Earth Crystal and a Healing Crystal to replenish his magic power and health. He also gained EXP from using them. The majority of his wounds closed over with that.

He then turned to the two other Heroes with a frustrated expression. "Find somewhere to hide! You're not going to fare well in a fight with your stats and lack of armor!"

"Are you kidding me!? We're not just going to stand aside and-" Daitan tried to yell.

However, Itsuki was already running out of the training arena. Readying a skill to provide support fire for the fighting going on outside.

He seriously couldn't believe he'd almost died for their sake. Daitan and Akane had better pull their crap together, and soon. Otherwise, he was going to be pissed for a long time about this.

Maya and Aksel moved to follow, but the Spear girl pulled herself out of the wall. "Grrrrrr…" A growl escaped her lips, sounding very much like a tiger.

The two sword girls also growled as they began to push themselves up.

"Uh oh," Maya muttered worriedly.

Glowing energy surrounded the fallen trio's weapons as they fed off the anger coming off their wielders.

"Heh. I guess taking them down won't be that easy after all." Aksel smirked as he spun his ax in his hand. "We might actually get a fight out of this yet!"

Maya spun her kunai in her hands with a grin. "And after this is over, we can celebrate our victory again."

"Just not in the Hot Spring this time," Aksel replied. "Definitely going to be smarter about that going forward."

"We could just do it without the bodysuit." Maya flirted.

"But I love the bodysuit." Aksel wagged his eyebrows. Eliciting a giggle from the raccoon girl.

Were they seriously flirting while three strong enemies were preparing to face them?

"Why are they so weird?" Daitan asked.

"Do either of us have the right to ask that?" Akane deadpanned.

Probably not.

Either way, the two heroes were finally able to make their way out the back entrance as Itsuki's two friends were able to engage and hold the attention of the three girls all by themselves.

Itsuki had at least been right about what he said to the two of them. Even if they had the stats, they were not dressed for battle. They would die if they so much as took a single hit from any of the three half-therianthrope girls.

But even with that, they still had other uses besides running and hiding away in terror.

Like, say, evacuating the surrounding populace from the battle zones?

As for Maya and Aksel, they were used to close-up fighting, unlike the Bow Hero. In the latter's case, he relished every chance he got. And thanks to Itsuki's weapon strengthening them and the three girls still suffering from the effects of Down, the pair were more than strong enough to go up against the three girls on even footing.

Aksel and Maya got the battle they were looking for and then some while the Otherworld Heroes got to work evacuating civilians from the battlezone.

---

Elsewhere in the city, L'Arc and the others stood in front of the Dragon Hourglass building. Leading a solid defense against the enemy.

The front of his castle in the distance was on fire. And there was some fighting going on in the streets. But Ethnobalt was at the castle, putting out the fires with water cannons from his boat whilst simultaneously providing support fire for the soldiers facing off against the Luvar soldiers down below.

While not doing much damage, he was definitely helping to disorient and confuse the enemy soldiers.

Therese was somewhere in the streets, backing up soldiers facing off against more of Luvar's henchmen as well as a few half-therianthrope girls who were supporting them. Her magic came in handy, either supporting those under her with buffs or attacking with powerful Gem magic.

The majority of L'Arc's soldiers weren't in these places to deal with these diversions, however.

As soon as the word came in that they'd breached the city's outer wall, L'Arc and those under him had gone straight to the Dragon Hourglass building. It was a good thing too because the enemy arrived en masse not long afterward.

L'Arc along with many of his soldiers and mages were managing to fend off the group of half-therianthrope girls attacking them. The soldiers of Luvar who'd been with them were already lying on the ground in pools of blood, but the stronger half-therianthropes were still fighting strong. Whether with their hands or their blades.

"I wondered who the hell would be desperate enough to go on a suicide mission for Kyo," L'Arc said out loud as his Scythe interlocked with the lead girl's sword.

She had a very long and thin ponytail on the back of her head. Her sharp, angular brown eye and her beastly red one glared at the Scythe King with hatred. Even half-transformed, she looked beautiful. Her incredible bust was held back by light armor, and her beast transformation only seemed to have amplified her assets.

Though L'Arc paid that no mind whatsoever because of who she was.

Two girls dashed in to support her, but the hero summoned Float Scythe to deflect their attacks. "Coming into the heart of my land all by yourselves. You either had a death wish or were crazy enough to do it.

"At least that's answered on both counts." He spun with both scythes gripped tightly in his hands.

"Shut up!" The half-therianthrope girl rushed forward to push L'Arc back up the steps. But L'Arc knocked her weapon to the side and tried to stab her. She only barely avoided the blade as she bent back.

L'Arc knew they'd relied more on their magic when he'd first met them weeks before. But the Scythe King guessed that they must have gone through a job change at an Hourglass since then. They were highly proficient in melee combat right now.

It was no wonder these girls had blown their way past Sickle's border defenses. All of them were at least as strong as a Hero.

His soldiers were only holding together against their onslaught by working in squads to face them down. But it was hard work defending each other from the hero skills the girls unleashed and several of them had been cut down while the girls only had scratches and small gashes on their limbs.

L'Arc continued to duel the girl he recognized, as well as the others there.

Kazuki's former harem. All were modified into half-therianthropes. Some looked like Dou-Lon's therianthrope form. Others had feathers covering the left sides of their bodies. And a few had scales instead. One of each was behind Tsugumi supporting her.

L'Arc grimaced. He knew they'd been modified with the essence of the Guardian Beasts of his world. Tsugumi, the beautiful girl with white tiger modifications, was at their head leading the charge alongside those two other girls who rushed forward to attack L'Arc.

"Full Moon Army!" As his Float Scythe disappeared, L'Arc swung his scythe as it became far larger.

The redhead slammed it into the three girl's weapons simultaneously, throwing them back.

"First Form: Wind Blade!" L'Arc then summoned a tornado, sending the three girls and many of their numbers flying.

His soldiers interlocked shields, protecting themselves from their King's skill.

However, due to their new… enhancements, the majority of the girls landed on their feet or paws. They were quick to charge forward, attacking L'Arc and the others with an increased ferocity that would have broken any other army.

But this one held against the onslaught.

"You must be crazy to violate the Taboo and be genetically experimented on," L'Arc said further to goad his enemy into giving him an opening to exploit.

"You know nothing!" Tsugumi yelled back fiercely.

Their blades connected again. "I know you're doing this to avenge that piece of scum," L'Arc said, this time with a scowl of his own. "No idea why since he was such a sack of &^%$ to everyone around him."

"You don't know him as we do!" Tsugumi howled back. "He treated us better than anybody else in this world! We'd be nothing without him!"

"Then that means you are nothing. And your efforts here are wasted." L'Arc replied in an almost deadpan voice as he prepared to send a skill her way.

"We are not! Kazuki is still alive! We're doing this for him!" Tsugumi yelled angrily.

The comment caused L'Arc to pause midswing in surprise. It would have been one thing if she yelled it to distract him, but she spoke as if it was the pure truth.

There… there was no way…

"Ahhhh!" Tsugumi swung forward once more.

Clang!

Her attack bounced off Naofumi's shield as he landed in front of L'Arc. The Shield Hero had flown down on top of Filo, whose humming fairy form was now finally large enough to carry him by this point. He'd gotten on her, expecting the battle to be closer to the castle.

But it'd turned out to be very close by. Which was fortunate for L'Arc.

Naofumi's surprise entrance stunned the half-therianthrope girl.

"Hello there." Naofumi greeted her casually before suddenly grabbing her by the arm and throwing her back into her compatriots with his strength stat. All of them were sent tumbling to the ground.

"Naofumi!" L'Arc said happily.

"Okay, quick heads up. These weapons they're holding are spike familiars charged with Spirit Tortoise energy." Naofumi hastily brought the King up to speed while the opposing girls staggered from the appearance of one of Trash's murderers. "They power their wielders up immensely but after a certain point, they attach to their wielders and then blow up with enough force to level a building."

"Of course they do." L'Arc deadpanned at the information. "&^%$&^% Kyo, man."

"Your turn, what's with the freaky beastmen look on these people?" Naofumi pointed forward with his chin at the group of enemies.

"What?! They didn't do that for you when you fought them?!" L'Arc shook his head. "Nevermind, they must have gone through the same process that was used to make the white tiger clones from Label. Such experiments are banned internationally, but as you can plainly see, Kyo clearly doesn't give a &^%$."

"So no obvious weaknesses to exploit, that's just great." Naofumi shook his head.

"It's, it's him!" Tsugumi howled in anger. "Girls, kill him! Avenge Lord-" A breeze blew through the area, covering over the name.

They all howled in anger as they moved to converge on Naofumi.

"Okay, guess we'll be doing it the old-fashioned way then. Everyone, attack!"

And before the first few girls of Trash's former harem could so much as touch him, most of Naofumi's group appeared from Raphtalia's illusion and attacked them from behind. Catching the girls completely off guard.

Filo continued flying up above, singing to improve the morale of L'Arc's soldiers and making them stronger.

The girl's offensive rush to reach the Shield Hero was routed instantaneously.

Kizuna and Dou-Lon appeared beside Naofumi and L'Arc. Hoshi, Raph-Chan, and Chris were back at her house. Watching over their captive.

"Hey, L'Arc! Glad to see you're still alive!" Kizuna said happily.

"I can say the same for you, little sis." L'Arc smiled happily. "What took you so long to get here though!? I sent that message over fifteen minutes ago!"

Kizuna quickly explained about Yomogi attacking their home while Naofumi focused on the hakuko staring at the enemy they were facing.

"Dou-Lon?" Naofumi asked curiously. It made sense for Kizuna to stand back, but he thought the Hakuko wanted to make up for not being in the fight earlier.

Dou-Lon continued to stare though, seeing the half-therianthropes before them. Why… how had this happened to them? They were supposed to be normal humans.

Even with their half-transformations, he recognized the enemy before them. He even recognized one of the girls with Tsugumi.

The very same one he had shown kindness to. Reptilian scales covered half of her body and a hump that was something akin to a shell was protruding from her back.

She recognized him at the same time, but besides biting her lip, she forced herself to look away from him while engaging a group of L'Arc's soldiers.

"Dou-Lon?" Naofumi asked again.

The Hakuko shook his head. "Sorry, I was caught off guard by their beast transformations. They look so unnatural on them. But I'm ready to assist, Sir Naofumi!" Dou-Lon growled as his own full therianthrope form took over his body.

"Alright. Be careful this time. Those weapons are dangerous." Naofumi cautioned.

Dou-Lon grinned. "Don't worry, I won't fall for the same trick twice!"

The pair charged into battle together. And L'Arc charged in behind soon after to lead his men once again.

With the sudden assistance of the Heroes and their friends, L'Arc and his soldiers had a much easier time pushing the attackers back. It was made even easier as Naofumi used All Zweite Aura to boost the soldier's stats.

Things took an even worse turn for the girls of Trash's former harem when Itsuki cast All Zweite Down on them from a nearby rooftop, before firing spread skills into their ranks. The small explosions, light arrows, and other attacks fell all amongst their group. Further injuring or disorienting many of them.

"Heal the wounded! The rest of you, front and center!" Tsugumi howled her orders.

Those who'd been heavily injured from various attacks were pulled back and replaced by other girls still in fighting shape. The injured then used their magic power to heal each other and cast buffs on themselves, before rejoining the fighting and allowing others who'd been injured to fall back and do the same thing.

This made the battle drag on longer. But it didn't affect Naofumi or Dou-Lon. Naofumi protected the soldiers as well as the occasional friend while opening his enemies up to attacks with his shield and skills.

Dou-Lon, despite having lost his weapon, made up for it with his martial arts and his claws. Using the openings Naofumi gave him to punch, kick, throw, claw, and perform all manner of various attacks on their enemies before them.

Even without his weapon, he was still incorporating Glass's lessons. Following what he could now see as the "Rhythm" Glass had described long ago.

His movements were like a dance. His steps to avoid the strike of a blade. The extension of his arm to grip an enemy by the throat. The turn as he threw his enemy into another girl while avoiding another strike he saw out of the peripheral of his vision.

It was surreal. It was like the white tiger was standing on a whole new battlefield. The girls charged him just like he used to do. But by incorporating what Glass had taught him, he was able to dictate their battles to his rhythm and not their own. Defeating them or fending them off despite having no hero weapon.

Naofumi looked at him at one point and saw life force energy radiating off the hakuko's body. It was only for a moment, but it allowed the hakuko to weave his way through a series of attacks from four girls. Getting into the center of them before lashing out one after the other, knocking the surprised women into other combatants.

It briefly stunned Naofumi. Dou-Lon hadn't participated in life force training with the others yet! Had his training sessions with Glass gotten him to the point where he could use it without realizing it?

Whatever the case, Naofumi disappeared from beside Dou-Lon right after as Raphtalia needed his help against multiple opponents.

Glass took her place beside Dou-Lon instead. "Still keeping up, Dou-Lon?!" The spirit woman yelled over the heat of battle.

"Yes! Let us go forth and crush our enemies together, Glass!" Dou-Lon yelled ecstatically.

Glass smirked. She couldn't have agreed with the hakuko more.

Together, the mentor and mentee duo danced through the battlefield together. Protecting each other's backs while also inflicting one defeat after another on the enemies before them.

It was awesome. It was the best feeling ever.

Even though he didn't have his weapon on hand, Dou-Lon finally felt like he'd had his coming of age.

As for Naofumi, whenever his magic power ran low, he simply baited his enemies into hitting his shield and using C Magic Snatch against them until his magic power was full again.

This worked in more ways than one. These girls who were using magic to keep themselves going couldn't heal or buff each other when their magic power ran out. Thus he slowly wore them down enough for friends and allies to disarm them and capture them.

Tsugumi got back up again after taking a big hit from the Scythe Hero. She looked around in shock as her friends were slowly defeated one after the other.

Itsuki continued firing more skills from his position. The girls all had replicas of the spear and sword, but nothing else since Kyo hadn't captured Naofumi or Itsuki to study their weapons. Their options to defend or strike the Bow Hero from a distance were very limited. And most of the attempts failed as he jumped from one rooftop to another in the recently emptied town.

Even with all this happening though. They didn't stop fighting. And her eyes landed on the Shield Hero in the midst of battle once again.

Tsugumi howled again as she rushed forward, ignoring one of Itsuki's arrows as it pierced her shoulder. "Piercing Thrust!"

The attack hit Naofumi's shield. And its defense-piercing properties should have caused him damage.

That didn't happen though. Instead, she was the one who spat up blood as the energy of the attack was redirected back into her.

"Air Strike Shield! Second Shield!" Naofumi then trapped her between two skill shields as she was still reeling from the surprise of her own attack being redirected back at her.

"Now! Take her weapon from her!" The Shield Hero yelled to his friends.

Tsugumi's eyes widened. How did he already know-

"Deadly Dance!" L'Arc began swinging back and forth repeatedly with his Scythe. His movements were a lot faster and more precise under this skill. Tsugumi would have been screwed if not for her two close friends moving in and supporting her while she extracted herself from the Shield Hero's trap.

"Shield Prison!" As L'Arc's skill ended, Naofumi's ball of chains and plates surrounded the two girls. "Change Shield! Bee Needle Paralysis Shield!"

The two girls screamed as needles pierced their skin. But they didn't take damage from that. Instead, they were inflicted with paralysis status effects. When the ball of chains and plates disappeared, they were struggling to stay standing.

"N-No! Mayuri! Sumi!" Tsugumi charged forward recklessly to defend the two.

Naofumi blocked her strike with his shield again. And right after that, he grabbed one of her arms to hold her in place.

"Dou-Lon!"

The full tiger therianthrope burst from his part of the battlefield in a blaze of speed at Naofumi's call. Both of his hands clasped Tsugumi's wrists as he attempted to force her to let go of the weapon.

L'Arc took the chance to disarm the feathered girl. He would disarm the Tortoise girl next.

Tsugumi snarled at Dou-Lon, but he snarled back even more fiercely in his full therianthrope form. "You disgrace the name of the Hakuko by wearing that skin over you!"

"Who do you think you are to-" Tsugumi began to scream.

Dou-Lon's mouth bit down on her arm, causing Tsugumi to howl in pain.

His leg then kicked her knee, blowing out the kneecap.

And while she was falling from that, his furry fist plowed into her face. Punching her back away from them.

The Tortoise girl was staring at Dou-Lon in shock. He'd shown her such kindness before. But the therianthrope before her now looked far more fierce and scary. And she trembled at the wounds he'd inflicted on Tsugumi while she tried to move. To get herself to help her friend out.

Tsugumi's human eye widened in pure shock, and she hit the ground with a sickening crunch. Her arm broke from the impact, adding further to her pain as she screamed.

Around her, girls she'd known for years were being taken down. Some lost their weapons and surrendered. Others collapsed due to multiple injuries.

It was discovered that the weapons could also be killed if hit at the hilt instead of the blade. This allowed even Kizuna to join the battle since the weapons they were holding were monsters.

Kyo's weapons were once again proving to be designed for mostly shock and awe tactics.

Tsugumi breathed in and out heavily as one of her friends tried to help her up. "C-Come on! We just have to get this pendant registered at the Hourglass! That's all we need to do to see him again!"

Tsugumi began to see red. Kazuki's murderers began to approach them. Weapons were raised to finish them off.

Her chest heaved. Her rage boiled.

After everything they'd gone through. The heartache of losing Kazuki. Of running away from their country. Of meeting Kyo, and learning that he could resurrect the man they loved if they helped him to conquer the world.

To come so far after losing everything all over again. To even take down their own country and travel all this distance to reach this point. And they were going to be defeated, again, by the very people that'd killed the only man who'd treated them like human beings?!

"Rahhhhhraugh!" Tsugumi's scream of rage and frustration transformed into an animalistic howl at the end. But that wasn't what made the others pause.

Metallic tendrils from her weapon extended out and began to wrap around her arms. More than that though, her body began to pulsate as the tiger transformation began to take over the left side of her body.

Slowly, but surely, she was transforming into a monster before their eyes.

"T-Tsugumi!" The feathered girl they'd captured earlier, Sumi, cried out as she tried to reach out to her. Only, vines extended out from her weapon too. L'Arc cried out in surprise as he jumped back, avoiding the tendrils that wrapped around her arm.

"W-Wh-What is this?!" Sumi shrieked in terror. The paralysis effect had disappeared, but she was too scared to notice that.

The scaled girl, Mayori, stepped back with fear painted on her face. She looked down at her own weapon but it didn't react like the weapons of her two friends. Or like the other girls there whose anger and rage were boiling over into their weapons, activating the self-destruct sequences in them. A few were also being taken by their beast transformations, just like Tsugumi.

"Is this what I think it is!?" L'Arc asked fearfully.

"Get back!" Naofumi yelled.

This was bad. Really bad. Unlike Kizuna's house by the sea, they were in the middle of an urban area. There was no safe place to throw the weapons without damaging their surroundings.

Not only that, there were at least a dozen of these weapons still functioning that was going to self-destruct.

And then there were also the girls who'd been transformed into beasts.

"T-Tsugumi-" Sumi, despite what her weapon was doing, still tried to reach out to one of her best friends.

"Rowr!" The transformed girl dashed over and swiped at her friend with her large paw. Sumi screamed as blood sprayed from multiple gashes on her arms.

Tsugumi looked around hungrily, both of her eyes glowing red like the White Tiger Clones from before. She couldn't identify friends from foes anymore. Her eyes landed on Naofumi and a snarl twisted her lips.

The weapon in her hands began to glow. The other weapons began to glow as well. Even some of those that had been dashed to pieces on the ground.

As Naofumi tried to think of a way to prevent the situation from spiraling further out of control, a crazy idea came to his mind. "Get those weapons to me, now!"

No one questioned Naofumi. Raphtalia dashed in front of the Shield Hero as Tsugumi jumped for him, and her blade moved with a flash, slashing it and the vines to pieces while avoiding the tiger girl's retaliatory blow. Dou-Lon then struck her in the chest, launching Tsugumi back from them.

Despite destroying the weapon, the pieces still glowed as they prepared to explode. It and all the other glowing weapons were thrown to Naofumi as they began to glow brighter and brighter. This was easy, as the other girls were confused and scared by what was going on and were more willing to comply because of it.

"Shield Prison!" When they were all gathered together in front of him, Naofumi surrounded himself with a Shield Prison.

And then he put all the weapons into his Shield's inventory.

Stupid? Probably. But with so many of them, he couldn't risk the resulting explosions destroying the surrounding area. He was also buffed with his and Filo's magic, so hopefully, this wouldn't hurt too badly.

...

Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The weapons exploded repeatedly inside of his Shield.

Naofumi fell to his knees as pain wracked his body over and over again from the repeated internal explosions.

'F-$%-' He coughed up blood, and his ears began to ring as his eyesight dimmed.

"Naofumi!" Raphtalia cried out worriedly on the other side of the skill. His health bar dropped drastically in her vision again and again and again.

Naofumi bit down on his tongue to prevent himself from screaming. His health became dangerously low as one last explosion wracked his body.

And then, it was over.

He'd lived. And no one else had been harmed.

He coughed up more blood though. And when the Shield Prison dropped, he must have looked like %&$#, because Raphtalia recoiled instantly when she saw him.

"N-Naofumi?!"

"Daddy?!"

"Sir Naofumi!"

Raphtalia rushed up to him as Filo flew down from the sky and transformed back into her little girl form. His wife friend pulled out a Healing Crystal while Filo began to sing some healing magic. Dou-Lon could do nothing but watch the two girls work on the Shield Hero.

The crystal broke in his hands, and Filo's magic power washed over him. Helping to soothe some of the pain he was going through. After only a few seconds, he was able to look up at them and give them a small smile.

"I-I'm good now." Naofumi chuckled weakly and gave his girlfriend a thumbs up despite how much the action hurt. "Thanks for that."

Raphtalia sighed in relief.

At least that was over-

Tsugumi tried to pounce on Raphtalia from behind. It was only thanks to Dou-Lon's quick reaction speed that Raphtalia and Filo were both tackled out of the way.

Tsugumi instead landed on Naofumi's shield, and despite the pain he was in, the Shield Hero managed to push her back as she had been weakened by the loss of her weapon.

"Rowr!" Naofumi expected her to attack him next. But instead, she tried to maul her scaled friend, who was still holding a sword that hadn't lashed out or activated like its compatriots.

"T-Tsugumi! Please, stop! D-D-Don't you r-recognize us?" Mayori cried out fearfully.

Their best friend Sumi was lying on the ground now, bleeding out and trembling from multiple gashes on her arms and chest. Several other girls who'd tried to calm Tsugumi down had similar injuries covering their bodies. Two of them had already stopped breathing.

"W-Why are you a-a-attacking us? W-We're f-f-friends-"

Tsugumi didn't respond. She launched for the girl with no recognition in her eyes whatsoever. The tortoise girl barely avoided the strike, but she was crying too much to try and fight back.

Not like Mayori could have either, with Naofumi's paralysis effect still constricting her movements.

Looking over the chaos, Naofumi saw the same thing happening with the other girls.

L'Arc and his soldiers had pulled back. And the transformed beasts were now attacking their own friends. More bodies laid on the ground. Some moving, some not.

One girl, who screamed when she was about to get killed, was saved by Glass who blocked the attack with her fans. Kizuna then dashed past, carrying the girl on the ground to safety while Glass fought the beast off. L'Arc's healing mages rushed to a girl that was still alive.

"R-Raphtalia, Filo." Naofumi coughed up more blood. "Help her out." Naofumi pointed to the bleeding-out Sumi on the ground.

"Got it!" Raphtalia pulled out more Healing Crystals from her blade. She and her daughter went to save the enemy's life.

"Naofumi! We need to stop this!" Kizuna yelled, pointing out the carnage around them.

Naofumi grunted. He coughed up more blood, but his body didn't move otherwise.

It felt like he had liquid lead pouring through his veins. Was that a secondary effect of Kyo's self-destruct sequence? Had he predicted Naofumi doing this to save everyone and made the weapons act like poison when they exploded inside his shield?

That seemed too smart for Kyo to do. But he could feel himself on the verge of passing out regardless.

"Naofumi, please!" Kizuna set the girl down nearby and dashed up to him.

"I… I can barely move." Naofumi said with a grimace. "And besides, isn't it a good thing if they fight and wear each other out?" Naofumi felt so pained and tired despite the healing he'd received. What he'd give to close his eyes and rest then and-

"Naofumi!" Kizuna gripped him by the shoulders and stared into his eyes. "What would you do if somebody killed Raphtalia and got away with it?!"

…

Her words confused Naofumi. But the thought of Raphtalia dying made him more alert to what she said next. "That's exactly what we did to them from their point of view! And not only that, their weapons were set to explode! Meaning that they're… they're being used by him! By Kyo!

"They weren't meant to live after this attack! None of them were!" Kizuna forced herself to angrily yell while tears fell from her eyes at the realization of what Kyo had done.

"It isn't right?! Even if they're our enemies, they don't deserve this! They don't deserve to have their friends turn on them! They don't deserve to be used and thrown away by someone else like Trash!" Kizuna yelled angrily at the Shield Hero. "Why would you let Kyo get away with this?! We can't stop him on our own!

"SO GET UP AND MOVE YOUR ^%$, SHIELD HERO!"

Naofumi's eyes widened.

Mayori screamed as Tsugumi jumped on her. Her massive claws moved to grab her throat and tear it out.

"Grah!" But before that could happen, Naofumi let out a pained shout as he grabbed the large tiger girl and forced her off her friend. Tsugumi roared as she turned on Naofumi, but her attacks did nothing to him.

Her claws broke on his skin and her fangs cracked when she tried to bite him. Yet she still struggled with the instincts of an animal to break out of the man's firm grasp.

Naofumi had no idea how he was moving right now. But Kizuna had been right to say what she said to him.

"I can't understand how anybody could be so stupid to fight for dumb pieces of #$%& like you and your friends!" Naofumi yelled, looking out over all the groups while restraining the howling tiger girl.

Kizuna's words, though he didn't want to admit it, had hit him where it hurt. Despite all the pain he was in, he pushed through it because she was right.

"I doubt you can even remember the reason why you're here fighting us right now if you'd turn on the people you cared about so easily!"

Tsugumi snarled down at him. But Naofumi kept a firm look on his face as his shield began to glow brightly.

Unseen by anyone, except her, a figure appeared behind the Shield Hero. Smiling at the tiger girl calmly as energy moved from her into the Shield Hero's limbs. Giving him the support he needed to push Tsugumi back.

"I have no empathy for your situation! But no one deserves to be killed by somebody they called their friend!" He forced her head to look around at the carnage she'd wrought. The beast girl's eyes landed on her feathered friend lying on the ground. Filo and Raphtalia were there healing her, as well as several of L'Arc's healing mages. But the girl's chest was barely rising up and down. She'd lost so much blood.

This confused the White Tiger girl. That bird and the others were just prey for someone like her. Why… why did she care about what was happening to her?

"DON'T YOU EVEN RECOGNIZE ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS!? YOU DID THAT TO HER! YOU DID THAT TO EVERYONE AROUND YOU!

"YOU CAN'T BE THAT FAR GONE TO NOT REALIZE THAT, YOU STUPID BITCH!"

Tsugumi's eyes widened.

No, that wasn't prey.

That was Sumi!

Her eyes widened even further seeing all her friends around her. Some of whom weren't breathing anymore.

"IF YOU REALLY CARED ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS, AT LEAST TRY TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST WHAT'S HAPPENING TO YOU!" Naofumi finished his heartfelt scream.

"Rowr! Raaauuuuuggggghhhhh!" Tsugumi immediately screamed as she clutched at her face. Trying to force back the tiger taking her over at last.

"T-Tsugumi!" The scaled Tortoise girl cried out while still reaching toward her. "Fight back, come back to us, please!"

"She won't be able to break free on her own." Naofumi grimaced as, despite Tsugumi's best efforts, the tiger transformation wasn't fading away. In fact, it only seemed to be solidifying.

"Kizuna! I know you can't attack people, but L'Arc said Kyo experimented on them with the same process Label used to make its monsters! Maybe you can attack the monster part trying to take her over without harming her human side?!" Naofumi yelled at the Hunting Hero, who had stood aside when Naofumi dashed to assist.

"I- do you really think that'd work?!" Kizuna asked while Glass and Raphtalia helped against another beast girl.

"I don't know, but if we don't do something right now, then she's going to turn fully into a monster, and then I doubt there'll be anything we can do to save her then," Naofumi said truthfully.

...

"Alright! I just really hope this works!" Kizuna shrugged as she readied her blade and charged the skill she needed.

Tsugumi continued to howl. Her friends lay all around dying on the ground.

So much death. So much carnage.

All her fault.

"Tsugumi!" Mayori cried for her friend.

Sumi struggled to remain alive on the ground.

"Instant Blade: Sunflower Strike!"

Kizuna closed the distance between them, slashing across Tsugumi and coming to a stop several feet in front of her.

…

Tsugumi's howl died off as she fell backward. A spray of blood hung in the air over her in the shape of a sunflower.

The beast's transformation disappeared from her body entirely. Tsugumi collapsed with grave wounds across her features.

Kyo had indeed used monster parts to transform the girls. And Kizuna was able to slice them off with no problem, leaving the human underneath them intact.

"Tsugumi!" Mayori crawled up to her friend after she hit the ground. She'd dropped her sword and was crying as she held the mauled girl close.

Kizuna ran back to Glass. She, Raphtalia, L'Arc, and the soldiers had managed to restrain the other beasts. Now that she knew she could do it, she had to free them of their beast transformations next.

One after the other, she began to free the other bound beast girls from their transformations as well. Watching as they collapsed to the ground one after the other.

Nearby, Sumi saw Tsugumi freed of the white tiger. Her unfocused eyes solidified for just a few seconds, and grateful tears fell out of them.

One last breath left her lips, and she breathed no more.

"Mommy…" Filo said sadly.

Raphtalia wrapped her arms around her daughter. Despite their best efforts, they hadn't been able to save her.

"Will… will she live?" Mayori asked as Naofumi knelt across from her and Tsugumi. His pain had mostly disappeared by this point, and his remaining injuries were healing over before her eyes.

"Not sure. If her heart and flesh turned into a beast completely…" The Shield Hero began to chant an incantation for his spell.

"Zweite Heal."

…

A soft smile appeared on his lips. "It looks like… your friend will make it as a human."

The missing flesh on her face had regrown. As well as all over her body. What had been taken by the beast transformation had been restored to the best of the spell's abilities.

He was going to have to learn the drifa level for it soon though. He couldn't keep treating growing levels of injuries with just this spell.

Tsugumi would need a lot of time to recover before her injuries were healed entirely. And she'd likely live with scarring for the rest of her life. But she'd at least live.

Naofumi looked over the battlefield. There were a lot of injuries on both sides. And, while not understanding where this energy was coming from at first, he continued to move around. Handing Healing Crystals out and using his magic reserves to heal everyone he could.

He rested a hand on Raphtalia and Filo's shoulders when he came to them. But the duo were able to stand up on their own and assist Naofumi with trying to save more of the enemy force who'd been taken advantage of by Kyo.

The fighting around the city had died down by this point. Therese and Ethnobalt returned with those they'd captured in tow. Aksel and Maya also returned with the three girls they'd managed to beat on their own. Itsuki was with Therese.

"What the hell happened here?" Itsuki asked in confusion.

"Weren't you here fighting with us?" Naofumi asked confusedly.

"I had to run off after I saw Therese struggling against the therianthrope girls facing her. I figured I wasn't needed here after you began taking them down on your own." Itsuki said.

Rishia brightened upon seeing him and L'Arc thanked him for helping Therese out. But Itsuki was left to wonder again if he'd made a mistake by running off to assist on another part of the battlefield after seeing what'd happened after he left.

Naofumi dropped the topic and continued to heal everyone's injuries the best he could. Kizuna had to use her blade to free every girl of their beast transformations. And even after surrendering, some began to transform.

How this hadn't happened before they reached L'Arc's capital was unknown.

There was so much… so much that'd happened.

It was only near the end when Naofumi noticed the pain from his injuries was gone. And that more energy had been stored in his shield. Had that been the reason why he'd been healed?

Ost… the weapon she'd given him continued to help him out even now. He silently rubbed the surface of the Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield and muttered thanks to her for the assistance she'd lent him today.

The gemstone of the shield glowed a bright green in response. While confusing him at first, he remembered the same thing had happened the first time after he'd watched Moto's recording.

...

Oh well. All Naofumi knew was that they'd won. And Kyo's attack on Sickle's Dragon Hourglass had failed.

They'd managed to foil his plans once again.

---

Author's Notes:

Don't believe I have too much to say here at the end. Make sure you share your thoughts and hopefully I'll have another chapter ready by next week, and if not then, the week after that.

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Hero Clips!

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Stubbornness Like No Other

---

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Shield Hero sighed. Yomogi had just woken up, and the very first thing she tried to do was wrap her hands around his neck to squeeze the life out of him.

"You realize how ineffective this is, right?" Naofumi asked.

"I don't care! I'll kill you eventually!" Yomogi screamed at him.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Eh. She'd realize how useless this was one way or another.

There was no way she'd keep this up for very long with how weak she was.

---

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

"Uh… Naofumi? Is everything okay?" Raphtalia asked at the dinner table.

"Daddy's still being attacked by Boar Girl?" Filo cocked her head to the side curiously.

The Shield Hero tried to not pay Yomogi any mind. Even though it'd been a few days since this had started and her hands were still wrapped around his neck.

"She'll realize how useless this is eventually." He responded dryly.

Mother and daughter looked at each other unsurely. But didn't try to interfere.

---

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

"Oh come on." Naofumi sighed through gritted teeth.

"Ha! Is that neck of yours finally weakening, bastard?!" Yomogi yelled just as energetically as she had at the start.

Even though Naofumi had dealt with Kyo. Even though he and the others had returned to their world. Even though they were in the middle of the next plot arc.

The stubborn idiot girl still hadn't let go of his neck.

It'd made fighting Kyo himself very awkward. Though they'd somehow gotten through it.

"You're going to realize eventually that you can't keep this up forever!" Naofumi yelled in frustration at the girl.

"Until Kyo is avenged, I will be a thorn in your side for the rest of time!" Yomogi promised.

There was no way she actually meant that, right?

---

How long had it been since he'd been able to go to sleep at night without hearing that damn Clanging sound filling his ears?

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The old man's green eyes were wide as saucers.

Despite all of them having survived the Waves and reaching a ripe old age. Despite all the good things that'd happened to the Heroes along the way from marriage to raising large loving families.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

An old Yomogi still had her strong, wrinkled hands gripped around an old Naofumi's neck.

"Ahahahaha! Soon, I'll break that old neck of yours, and Kyo will finally be avenged! Ahahahahaha!" The old woman cackled.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

She really was that stubborn. How had she lived to this point?! Had Kyo experimented on her so that she'd never need food or sleep ever again?! The bastard!

And thus, Naofumi lived out the rest of his life with Yomogi still trying to kill him. And even though he managed to outlive the girl by a few years…

No one was ever able to get her hands off his neck. And so the Clanging sound as well as her corpse followed Naofumi all the way to his grave.

If you visit the memorial today and listen closely, you can still hear the sound of ineffectual clanging through the concrete below.

And there would never be another person as stubborn as Yomogi to live ever again.

---

Till Next Time

Allen