Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Malty didn't expect Pope Balmus to fold at this point. Even if he is going against all four cardinal heroes. Three of which were worshiped by his own faith. Beneath the mask of a pious, kind and humble servant of the Chief God, he was an ambitious man. That had already been proven when he first met her in the privacy of the healing room after she was left with the cursed scar of a wave spawn monster. But it still feels like an end of something big, when he finally dropped his pretense of respect, and willingness to work with the heroes.
The forces of the Three Heroes' Church answered Pope Balmus' call. Their earlier hesitation at facing the three heroes was non-existent now that their supreme leader had denounced them as false heroes. Aside from their initial stumbles, the heroes summoned together with Naofumi had done well to settle their role into that of heroes. But considering the short time they had been brought to Medea, there wasn't enough time for them to establish an ironclad reputation. Compared to one of the greatest war heroes in The Great War, whatever prestige they gained can easily be ignored when Pope Balmus opened his mouth and passed a verdict.
"Stop their charge. We'll be dead if they are free to use their mounted advantage!" Iris' little brother Barn began barking orders at them. It seems like in spite of him often having his head stuck in the cloud, Barn did learn something from his grandfather General Anderson. For their part, the three heroes and their allies carried themselves well even as they were being charged at by mounted cavalry many times their own numbers, and demi-human slave fighters who carried the same savagery of their pure blooded kins. The Bow Hero, and other ranged fighters immediately start firing arrows, and magic at the incoming enemy in an effort to slow Three Heroes' Church forces down. They aren't having much success, on account of them facing the true elite of the church.
"[Spear Wall]!" The Spear Hero slams the end tip of his weapon on the ground. A whole row of ruby colored, energy construct spears appears right around their entire group. But they don't simply arrange themselves into a neat bundle of walls like the name of the skill suggested. The end tip is pointed diagonally down towards earth, while the bladed tip points out at the charging cavalries like a row of deadly barriers. It's too late for the riders at the front to stop, and they end up impaling themselves and their steed onto the Spear Hero's weapon art, or get thrown violently off their steed with Motoyasu's trap at the last moment. The Spear Hero apparently has his moment of unpredictable brilliance.
Chapter 124: Heroes Unite
"Finally! A chance to put all of you cuntboys in your place!" The crass roar of a certain fallen Battle Saint can be heard over the loud war cries, or screams of pain. The brute sounds all too excited, even happy to go against the summoned heroes as he pushes himself to the front of the Three Heroes' Church army. Tossing fighters... and raptors aside with his massive hands. He stomps his feet on the ground, crushing some of Motoyasu's energy barriers. "You call this weak ass thing a barrier?! Time to die, you little shit!"
Katarina charges at the giant, even as the Spear Hero is busy summoning more pike barriers to stop the Three Heroes' Church's cavalry charge that would spell instant death for his less physically powerful allies and friends. Fists collide with the blade of the battle ax that's bigger than the head of the Claes heiress wielding it. And contrary to what one might believe, hardened flesh empowered by level ups and whatever (un)holy he still had as a (fallen) battle saint shatters castle forged steel. Katarina continues swinging the shaft of her broken weapon at the giant like a short staff, but she's quickly pushed back with the force of his fist.
Tanya and Ann surges forward wielding spears, before the giant has any chance to advance, and hurts any fighters on the side of the heroes. Both maids move in union, use their spears more like one would use quarterstaff, swinging them in a circle rather than lunge forward. Guiding the force of the battle master's impact away them like water sliding off a duck's back. But their unison is broken when Ann's feet clearly stumble, forcing Tanya to take a step forward and taking the brunt of the assault.
"What's wrong, you sissy pretty boy?" Roger of Ajax's grotesque, scar covered face split into a mix between a smirk and a sneer. "Too pussy to face a real man, and you are sending your bitches to fight me? Better come out and die, girly boy! Or else I'll go through all your bitches before I crush your head!"
"Katarina, catch!" Bertia bends down to pick up the axe dropped by Consevatie, and throws it towards her retreating friend. She pulls her hands around with the momentum of her upward throw, and points her open hands at the giant. Multiple purple arrows fire out of her hand as her fox scarf comes alive and hissing at the giant thug. "[Darkness Spring Shot]!"
"Ha! You missed- AUGH!" The condemned battle saint tilts his head, easily dodging Bertia's spells. He didn't expect them to loop right back, and hit him on the back of his head, making his whole body pitches forward.
Katarina leaps into the air, grabbing the axe mid-flight and her body begins to spin downward with her new weapon. At the same time, both Tanya and Ann had enough time to recover their previous uniformed movement after the stumble of Roger of Ajax. They turn their body on the ground like a pair of well choreographed dancers, the shaft of their spears also spinning in one of their hands as they push the end of their weapons out with others like they are shooting a bolt out of their firing mechanism. "[Death Spin]!" "[Spiral Thread]!"
Katarina drops onto the head of the battle saint with the force of a falling star, while the two maids shoot their weapons into his guts with the force of two ballista. Blood spills out of the giant like flower petals. For a brief moment, the princess wonders if this is the end for the fallen battle saint, but then he moves his head up and Malty sees that the grin on the giant brute's face. A mirthless, anger filled laugh that was made even more monstrous by the blood running down his face. With a loud roar, he knocks all three of the female fighters away. "You think you got me, you bitches?! I won't be brought down by your weak ass attacks!"
"How about THIS?!" Motoyasu lets out a fierce yell as he steps forward, twisting his own body around just like Tanya and Ann did a moment ago. The legendary spear spinning in his own hand, till it shoots out like a giant bolt fired out of a siege ballista. "[Spiral Thread]!"
"You think your pussy girly arms is going to make any difference between your bitches? I can't be killed by- GUH!"
With a wet gulch. The Spear Hero's weapon drills right through the wall of muscles that's the body of the condemned former battle saint. Motoyasu takes a step forward, glaring into Roger of Ajax's face. "Guess your mother never taught you to respect the fairer sex. This move that I used to end you? I learned it from Tanya. A woman."
"You, you-" Roger of Ajax stutters. Malty can't see the dying battle saint's face, but she imagines the man looking as angry as his ugly face usually looks. He clearly wanted to say something spiteful to the hero who just ended his life, but Motoyasu didn't give him the chance. The Shield Hero pulls his weapon out of the dying man's body. Roger of Ajax, former, and condemned battle saint of the Romalia Four Heroes' Church falls onto the ground, dead. His body soaked in a pool of his own blood.
"Dismount! Fight on your feet!" A deep, slightly garbled voice booms over the battlefield. Malty turns her attention over to the source, and sees Tirion Fordring on his feet once again. The veteran paladin had clearly had better days, as most of his face is now painted black (even from a distance, she knows that it isn't something like soot or dirt), his well groomed mustache is mostly burnt away. Naofumi's punch to his face clearly left some lasting damage. Regardless of the injuries he suffered on his head, the lord commander of the Knight Templars is still in control of his mind, and observant enough to realize Spear Hero had negated his subordinate's greatest advantage in having a relatively fresh mount and he gave the correct order at the moment. The knight templars, even those at the end of their battle formation who can't see what's going on at the front, immediately move to obey his command. As for the commander himself, after casting a healing miracle on himself, he immediately grabs his giant cleaver and runs in great stride towards the battle field. His men split apart, leaving a corridor for him to move and engage their enemy without being slowed down by their bodies.
The Sword Hero and Eclair move to intercept him as the elder paladin runs at them. Eclair's sword held in front of herself in a guard, while Ren held his weapon pointing down on the side of his body in a more relaxed manner, ready to go into offense. The intention of their individual role was clear, something that looks like they had fallen into easily over some previous repetition. If Malty was to hazard a guess, the heiress of House Seaetto had been personally training the Sword Hero on how to use his weapon rather than using it as a sword art spamming catalyst like a mage using a wand.
Unfortunately, Tirion Fordring easily ripped apart whatever their plan was. In single, heavy swing he knocks both Eclair and Ren back with practiced ease. The elder paladin's tactics were simple and elegant: using superior strength to break through whatever skill (or lack thereof) of his enemies. While on the surface this might place himself on the same level as the same uncouth thug as Roger of Ajax, the devil is in the details.
The best way to describe the movement of the undeserved battle saint is he wildly flails his gigantic body around like a fish got thrown on land. Yet due to the strength he carried behind his massive size and power, the pressure and shockwave his body carried along is enough to push his opponent back if not badly injure, or even outright kill them. Turning what should have been a weakness of his lack of finesse into a personal strength, making his movement harder to predict and defend against.
The lord commander of the Knight Templar on the other hand moves in a simple, yet graceful manner despite the plain movement of his weapon. Each strike well measured, carrying itself with a painful finality that's only made possible through decades of extensive training in proper combat forms. His movement might lack complexity compared to someone like Weiss Schnee, or Coach Zellus, but each strike finds itself in the most optimized position to disrupt the movement of his opponent. And when this kind of simple yet effective fighting strategy is matched by his strength and the sheer power of his shard weapon, it becomes very hard to defend against.
The lord commander of the knight templars didn't stop at simply pushing both Eclair and Ren back with the tremor his blade caused. With both of his opponents on the back foot, he steps forward and chases after them, clearly ready to end them. Perhaps unlike Pope Balmus, the veteran paladin still held some respect for the summoned heroes deep down, or perhaps he decided to take out the more skilled combatant first. But the one he chose to focus on was Eclair. With another slash of his giant cleaver, he cut the blade of Eclair's sword in half. Leaving the Seaetto heiress completely at his non-existent mercy.
In the split second before Eclair would have put up a guard, Tirion Fordring had already sent his own blade towards her, ready to cleave her in half. The shard weapon would have done the job too, if not for a great sword suddenly appearing between the two of them. Even in undeath, Sir Lucatiel still held unwavering loyalty to her lady. It took a split second longer for Ashbringer to break a greatsword than a standard arming sword due to their size differences, but Lucatiel's weapon didn't fare any better than Eclair's in the end. With her weapon broken, the death knight did the only thing that would slow down the paladin despite the result: putting her own body between his blade, and her lady.
The sound of Ashbringer digging into the long deceased flesh of an undead was much more unnatural than it would have been if it had cut into a normal human. Instead of a scream from its victim's mouth, Sir Lucatiel's body itself seemed to let out an otherworldly wail as smoke poured out from every seam of her armor. She wasn't immediately being reduced to ashes like the more rudimentary undead creature against the shard weapon that's designed to fight the undead and the demons. But as she dropped on the ground, her body had still looked more withered and dried up even inside her armor.
Eclair wasn't left any time to cry over her fallen companion, as the lord commander of the Knight Templars immediately resumed going after her next. She manages to twist her body just enough to not get cut in half, but her black iron pot helmet is shattered as Ashbringer breezes past her head, exposing her face. "Eclair?! Why are you alive and fighting for the Shield Demon?! I thought you died!"
Malty is reminded that before Tirion Fordring was poached by Pope Balmus to serve as the Lord Commander of his knight templars, he was a noble from the north west province first. Of course, he would personally know who Eclair was. The daughter of Lord Uther screams right back at the elderly paladin, a once compatriot of her father. "Why, Uncle Tirion?! Why are you betraying the heroes?! We are supposed to help him protect the world, and protect our people!"
"There is more at play than you realize, girl!" To his credit, the paladin did seem to hold some sentimental value for the daughter of his former companion. Allowing Eclair to walk away when her identity is exposed like this would most likely cause some consequences to even the Lord Commander of Three Heroes' Church's knight templars. If not from Pope Balmus, then the rest of Melromarc (assuming her nation would even remain standing after all the dust is settled) due to Eclair's formally condemned status. "Turn back, pretend you were never part of this madness. Leave this behind, and I'll pretend I have never seen you consort with demons and undead!"
"Is this what you have to say, after you are trying to help a power hungry madman to kill all summoned Heroes? From my point of view, the church is evil!" There is a genuine sense of incredulousness from Eclair's strained voice. She pulls out the runic bronze sword given to her by her ancestor, the very one that his soul now calls home. There is as much painful finality in her movement as it was in Fordring's sword swings. Purple, spiritual fire slowly leaks through the seams of the blunt runic bronze 'blade' of her weapon as a white ray of the Chief God's light descends down from heaven. The power from the soul of the dead, long considered a profaned source of power by the church mixed with the holy miracles of their lord. Something the churches that worship their current patheon, no matter which sect, long considered to be impossible happening right in front of everyone's eyes. Both powers coalesced together, becoming a sharp edge of pure energy around her otherwise blunt weapon. "In the name of my ancestor King Ariona, I will not forsaken the heroes for the greed of a single man like you just did!"
"Then you are Lost!" The veteran paladin spat as he charged forward. Eclair moves her leg apart and lowers her body, while holding her empowered runic blade with both hands to receive the blow. Unlike her previous castle-forged steel sword, the ancient weapon of her ancestor holds strong. The burning light of Ashbringer could not even dig through the energy coating her runic bronze let alone damaging the weapon itself. But her legs begin to buckle against the more massive, and heavily armored opponent as he glares into her face. "Consorting with demons and undead?! Your father would be ashamed of how low you sank, Eclair! I will redeem you with the only option left, purify your soul with the holy blade Ashbringer and send you to our lord for judgment!"
"Our lord or YOURSELF?! The only SHAME here is the likes of YOU!" An angry voice that's much too deep and masculine to be Eclair can be heard around her. King Ariona had remained silent after the undead nest in his ancient home had been cleaned. But it's clear that he feels affronted with how Fordring dressed down his descendant. Someone he liked enough to merge his soul with his weapon so he can keep a watchful eye over. "Passing self-righteous judgment on others with so little understanding of the world. Is this how the knights of this era live through their code of honor?! You are a disgrace to your title! And you would not be worth scrubbing the floors walked through by the likes of Sir Bior and Sir Vallarfax!"
"Silence, foul wraith! Before I send you back to whatever hell you crawled out from- EURGH!" The Lord Commander of the Three Heroes' Church's knight templar lets out a pained grunt as a massive golden sphere collides into him from the side. The elder paladin is knocked off his foot as his body is tossed flying back. The only thing that stopped himself from falling down was him digging his massive cleaver into the ground and cutting a deep trench to steady himself. The paladin looks up from where he crouched down to look at his assailant.
About twenty to thirty paces away from where Eclair stood, Yuki had her hand held up and her palm pointed at the direction where the Seaetto heiress fought the Lord Commander of the Knight Templars. For a brief moment, Malty wonders if the monarch filorial in the form of a small child dressed in fancy cloth was enough to push back one of Three Heroes' Church's strongest combatants. It would have been a phenomenal achievement for someone who is technically only a little over a month old. Even if her victim doesn't have his attention on her therefore was off guard. Firo certainly seemed to be capable of causing this much damage, and she is supposedly one of the weaker filorial monarchs if the avatar of Alaya was to be believed. But then, the princess noticed a much bigger hand pointed at Tirion Fordring together with Yuki.
Naofumi slowly pulls himself up from the ground with the help of Yuki by his side. His leg still looked wobbly, shaking and barely seemed to support his own weight. His head slowly turns around, seemingly searching for something till it eventually locks onto where Malty is currently lying. The Shield Hero slowly points his free hand up, finger pointed at her direction. The Spear Hero seemed to understand what he meant. "Don't worry, Naofumi! We'll save your friends from these bad church dudes! You sit this one out, and leave it to us for now!"
The Shield Hero nods his head, he slowly lets himself back onto the ground again. Legs wrapped in front of himself in a meditative-like position, his hands hold close together in front of his chest. Almost like the gesture of a prayer, but without his palms actually touching together. While Naofumi attempted to rest, Tirion Fordring had recovered from his previously volunteered flight. He brings his shard weapon back, and his body dash forward at the Shield Hero. But before he could cover the distance, a teenager with muscles way too bulked up than what he had any right to be stepped in front of the elder paladin. A giant blade with the size of a door holds in his now massive hands. It took Malty a few more moments to recognize Ren Amaki with his new size.
The Sword Hero clearly learned his lesson from Eclair's earlier failed clashes against the wielder of Ashbringer, and realizes he needed power in both his weapon, and himself to withstand the veteran paladin's assault without faltering. Thankfully, the relic sword of the Loptus cult seemed to grant him both. Unfortunately, he is clearly not very skilled with the weapon himself. Malty doesn't know if he had learned how to use a sword properly since his pathetic showing against herself, but even if he did, a massive greatsword clearly wasn't covered in his training regiment. All Ren managed to do against Tirion Fordring was holding his weapon up, and using the great size of his sword as a makeshift shield to delay the elder paladin's advance as Fordring continued to beat down on his shabby defense.
A quick strike from the side forces the old paladin to stop pursuing his advantages and retreat back. It allowed Ren to fall on one knee, and to catch a few deep breaths as Eclair steps besides him. Ready to withstand the wielder of Ashbringer together. And while they are holding Tirion Fordring back, Malty notices a faint glow that seems to whisk into existence between Naofumi's hand. She briefly wonders if she is simply seeing things.
"NOW! Do what I showed you all at Fort Wolf's Mouth!" Malty throws away her earlier confusion. The flamboyant voice definitely belongs to Gaston. The former ranger, and best hunter of Lute Village no longer has his hair well groomed with them splitting at the end, and there are clear tears on his cloth. Yet, he doesn't look much worse for wear despite his now more haggard appearance. In fact, he actually looks full of energy, almost like he enjoys and revels in this new mess he found himself in.
The companions of the Bow Hero quickly run in front of Gaston, arranging themselves in a formation that looks roughly like an anchor, or an opened umbrella with the hunter slightly behind them where the different arms stretchers would meet, and Itsuki at the tip end of that analogy. The formation looks familiar enough to Malty, as she had seen father drill this one into the archer squads of House Melromarc's army. The fact that all the Bow Hero's companions suddenly pulled out a small bow from their back or side cemented her suspicion. It's [Hunter Shift] formation, and it's clear Gaston is trying to have them use the formation's weapon art. Although its effectiveness with the small, toy-like bows in their hands is questionable at best.
"[Illusion Bow]." The Bow Hero pulls the string of his weapon back, and the legendary bow begins to be coated by a thick layer of topaz colored aura. Each bow in the hands of his companions and Gaston, no matter their forms, suddenly becomes a bow constructed by topaz colored light. They might literally be made of black dragon scales, but the shape of their energy construct bow looks exactly like the form in Itsuki's hand. Of course, their biggest problem is easily solved with a hero 'leading' them, thanks to their unique abilities granted by their hero weapons. "[Formation Bow Art: Arrow Storm]."
The first few rows of the knight templars trying to get through Motoyasu's spear barricade instantly fall victim to the Bow Hero and his group. It doesn't matter if they tried to hide behind their shields, parry the attack with their weapons, or tried to call Chief God's protection with miracles. All of their attempts to save themselves were proven futile as they dropped on the ground like wheat during harvest season when arrows fell on them like the rain.
Malty both feels and hears the sound of a body dropped beside her. She turns around, and sees the unconscious form of Sir Oersted beside her as Cain hands Jaune's dead body to Pyrrha. "Protect the body of Brother Jaune, Sister Pyrrha. This battle has escalated above your power and abilities."
Dragonfly wings grow out behind the demi-human priest's back as he charges into the air right against the onslaught brought forth by the Bow Hero's party and Gaston. Malty briefly considered that the previously humble mannered demi-human is acting uncharacteristically arrogant for putting down someone like Pyrrha, till he opens his left hand and utters a single phrase: "[Protective Shade]." Space in front of his hand around him seemed to warp around, and arrows fired by the Bow Hero's party stopped right in front of him as if hitting an invisible wall.
The opening of the Bow Hero's formation weapon art created by Cain isn't very large, but it's enough for a small group of the templars to hunker together and combine their shields into [Tortoise] to combine their effort against Bow Hero's formation weapon art attack. From this single point, the knight templars begin to organize themselves into smaller defensive formations like little islands to withstand Itsuki's attack. Even further behind them, the holy knights drop down to prayers, clearly trying to focus their minds to create a much stronger defensive miracle together.
Before Itsuki and his group even finished their full attack, Bertia runs in front of Motoyasu. Malty noticed the same ethereal looking chain Katarina had around her wrist also connects the daughter of Lord Notches to the Spear Hero. The fox on her shoulder baring its teeth at her opponent in a silent screech, her black fur standing on their ends as Bertia closes her opened hands together in front of her chest. The shadow she cast with her fox slowly morphed into that of a great dragon that reminded Malty of Gaelion. "[Darkness Terror Wave]!"
A tide of pure darkness is launched out of Bertia's hands at the Three Heroes' Church's knight templars still pinned down by Bow Hero's [Arrow Storm]. The scattered groups trying to protect each other might have been able to withstand a flurry of relatively weak barrages. But they are easily washed away by Bertia's attack like a giant wave takes all the animals the weapon art is named after from a beach. Even Cain is being pushed back. The templars that were praying together quickly break their meditation and cast a miracle barrier in front of them. It managed to stop Bertia's attack like a dam stopping a flood, if only barely as cracks began to form on their wall made of white light. Bertia, clearly realizing she needs to give one final push to break the knight templars, takes a single step forward. "[MAXIMUM CAUTION]!"
Previously, the tide of darkness fired from Bertia's hand was somewhat serene. It's an almost unstoppable wave, but it also quietly sweeps things away like the fall of a starless night. Yet now, the darkness itself seemed to become alive. Like a monstrous beast suddenly awoken from its slumber and ready to tear apart everything in its path. The barrier put up by the knight templars shatters like glass, Cain is pushed further back as the distortion in front of him grows more and more volatile like the jaw of a hungry beast. But a single voice can suddenly be heard at the front of the knight templars. "Hold yourself together, my son. The strongest blade of grass made itself known when standing against the most powerful wind."
Pope Balmus had somehow walked to the front of the knight templars before Malty realized he was gone. He holds his left hand up, much like his own 'son' Cain. He also utters a single word, as a wall of light forms in front of himself, completely stops Bertia's effort. "[Protective Wall]."
The raging wave of shadow screams and thrashes, but unable to triumph against the effort of the father and son. It slowly dies down, till it recedes from view leaving a large patch of ravaged land in its wake. Bertia falls on her knees as the fox drops on the ground from her shoulders. Both of them completely exhausted themselves in their effort. Yet, despite their failed attack, Malty could almost see a smile near the corner of her playmates. Before the princess has the time to figure out the reason, she hears alarmed yells from Pyrrha and others around her. Suddenly, her body takes off from the ground as she feels someone carrying her, leaping towards the heroes and their allies. She looks down, and sees Abaddon looking up at her retreating form. The violet peacock tail feathers grow behind the wrathful son's back, making Abaddon look like a wild bloom as beautiful as it is deadly. The princess knows that the wrathful son is ready to blow her and Motoyasu's children out of the sky.
Before the peacock had a chance to do anything, a small form suddenly leapt at her from the grass. A series of explosions erupts around Abaddon, not to harm the wrathful son of Balmus but to cover the ground with smoke. Raphtalia had survived all the previous clashes, and she was hiding herself in the thick of grass using her animal form, only jumping out at the last minute to cover the rescue attempt of Malty.
The princess can feel herself being gently set on the ground. She looks behind, and sees the form of a gray haired figure standing behind her. It's hard to tell the gender of her rescuer with how they are wearing a long, black suit and having a mask of the same color obscuring their lower face. Malty turns her head around to look ahead, and sees the face of a bespectacled woman with long orange braids. "Good job, my sisters! The operation to save the Shield Hero's companions is a success!"
"I see... had some of your own forces hiding around us before our battle broke out, didn't you? And you clearly had some way to communicate with them. That's why you held them in reserve till this moment where I was drawn away. So you can rescue the Shield Demon's accomplices from me." Pope Balmus turns his head back at where Malty and her companions (including Akitsu) were being kept around the church's demi-human slave fighters. In spite of losing all his hostages, there is a smile near the corner of his mouth much like Bertia did. It looks genuine instead of mirthless, not something a person who got out played by his opponent would typically give.
"What can I say? I may not be conventionally strong like my egg brothers and sisters. But I was one of the first to be raised as Princess Melty's guards. And my strength is linking up with my siblings with this." The orange haired filorial monarch points her finger at her own head. "Brutal strength, or skill in fighting ability or magic is great. But you need to use your brain if you want to win a war."
"I'm sorry for my failure to keep our prisoners, Father." Abaddon runs up to Pope Balmus. For once, the peacock actually looked shameful and ready to kneel down. But Balmus holds up a hand to stop his child.
"It's all good, my child." You can not be expected to stop the plan from someone who can telepathically communicate with a small army of filorial monarchs. Despite speaking to his child, Pope Balmus' focus is still on Matsu as his smile grows wider. "You are clearly a strategist, young lady. My old friend Aultcray would have liked you."
Malty feels someone coming close to her. She slowly turns around and sees Yuki with a glowing ball of healing light in her head, ready to cast a miracle on the princess. The filorial monarch is stopped by Naofumi's quick warning. "Stop! Mein hurt her heart when we were fighting that giant plant monster together. You might kill her if you cast too many healing spells on her."
Yuki looks up at Iris, who returns her with a nod. "Listen to the Shield Hero. He's been with Princess Malty longer. And he knows her conditions better than you."
With all the ways for her identity to finally be revealed to the Shield Hero, Malty never considered it would have been as underwhelming as it being an offhand mention from her childhood 'friend' Iris. She looks back at Naofumi, and finds that the Shield Hero wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. Now, there is clearly a ball of red light growing in between his hands. She wasn't sure if she should feel relieved, or offended that Naofumi is paying much more attention to their current fight (which is at least in a stalemate if not in their favor) than the biggest revelation about his companions. Her wandering mind wasn't allowed too much time to recuperate when it's brought to reality again by a loud yell from Naofumi.
The red glowing sphere between Naofumi's hands suddenly expands outward, and takes a much more corporeal appearance over his shield arm. It's definitely in the form of a shield, although in a form she has never seen before. The best way she can describe it is that the thing looks like some kind of monster from the ocean with a thick, segmented, red colored shell, or carapace covering its entire body. Near the top, it has a single eye near the top most segment, and a pair of stabby wings that looks way too much like a stylized emblem from someone's family banner than the much more realistic looking 'shell' that makes up its entire body. Overall, the thing looks very odd, both in the sense of its appearance, and in that they never have fought any monsters from water to let Naofumi unlock something like it. While the monster from the Third Wave does look like terrors from the deep that's brought onto the surface and air, the Shield Hero also didn't have any time to collect their body parts to unlock new shield forms considering the hectic fight against them, the following mad dash for her survival with Lautrec's fucking goddess, or the Three Heroes' Church's betrayal.
"Red? Why is it colored red? Well, it doesn't matter." Naofumi on the other hand seemed to have some familiarity with the shield form. He runs a single hand through its coarse looking surface. The Shield Hero murmurs about its vivid color as if that's the only thing out of the ordinary. It doesn't take him too long to recollect himself as he pushes past his bodyguard to run at Ren and Eclair. "Ren! Go help others fight the templars! Leave your opponent to me!"
"Wait! Let me protect you, my thane!" It took Yatsuhashi a brief second of shocked silence, before he ran after Naofumi. With the Shield Hero still wobbling on his feet, it doesn't take too much time for his tall sworn shield's long strides to catch up, and then surpass Naofumi.
"Shield Demon? No matter! The result will be the same no matter how many times you try!" Fordring pushes both Ren and Eclair back with another swing as he runs past them. At both Naofumi, and his bodyguard. "Your unholy demonic power will be no match for the Ashbringer!"
"Crown Shield isn't only a shield, you idiot!" It seems like constantly being called a demon and being received with unreasonable aggression had grinded down Naofumi's courtesy. Which is completely understandable, as Malty would have treated the Three Heroes' Church with vastly less patience if she's stuck in Naofumi's shoes (come to think of it... she is. And she already did treat them less courteously). The Shield Hero uses his free hand to push at the inner side of his new shield, and flips it off his arm. To Malty's surprise, it didn't simply get tossed aside, as there's a chain connecting the shield to Naofumi's arm. The Shield Hero yanks on the chain with his hand, and the carapace-like shield starts to flip and coil itself mid-air into a giant flail. He swings it at Fordring. "Yatsuhashi, DUCK!"
Thankfully, Naofumi's sworn shield immediately followed his warning. Whether it's out of a sworn shield's duty to follow his charge, or the survivor of Miyamoto Clan heard the sound of something heavy sailing across the air. Regardless, Naofumi's new flail didn't end up taking off his protector's head before it made contact with his enemy. Fordring scoffs at the Shield Hero's wild swing as he brings his giant cleaver at the now named 'Crown Shield'. Perhaps he wants to shatter it like before in an effort to break the Shield Hero's spirit. But the result couldn't be more different from the last time. Ashbringer meets Crown Shield in the air... and the ban of both demon and undead is instantly shattered into a hundredth of pieces.
"WHA- IMPOSSIBLE-!"
Fordring didn't finish his exclamation before the red wrecking ball continued its trajectory, and smashed his head into a red paste like a melon. The Shield Hero stops himself near the dead, headless body of the veteran paladin. He spits on the corpse... and then proceeds to smash his weapon a couple more times till his body is reduced to the same state as his pulverized head. The Shield Hero clearly needed to take all his pent up rage from all the persecution the Three Heroes Church caused him on someone. While Tirion Fordring as an individual probably doesn't deserve it, his lifeless body can't object to such treatment.
"For the lich king. You trash tier Uther wannabe reject."
End Note:
Roger of Ajax finally kicks the bucket, hope this count as another badass moment for the goodest boi Motoyasu. And yes, I agree with DJman248: Motoyasu is clearly an eager puppy (there's a reason I compared him to Zack from FF7), even if I always thought he's more of a goldie than a lab.
Naofumi also fulfills his promise with Malty, becoming 'the Strongest Shield on Earth' by unlocking his saiga Crown Shield (Red). Honestly, it's a shame what happened to [Beet the Vandel Buster]. It's not on Fullmetal Alchemist (because so far no manga had reached it)... or even Attack on Titan tier. But it had its moment. Much better than the likes of Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach (there's a reason why these titles are collectively known as 'three lumps of shit' among certain Chinese fandom). It's a real shame it was just stopped at one of its best moment due to its creator suffered from brain disease so it never had a fighting chance.
Seriously suggest anyone who haven't read it go hunt it down. It's one of the better Shounen manga in existence.