I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero
Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad on the SPAG edit! Also special thanks to Angel Wraith for reading my rough draft and provide important feedbacks.
More author note at the end for people who are interested to see me blabber some more.
The Wave of Catastrophe, now the most well-known disaster in the land of Medea.
Not everyone saw it with their own eyes, considering they come about every century or two. Those who survived the last Wave from roughly sixty years ago described it as 'the burning skies'.
As for Mein herself, there is certain a perk of being the first princess of glorious Melromarc.
For example, she has the fortune to see with her own eyes, the recording of memory crystals stored in the royal archives. The image is fuzzy and the scope feels rather limited considering memory crystals are made to record a single person at close distance, rather than the distant landscape.
It did nothing to prepare her from seeing the Wave with her own eyes. The skies were as red like a sea of blood ready to pour down on her. The clouds were not white and fluffy, or even gray and oppressive. It takes after a scarlet, orange or purple hue, like a firestorm ready to ignite everything till only ashes remain.
Now, she understood why they truly NEEDED the legendary heroes. Even if the Wave of Catastrophe has become such a regular occurrence in history, most rulers stopped seeing those heroes as their saviors.
The Shield Hero seems to also be fixed on the image, until someone shoves him aside from the back.
"Out of my way!"
The waving blonde ponytail, red cloak, and the spear reveals the identity of the person who knocked the Shield Hero aside. Mein notices the women following right after him. Two young dames wearing those two-piece hunting breastplates over light blue satin dresses. Their light blue and brown hair run down the silver plating and blue fabric like waterfalls. The third one has light yellow clothing, with her auburn hair only reaching her shoulder.
Wait, those girls are...
"You okay there, Iwatani?" The sound of the Bow Hero brings Mein out of her silent musing. She sees the young boy pulling Naofumi up from his crouch while the Sword Hero is looking around the landscape.
"I know this place. It's the King's Forest, there's a village right that way. They're defenseless!" Naofumi for his part, doesn't seem to mind being knocked over. He points his arm to the right, towards the direction of Lute. "I have to help them!"
The two younger boys exchange a quick glance at each other. The Sword Hero is the one opening his mouth this time. "You do that. We'll go take out the boss."
The two boys are joined by their party as they disappear into the forest after the Spear Hero, while Naofumi starts to run in the opposite direction.
"Master Naofumi, we can't just leave the Wave unattended and go help every village we come across!" Mein quickly recovers from her moment of incredulousness. She grabs onto Naofumi's shoulders, almost tipping him off his feet once again.
"The other heroes are going at it already, a low level tank won't do much in an easy raid when you have three high level DPS to blitz down the boss. I'll do much more protecting the civilians," came the reply coming out of Naofumi's mouth, which made little sense when arranged together. Based on their situation, Mein can only guess the Shield Hero meant that he wouldn't do much fighting in the actual Wave.
Okay... the otherworlder does have a good objective point. But the goal of the first princess here is to have him look good in times of disaster to build up his image of the future king. "Master Naofumi, if we don't show up in the Wave, we'll be seen as forsaking our duties! We have to go, and hope for the best for the good people of Lute!"
Naofumi stops his feet and stares right into Mein's eyes. His gaze was piercing, making the princess in disguise wanting to look away. "You can go with them, if you want to."
And with those final words, the Shield Hero turns around to sprint towards the direction of the quiet little village they had been staying in for a week. The demi-human slaves follow right after him.
Mein looks back to the direction of the Wave for a second. She grinds her teeth and stomps her foot for a quick second, before she picks up her feet and gives chase to Naofumi.
Chapter 21: Broadsword
There is no cooking smoke coming out of the chimney carrying the sweet scent of freshly prepared food inviting the tired stride of hardworking country men or travelers to the sleepy little village.
Instead, men and women armed to the teeth crowd out at the many gates between their makeshift wooden walls.
Among the nervous pushing hands and shuffling feet, Mein manages to pick out a few who are obviously professional combatants who kill for a living. The young knight who helped escorted them to the Cathedral of the Three was among them, with a squad of armed Melromarc foot soldiers at the front.
The Shield Hero's arrival causes some disturbance in their already chaotic formation.
"The heroes are here, fighting the Wave. We'll only have to hold out till they stop the Wave!" Naofumi didn't exactly deliver an inspiring speech, but his quick words still draws out thunderous cheers from the villagers.
"Stay behind me, baby girl. I may be old, but I can still trip over some of those Wavespawn bastards." Mein only manages to recognize the retired knight from his gruff voice. Sir Rathos is wearing a set of brown leather instead of the plate mail synonymous with Melromarc knighthood.
"Alright, take it easy, Papa. You don't want to twist your back," came the reply from the young girl under the big brimmed hat. She holds onto her magical staff in one hand, while the other holds up an opened grimoire.
The old retired knight chuckles at his daughter's comment while taking the Faubley zweihander off his back. "So be it, if this is the battle where my luck runs out. It'll be a good death."
Sir Rathos doesn't seem to give himself enough credit. To swing a giant zweihander with a single hand, at his advanced age no less, requires more than mere luck.
The old knight rises his sword skyward with the young man, the Spear Hero's former bluenette companion, and an adventurer in a ridiculous looking pot helmet covering her head. A thin ray of white light parts the bloody red sky and burning clouds to shine on their swords, making flames erupt and cloak their sharp edges.
Mein's eyebrow rises at this display. The paladin-class skill [Weapon of Awe] is unlocked at level 20, the unspoken benchmark dividing the real adventurers and professional soldiers from a farmer trying to make some quick coins in their off season or a levy holding a sword.
It's not hard to imagine a retired veteran knight – a knight in the service of the Queen, surpass this benchmark. The blue haired knight used to be a hero's companion, who no doubt gained a good few levels thanks to the EXP boost. It's surprising to see a somewhat young looking adventurer in the twenties range defending a small village, rather than seeking the glory of fighting the Wave alongside the heroes.
At the back, a young blonde woman in her traveling cloak is playing a harp. Some of the villagers are singing the famous war song alongside this former companion of the Spear Hero.
"I see a red wave, on the horizon. Set under a scarlet cloud, that hides the sun."
"Bring me my broadsword, and clear understanding. Bring me my Symbol of Four, as a talisman."
Almost like an already rehearsed play, the first wave of monsters breaks through the treeline and start to charge towards the village. Small, squeaky humanoid monsters with red skin waving their rusty axes, or clubs at the front. They are followed by rotting, shambling human corpses advancing with a slow but determined pace.
"Fire at will!" Sir Rathos takes a deliberate step forward so he stands shoulder to shoulder with the Shield Hero. The villagers start to release arrows from their hunting bows, or tossing bottled Alchemist Fire from the crates. The arrows lack the uniformed rhythm of trained archers, but careful aiming was unnecessary against the tidal wave of mindless monsters.
"[Air Strike Shield]!" Naofumi points his shield towards the advancing monsters as a green ethereal shield suddenly pops into existence in their path. Like an unstoppable rushing river suddenly meeting an immovable heavy boulder, the charging monster wave splashed up as a good dozen of the squeaky monsters get tossed into the sky thanks to those pushing at their back.
It was a rather spectacular sight, especially combined with the burning alchemist fire. But it does little to stop the rest of the monsters rushing towards the defenders of Lute village.
"Shields up!" The young knight links up his shield with Naofumi, as do the dozen of Melromarc infantry under his command. Their battle cry echoes together with the song of the female bard, temporarily drowning out even the scream of monsters. "Glory to the nation! GLORY TO MELROMARC!"
Mein's vision is filled with a different shade of red, as the bodies of monsters begin to mix up with the blood spilling out of their wounds. The forms she learnt from Vice Captain Zellus becomes all but useless, as she repeat the simple motion of rises her arm up, swing it down, pull it back and repeat.
She tries to keep her attention focused on the Shield Hero, amongst frantically waving her sword around, cutting up everything that's red. It's more difficult than she imagined to spot Naofumi's distinct blue armor and green travelling cloak. Not helping matters was her long sword being a light weapon, much better at fighting in duels than cutting down swarm of enemies on the battle field.
Gritting her teeth, the princess in disguise takes one step back. Slipping back into relative safety behind two Lute village militias. This situation calls for something with a bit more firepower. "As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and ignite my hand."
Mein feels the telltale sign of mana traveling from her body up her arm, and the heat starts to build up in her hand. She takes two quick steps forward to push her way out between the two Lute militia she takes temporary refuge behind. "[Burning Hand]!"
Three rays of fire burst out from her hand, burning down the monsters in front of them. The princess ignores the words of gratitude the villagers give her as she surveyed the battlefield in front of her. The Lute militia is slowly being pushed back into the village from the pressure of the monsters. But the two Melromarc knights, a full squad of foot soldiers are still holding fast like a rock around the Shield Hero.
They are going to get surrounded by monsters, once the slower moving zombies reach them.
"Focus fire around the Shield Hero and clear a way for his retreat!" The princess quickly whips her head around to look back. The adventurer in the black cold iron helmet is pointing her blazing sword at the Shield Hero's group.
Huh, an adventurer with the rare ability to take command, and assess the situation? The voice was also very young, maybe someone around twenty years old.
"Got it! Battlefield kitchen, open for business!" The mage girl opens up her grimoire. Twelve fireballs rise up from the shifting pages, hover above her bouncy large brimmed hat for a breath before they dart across the sky and light up the monsters around the group of fighters surrounding the Shield Hero.
That was no doubt Mage's Class Skill [Prepare Magic], sealing already formed spells into their grimoire and quick cast them without chanting in dire situations.
Mein shakes her head and refocus her attention back to the battle. She quickly sprints forward, out of the protection from the mob of Lute Militia towards the Shield Hero's group. Her sword parries away an axe, jumps over a club strike at her ankle, and ends up rolling into the squad of foot soldiers around the Shield Hero.
The zombies are already at them by this point - the incognito princess can even feel the putrid decay from their rotting body assaulting her nose. "Master Naofumi, we have to fall back. We'll be cut off from the others!"
"Mein! I knew you'll come around!" Mein can't see Naofumi's face behind the guard of his helmet. But the words he speak and his tone both show he's rather elated at her appearance.
"Of course, Master Naofumi. I'm your first companion. That means I'm your sword!" Mein brings up her arm once again, but not a simple fire spell this time. She'll need to use one of her strongest spells to cover their retreat. "As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and channel them through my vein of power. Let my inner fire surge forward, like a river of dragon blood. [Fire Surge]!"
A burning red orb swirls into existence in her open left palm. It burst into an orange cone of fire as it submerges everything in front of the princess turned adventurer, lighting all the monsters up and starts to spread on the other monsters thanks to their numbers and close proximity.
The Shield Hero takes a step forward to Shield Mein, even as the rest of their group starts to retreat back. "No."
Mein is confused for a second at where the Shield Hero is going with this single word. Until she remembered what she said to the young man. The princess wonders if she has finally pushed Naofumi too far for the last time, that he decided to get rid of her. The shock almost cut off her spell mid-cast. Thankfully, her instincts and training kicked in to keep up the constant flow of mana despite her sudden loss of focus.
Praise the Wizardry school of Magic for its lack of reliance on pure focus, unlike Miracles.
"A sword is an object. You are my partner." Naofumi grabs Mein's right hand as he guides her back among the retreating Melromarc knights and footmen. The princess in disguise did not expect the Shield Hero's response being the complete opposite of her worst fear, so she simply let him guide her back even as she maintains the spell to cover their retreat.
They only made it back to the new line of Lute militia when they hears a loud crackling sound from the tree line. It's accompanied by the loud rumble of trees turning over, as a giant skeleton as tall as two fully grown men emerges. It waves around its equally huge cleaver as it strides towards them.
"A gashadokuro? Are you kidding me!?" Naofumi's loud exclamation shakes Mein awake from her stupor.
"That's a 'Boss Monster', Master Naofumi. They command the lesser monsters, make them more than mindless beast. That's also what makes the Wave of Catastrophe a disaster to all the kingdoms, large groups of Boss Monsters come out of the breach and command the Wave like an army."
"The villagers will be devastated by a Boss Monster. They aren't trained to fight a war." Sir Rathos gives a quick glance back towards the rest of Lute Militia.
Mein looks back at what the retired knight points out. It's clear some of the villagers are shaking at the mere sight of the towering giant running towards them.
"We'll have to hold it down, in that case. [Shield Prison]." Naofumi points his Shield toward the lumbering skeleton to activate one of his skills. Four large shields begin to rise up from the ground at the skeleton's feet, trying to close the monster into a bind. But the giant simply steps over them before the prison fully forms.
"It's no good, it's taking too long to activate." Naofumi looks down at his Shield, Mein doesn't need to see his face to feel his disappointment at the skill. The Shield Hero looks up again, seeing the skeleton walking towards the crates of Alchemist Fire and healing potions.
That's where a group of unarmored Lute Villagers are either tending the wounded, or tossing the burning potion bombs at monsters. Raphtalia also happened to be among the group.
"I'm not letting you pass this easily!" Naofumi changes his shield into the rope shield. He ties a knot with the end, making it into a lasso and toss it towards the giant skeleton. "You are mine!"
The giant skeleton holds its giant cleaver up like some kind of guard, even as the lasso tightens itself around the top handle. For a short moment, it looks like they are engaged into a tug of war. Until the giant skeleton violently pulls its cleaver with both of its bony hand, tossing the young man through the air towards it.
"AAAWWW~ CRAP!" Naofumi's panicking cry over everyone's head became the response of his ill-thought out plan. His body collides into the Boss Monster's skull with a bone crunching loud clank as he falls down into the dirt near the Giant Skeleton. The Boss Monster rises up its giant cleaver, ready to finish his job.
With no time to properly chant, Mein pulls out a hastily formed fireball into her hands and toss it toward the Giant Skeleton's head. The shoddily constructed spell blows up on the side of its skull, letting out more smoke than ember. But the stun is enough for Naofumi to recover and change his shield back from the Rope Shield into his heaviest Geo Shield.
The Shield Hero's Shield meets up with the Giant Skeleton's cleaver. An even louder clank sound explode from their clash, knocking over some of the unfortunate militia and monsters too close to ground zero.
The Boss Monsters, over twice as tall as the Shield Hero falls down to the ground on its knees as Naofumi stands up. "[Shield Prison]!"
The four shields rises up before the boss monster has a chance to stand right back up, closing it inside like a small fortress even as it violently bangs at the construct.
"[Shield Change], to [Geo Shield]." The Shield Hero ignores the smaller monsters congregating and wailing at him. The four giant copies of the default diamond shaped legendary shield transforms into four walls of multi-layered stones, clamping down on the boss monster like a true prison.
But even as the Boss Monster is temporarily contained, the Shield Hero himself is still lost in the mob of monsters. The three balloons jump out of Naofumi's cloak, and start to valiantly bite whoever gets close to the Shield Hero. But they too get obscured by the gathered swarm of monsters.
The incognito princess feel her heart jump to her throat once again as the monsters begin to pile around Naofumi, till' all she sees is a pile of monster bodies.
She can't lose Naofumi now, especially after his short confession of what she means to him. Mein is ready to run and fight her way to the Shield Hero till someone grabs her shoulder. "Don't get yourself killed!"
The undercover princess looks back, and comes face to face with a black cold iron pot helmet, and the blue eyes inside the eye slide.
"I have to go help Naofumi, he can't fight his way out."
"Leave it to the riders." The young adventurer didn't budge, as she responds back with a stern commanding voice.
Mein briefly wonders what riders is the young woman talking about, that's when she hears the loud stampede around the edge of the battle. She turns around, and sees a small group of filorials charging around on the edge of the wave of monsters, thinning their numbers like a sharp knife peeling off potato skins.
At the head of the group, the blue haired young knight Sir Crepe swings her aflame arming sword around on top of Filorial Bill's prized white filorial. Not like a despondent drunkard, but like a seasoned captain directing their company of well-trained riders stabbing at the heart of their enemy. "Lance!"
Mein briefly wonders if the young knight is still drunk. Most of the filorials lack a rider on top of them, and none of the Lute hunters has a knight's lance with them. Until the birds collectively lower their necks out and squint their eyes, small cones of magical wind begin to form around their beak.
"CHARGE!"
"GUAH~!"
The company of birds collectively break into full sprints, and any monsters who aren't torn into chunks of broken flesh are trampled under their powerful strides.
Gaston reaches out atop of his black filorial, pulling the Shield Hero up with his three balloons hanging onto his cloak with their maw. Thankfully, Naofumi doesn't look too much worse for wear aside from his helmet being knocked sideways. He still casts a healing spell on himself while on the bird.
The filorials charge right through the thick of monster wave and disappear from Mein's view. She keeps up hacking at advancing monsters with the rest of Lute defenders, until the birds swing right out of their back. Naofumi jumps off the back of Gaston's bird and runs to the front again. "Sorry to make you guys worry."
"Well, you should be! Master Naofumi!" Mein tosses out another wave of fire with her left hand. "Don't do that again! EVER!"
"That was pretty dumb. But you got guts, Shield Hero." Sir Rathos gives a backhanded comment while his sword cuts through two shambling zombies. "Don't do everything yourself next time."
That's when the Giant Skeleton finally breaks apart the stone shield around it, as it starts to lumber towards the Lute defender once again.
"Yeah, we'll take this Boss Monster down together." Naofumi holds his shield up. He charges towards the Giant Skeleton with Sir Rathos and the female adventurer in the pot helmet while Mein prepare to cast another spell. A group of the red colored goblins runs towards them, but a shattered bottle of Alchemist Fire immediately lights them up.
Mein gives a quick glance back, noticing Raphtalia climbed up one of the watchtowers with the potion bombs in her tiny hands.
The Giant Skeleton swings its cleaver down and Naofumi's stone shield rises up to meet it once again. He didn't get the parry time right this time, as the boss monster is knocked down. But the Shield Hero still manages to stop the weapon from cleaving the old knight and the young adventurer down, even when he's pushed down to the ground.
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and bring forth the wave's inferno." Mein closes her eyes and cups both hands together. As a Sorcerer, she can't bank a spell through [Prepare Spell] like a Wizard, but she does have her own class skill at level 20.
As a Sorcerer, she can empower her spell by pumping more mana into her spellwork.
"[Overcast], [Great Fireball+1]." She opens her eyes and tosses the orange orb towards the Giant Skeleton. It start to enlarge even as it travels through the air, until it hits the Boss Monster on its shoulder with a loud boom.
The giant cleaver falls down into the ground besides the Shield Hero with a loud thud. Mein realizes why once the smoke of her spell's impact clears. The monster's entire right shoulder is gone.
Granted, [Great Fireball] is a high tier spell not commonly available to the common spell casters. But she didn't expect it to be this powerful with a single enhanced level.
A shadow jumps up and start climbing the Giant Skeleton's spine while it's distracted from its disarmament. The lizard man Lautrec, who has been lost in the crowd of Lute militias, moves up the Boss Monster's head like a graceful swimmer. He plunges both of his shotels down into the empty socket of Giant Skeleton. It lets out a loud hissing noise while furiously shaking its head while bringing up its remaining hand to slap Lautrec away.
Seems like the lizard man found where the Boss Monster's core is. But his weapon isn't strong enough to kill the monster.
"Kyubey! Catch!" Naofumi tosses out the end of his Rope Shield to the rabbit man.
Kyubey grabs the rope and sprints down the Giant Skeleton's left ankle just as Lautrec jumps down the monster's head to avoid its bony appendage. The rabbit man quickly runs a circle around the Boss Monster's foot while Sir Rathos pulls his zweihander and swings it out with a roar at the monster's other foot. With a loud snap, the Giant Skeleton falls down backwards into the ground, flattening some unlucky zombies behind it.
The female adventurer rushes past Sir Rathos toward the Giant Skeleton. She jumps on its skull before it has a chance to hobble back up and stabs her sword into its socket. The holy flame on her sword shoots out from every seam of the monster's skull, until its entire body burst into ash.
Not bad, for a hedge knight. In fact, if Mein didn't know better she'd say this unnamed female adventurer most likely had formal training since childhood. Like an heir from one of the Great Houses.
"Yes! We did it!" Naofumi throws his hand up with excitement, until more rumbling was heard from the King's Forest. More of the giant skeletons start to emerge out from the overgrowth. "...and three more to go?"
"Pull back to the village hall. We can't hold the line with only militiamen against this many boss monsters. We'll make our stand there!" Sir Rathos quickly grabs the still stunned Shield Hero by his shoulder.
"Load the wounded onto the birdies. Leave the Alchemist Fire - we'll light them up to cover our retreat." Near the wooden wall of Lute, Sir Crepe is quickly taking charge directing the villagers. She turns around to look at the only group of professional soldiers in the group. "Sir Aki, can your men still fight?"
"We can keep fighting." The young knight pops the stopper from a health potion and down it in one go. He has a gash over his forehead, probably due to losing his helmet. His armor is also covered in dents, but the young knight doesn't have any visible major injuries on him. "My men are all from Lute, we'll fight till the end for our home."
"Cover the retreat with me." Sir Crepe nods her head. She starts to name a dozen more of the grim faced militiamen around her, while the rest start to quickly run towards the village hall in the distance. Mein joins them as she keep tossing fireballs toward the advancing monsters.
"Light it up!" Sir Crepe yells at the top of her lungs as soon Naofumi's group makes it pass the village gates. Gaston releases a fire arrow towards the crates of Alchemist Fire. The volatile concoction blows up behind the Shield Hero's small group, lighting monsters and the wooden construct of Lute on fire, which temporarily stops the horde of monsters and buys their group a few precious seconds to disengage their enemies. They quickly retreat back to the group waiting for them around the village hall.
The situation doesn't look any better, considering the fortification around the wooden longhouse was even shoddier than the wooden wall around the village.
"I have to say..." Naofumi falls face down onto the ground as soon as he cleared through the stone fence. "I didn't expect fighting in a Wave to be this tiring... The books I read... the heroes usually have an easy win. Especially the first big battle."
Mein can't even muster up enough strength to sigh at this young man, who was too kind for his own good. Ironically, they would have an easier time if they followed the other heroes to fight the Wave's Boss. Defending a badly fortified village with mostly civilian militias is a lost cause from the start.
Then again, she can't fault her Naofumi if he's misled by the wrong text in his world. Whoever wrote the version he wrote obviously wanted to get the summoned hero killed when it has so much misinformation.
Naofumi lets out a deep sigh as he pushes himself up to his feet. He looks over at the many faces they came to know since their stay in this quiet little village, covered in blood, soot and fear, but still ready to fight and die for their home. "I shouldn't have been the one summoned to this world. But now, I know what I have to do."
The Shield Hero turns around and faces down at the horde of monsters surrounding the towering Giant Skeleton closing in towards them. He takes a step forward, standing in the front of the group of ragtag defenders. "Leave the easy way out for anyone else. A real hero fight against the odds."
The princess in disguise blinks her eyes. Here, she's standing among a group of tired, beaten down group of commoners in the middle of a squalid little village, with a hero who can't fight by himself, against a tide of monsters from the Wave closing in. This should be the absolute rock bottom of her life.
Yet for some reason, she feels her life being as close to the romance novels she loves as ever. She tightens her grip around the handle of her sword. Not to the point where her knuckles begin to hurt, but to feel the cold metal through her leather gloves. She downs a magic potion, wipes the corner of her mouth and lets out a whisper under her breath. "And may the ground turn red with the blood of the heroes."
She almost missed the distant sound of war trumpets. It sounds like the army of Melromarc finally caught up to the heroes and joined their battle. She hopes that they can hold out long enough till the end of this Wave.
Naofumi start to erect some of his shield barriers in the road between buildings. They manage to impede the closing monster horde much better than before, thanks to the buildings in the village creating some chokepoints. But the monsters still eventually make their way across the stone fence, and start to clash with the defenders of Lute Village.
The Giant Skeletons lumber ever closer to their group, their body already casting shadows over them.
Naofumi runs towards one of the skeletons, pushing and squeezing through the monsters who pour towards them like a tide, ignoring their swiping claws or weapons falling onto his armor. He rises the Shield up as the Giant Skeleton brings the cleaver down onto him. "Focus on the other skeleton!"
For a brief second, Mein wonders what the Shield Hero is trying to accomplish as he activates his skill again. "[Shield Prison]!"
Four giant shields rise up again, blocking everyone's view from the Shield Hero, and the giant skeleton inside.
"Master Naofumi! NO!" Mein is ready to jump across the stone fence to go after Naofumi. Her arm is grabbed by a hand like an iron shackle around her.
"Do what the Shield Hero told you." Sir Rathos gives a very stern look to the incognito princess. He charges forward at the monsters in front of the other advancing Boss Monster, holding his Zweihander with both hands.
Mein grits her teeth and crouches down, drawing all her mana into a single spell. A zombie lunges at her when it's crushed underneath a fallen barrel. The princess briefly looks up to see Raphtalia sitting on the window of the village hall's second floor.
She gives a quick nod of thanks to the little raccoon girl before bring her attention back to the Giant Skeleton. It easily has all four knights pinned down, thanks to its massive cleaver and feet. "As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and bring forth the wave's inferno."
"[Overcast],[Great Fireball+3]!" Mein pushes out her strongest spell out, the swirling orb of blaze flying through the air like a small sun until it hits the head of the Giant Skeleton. With a loud boom and spluttered cinders reminiscent of Liberation Day fireworks, it blows apart everything atop the lower jaw. The boss monster falls back down, crashing into a small house.
The princess feels intense dizziness assaulting her head - a symptom of draining too much mana very quickly. She is about to pop open another vial of potions when something slams into her and pushes her onto the ground. Mein opens her eyes up to see the hideous visage of the red skinned goblin, with a hacking blade raised high.
A shadow suddenly falls on top. The sudden weight landing on top of her stomach almost made the princess puke. But at least the goblin is no longer over her now. She quickly crawls back up, and sees Raphtalia rolling on the ground fighting against the goblin. "You … you get away from big sister Mein!"
The princess turned adventure tries to stand up again before another wave of dizziness brings her back down into the dirt. She struggles to reach her last vial of mana potion in her awkward fetal position. Three growling orange balls of fury and teeth jumps onto goblins struggling against Raphtalia, the Wavespawn's scream of pain sounding too soul wrenching even among the screaming and groaning all around the princess.
Raphtalia quickly crawls back up, and runs to Mein. She flips the princess over, quickly taking out the vial of mana potion and feeds it down her throat. "Drink it, big sister Mein."
"Ha, thanks. Kid, you saved my life back there." Mein sits back up and runs her hand across Raphtalia's face and gives her a light pet. "Go back in the building, it's too dangerous here."
The raccoon girl gives a quick nod and smile to the undercover princess, before she follows her instruction and runs inside once again.
Mein stands up back again and rejoins the battle with her sword. She lost count how much time has passed since the brutal clash surrounding the village hall began, until she hears the ground rumbling. Not in front of her from the monster horde, but behind them from the road connecting the capital. They charge into her view soon afterwards. Magnificent beasts with the lithe body of a large feline, and the head of a noble eagle. A rider in full Melromarc knight plate armor rides on their back, the standard bearer holding the flag with a war hammer over a stylized wing. This was Melromarc's only demigryph knight's company, under the command of Count Valentin Winchester.
Didn't father already dispatch them to escort her younger sister back two weeks ago? Since when did they come back from Cal Mira Island? The trip should definitely have taken more than that, especially when demigryphs aren't great mounts for long distance travel.
Did she make a mistake in her guess? Count Valentin wasn't sent out to escort Princess Melty back to begin with?
The head of a maul larger than her torso falls down in front of her face, crushing a zombie about to lunge at her while she's distracted. Mein turns around to look at the orange haired rider in the eyes. The middle aged man moves his lips, not saying anything out loud, but letting Mein know the message through the movements of his mouth nevertheless.
'You worried your father.'
Count Winchester gives a gentle nudge to his mount's stomach with his heel. The majestic beast leaps forward to crash two goblins coming at Naofumi. "Shield Hero, you should have joined the other heroes fighting the Wave's Boss."
"And let the people of Lute fend for themselves? I don't think so!" Naofumi turns to face the knight captain, as the demigryph knights start to take pressure away from the rest of the Lute defenders.
"Protecting the common folk in the Wave is the duty of us knights, not a hero like you. Your duty is to kill the Wave's Boss, and end it as soon as possible." The count swings his warhammer around with his arm, clearing a path around him free of monsters as his maul breaks through their flesh and bone.
"Yet you weren't here! All those people would have died, if no one came to their aid today!" Naofumi does not back down from the knight's intense gaze, despite witnessing what his hammer does to the monsters.
Their eyes remain locked for a few moment more before the older knight finally looks away. "I intend to rectify this situation."
Count Valentin rises his hammer high above his head. "Knights of glorious Melromarc! Look around you! The good people you swore to protect are fighting for their very lives! Even our sworn enemies, the savage animals, are fighting to protect them! Do we simply turn a blind eye to this dishonor?!"
"NO!" Over a hundred voices echo as one, easily drowning out the sound of fighting around them.
"Drive those foul Wavespawn back from whence they came! Glory to the nation!" The ray of light parts the burning cloud and shines down onto the knights' weapons, as they light up one after another like a hundred torches.
"GLORY TO MELROMARC!" Roars back the Demigryph riders as they fan out, yet the group moves as one. The knights swing their blazing weapons, cutting down the monsters like grass as their majestic mounts tear apart any who tries to slip through their weapons.
Count Valentin rides in the front, like the tip of a flying arrow towards the Giant Skeletons. A knight with a claymore, and the other with a two handed great axe follow right behind him. His two lieutenants, Sir Bronzewing, and Sir Lark no doubt.
The Giant Skeleton brings down its giant cleaver to the count's head, yet the knight does not even try to dodge. Mein gets the distinct impression that the knight is smirking underneath his helmet as he brings the war hammer right back up. With a loud crack, the cleaver is knocked out of the Giant Skeleton's hand. Following him, the claymore of Sir Bronzewing cuts the skeleton down at the waist, and the great axe of Sir Lark crushes its skull.
Naofumi stand very still as he witnesses the tide completely turn against the monsters. He looks back at Mein with a very confused face, as if asking her a single question.
Why does this world need summoned heroes again?
That is a very good question. But Mein can't bring herself to answer her Naofumi, even if she happens to know the reason.
What would Naofumi think, if he realizes the reason for hero summoning has become more for prestige and bragging rights among the most powerful countries?
"My... my hand!" One of the Lute villagers is holding onto his bloody stump, while another pours down some healing potion to help close off the wound.
Two villagers set down a stretcher in the corner of the village hall. The militiaman lying on top has a deep chest wound while he mumbles some gibberish. It's hard to tell if he's going to pull through, even after receiving both potions and healing spells from Naofumi.
The Shield Hero is running himself ragged even as the battle concluded. Being the only one who knows healing spells, he's running all over the village hall, which has turned into a field hospital after the battle. While healing potions are good, healing magic can mean the difference between life and death when it comes to a more fatal wound.
Most of those awful injuries sustained by the militia comes from the final stretch - when they are pushed to the village hall, and before the timely rescue of the cavalry.
Mein, for her part got the easier task of help administering potions together with Raphtalia. Mostly thanks to her affinity being mostly useless in healing. She does end up having to participate in the unpleasantness of using her fire to help cauterize some wounds.
The princess makes a vow to stay away from meat for at least a month after this.
"Geez, is this what the Wave does to people? And here I thought we did a good job killing the Wave's Boss." The surprised young voice makes her look up from the patient she's helping feed the health potion. The Bow Hero enters with his entourage, and the Sword Hero. The boy fishes out two vials of healing potions out of his pocket and hands it to one of the villagers who acts as a nurse. "Here, you need it more than me."
"Thank you very much for your generosity, Master Bow Hero." The villager bows his head down and gets back to treating his fellow villagers.
"You shouldn't dirty your feet among those commoners, Master Bow Hero. This is beneath you." The mustachioed knight sneers at the wounded lined up inside the village hall.
"We, well... I think it's great that Master Itsuki worries about the common folks." A girl with two long green braids timidly speaks up in the back. She quickly clamps up and starts wheezing when Mald shoots her a hard glare.
"Don't pick on Rishia, Mald." The Bow Hero holds his hand up at the knight in his group. Despite the words, the boy's nonchalant tone shows how much serious his warning is. Which is to say, not at all.
"Leave, if you're only here to make snarky comments." Naofumi walks in front of the Bow Hero's party and points to the door. "These people need rest."
"Actually, we're here to give you this." The Sword Hero takes out the cut body of a snake and hold it in front of Naofumi. "The wave's Boss was a Chimera, we each unlocked a new weapon form with one of the heads. This one belongs to you."
"...Thanks." Naofumi looks up at the Sword Hero's eyes for a brief second. He takes the snake head over and hold it in front of his shield. The emerald in the middle absorbs the snake, the Shield turns into something that resembles a round malachite mirror with two snakes crossing into the shape of an X. "That's a pretty good Shield."
"Oh, and also... we are all invited to a banquet in the palace. It starts tomorrow evening." The young Bow Hero's word makes Naofumi's eyebrow shoot into his hairline.
"The king wants to hold a banquet." The Shield Hero turns to look at the groaning and crying voices lined up inside the Lute village hall. He turns back and leans closer to the Bow Hero. "After this, this."
"When you put it this way... it does come off a bit insensitive." The Bow Hero turns around on his feet to get a better look at the makeshift field hospital. He at least have the decency to look away from Naofumi's glare.
"Don't take it on Itsuki, Iwatani. He didn't ask for the king to throw a banquet in his honor." The Sword Hero puts a hand on the Shield Hero's shoulder, stopping him from further invading the Bow Hero's space.
"Yeah, sorry. It's been a long day." Naofumi moves his hand up and rubs his temple. He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Sorry, Kawasumi. You didn't deserve that. I mean... before the Wave, even I said we'll come back to a celebration for heroes."
"Well, you're welcome to be absent from celebration in that case. Shield Hero. I didn't see you fighting the Wave's Boss with us." The pompous knight crosses his arm in front of his chest.
Mein briefly entertain the idea of burning his mustache off from his face, and blame it on losing control of her magic after an exhausting day.
Sadly, she's too far away from the pompous ass. And any attempt to move towards him would look too deliberate for an accident.
"And I didn't see you help defending those innocent people, so we're even." Naofumi rises his head up again and stares right back at Mald. The two of them looks like they'll come to blows, especially when the burly knight starts to move his hand towards his sword's hilt.
"Okay, stop it. You're both acting like children." The Sword Hero moves between two parties and hold his hands up between them. "Let's stop antagonizing each other. We'll see you again tomorrow evening, Iwatani. If you do decided to attend."
They leave through the door they entered after these words. Naofumi glares at the door the whole way after the last person disappears out of the door.
Mein quickly jumps up from where she's kneeling to briskly walk to the Shield Hero's side. She slides her hand into Naofumi's hand, and tries to sooth him with her calmest voice. "Would you like to sit down a little, Master Naofumi? You are wearing yourself out."
"Sitting? Yeah, rest is nice. Maybe a little nap." Naofumi gives Mein a confused look first. He closes his eyes and shakes his head again. The princess in disguise slowly guides him to sit down at an empty spot against the wall. "I know what Amagi said was true. They didn't do anything wrong. I guess I'm just angry at myself ... and more at the ruler of this country. So many people got hurt, and he's more concerned about throwing a banquet."
Mein can feel her stomach tighten once again. Naofumi's ire is towards her father, of course. But it also falls on her, by extension. But still, she needs to make the young man attend those functions. They are part of life for noble society, after all. Even Father has to learn to tolerate them, despite all the colorful words he has about them behind closed doors.
"Well... I still think you should attend, Master Naofumi. I mean, you are the only hero who helped defend a village in this Wave. You are the only one who can represent a voice for us common folk to the King."
She looks into Naofumi's unfocused eyes and lays his head on her shoulder. "But... maybe you should take a nap for now. All the critically wounded has received your healing magic now. I'll wake you up if something happens."
"Okay, time to get some shuteye. Wake me up at six ..."
And the Shield Hero falls asleep just like that, almost like a lost child.
She's tired too.
The last thing Mein saw before she closed her eyes was Raphtalia covering a blanket over her and Naofumi.
End Note:
Well, after over 20 chapters of slow burn world building, and character moment we finally get an action focused chapter. I think this chapter should shown why I don't write a lot of actions. I'm pretty terrible at them, at least compare to the quieter emotional scenes.
One thing that didn't really make much sense to me in canon is how useless the Melromarc army was at the beginning. Granted, Naofumi didn't really fight the main horde in the 2nd Wave so we can assume the most elite army was with the three weapon heroes. But the army of Melromarc in canon did not feel like a hardened army after an implied war not far into the country's past, especially in 'Rising of the Shield Hero' world where everyone one gets a level assigned to them so everyone would become tangibly stronger the more battle they fight (which isn't strictly true in real life).
Which is why I kind wrote a sort of inverse to canon, where Naofumi (who is statistically a little weaker than canon because he wasted a week taking care of Malty's wound instead of rising levels) almost get overwhelmed by the monsters from the wave with the Lute villagers, and the elite army of Melromarc gets a chance to show what they are made of.
Now, some replies to guest reviewers.
To Rando12:
Yeah, Malty and Naofumi are definitely influencing each other as they have adventure together and get to know each other better. Although you'll have to keep reading to see what extend their influence on each other will be.
;)
To Guests:
Sorry to give the wrong impression, but Comrade Broseph disappeared for good. Although we did talk a lot about future story beat before his eventual disappearance, which is how the part where Malty lost her ear got into the story.
On how Malty didn't die from blood lose. I admit that's me bending the rule of what would happen in real life to give stronger thematic impact to both the scene and the character's long term development. It's probably more noticeable, when I usually tend to focus more on realistic consequence over narration magic. Terribly sorry for this inconsistency.