This chapter, and most of next chapter is thanks to my chief editor Ace-Triad, and of course, also in charge of fixing my SPAG problems
More author's note at the end for anyone interested to hear me blabber some more.
The first princess coughs as she slowly comes back to consciousness. The air feels thick, saturated with both smoke and dust. Despite her still somewhat addled mind, it quickly reminded her that she almost got blown up. She feels someone's hand around her face, and at first she thought it was Raphtalia. But then, she realizes the hand is very small, as it doesn't even cover her entire face.
She forces her eyes open, and everything is a blur in front of her. Not a good state to be in, considering what happened right before she blacked out. She blinks her eyes, trying to force her body to respond. She feels the small hand leaving the side of her face, and comes to rest on her forehead. "Don't move, Big Sister. I'm still healing you."
The voice in her ear sounds young. It makes the first princess briefly consider that maybe Raphatalia reverted back to her child body. Making her a smaller target in the face of the massive horde of exploding fish bombardment. She halfway expected Raphtalia to open her mouth and feed her a potion, but she feels a wave of refreshing coolness from where the small hand is touching her. No, this isn't the effect of a potion, but a healing spell. And more specifically, one with water affinity.
The eyes of the first princess shot open, and she sees her younger sister Melty hovering over her. "Don't move, Big Sister. You took a bad hit to your head when you fell down."
Chapter 79: Order Tide
A dozen thoughts run through the head of the first princess. Where is Raphtalia? Is the lost princess of Q'ten Lo okay when she covered Mein with her own body? How did she survive the explosion from the suicidal crashfish? Is Naofumi okay? And most importantly… Did anyone else hear Melty calling her big sister? With Melty's identity blown wide in the open during the parade, everyone will realize her own true identity.
A wave of panic makes Mein's limbs wildly thrash about, her fingers clawing at the dirt. She even flips Melty off her body with a surprised yelp. Not too far away from them, the first princess of Melromarc, through her blurry vision, sees a shoulder wearing blue-colored armor, without an arm attached. Needless to say, it didn't do anything good to her growing anxiety.
For a moment, she feels like screaming aloud at the thought of her Naofumi possibly being dismembered. Or maybe she already did, considering how Melty throws her arms around her neck and shoulder, probably in an effort to comfort her. It's only mildly helpful. Still the princess turned adventurer managed to recover her mind just enough to notice the blue coloration of the twisted armor comes from paint, as the place where it's severed from shoulder already shows signs of fade where only the gray metal of the steel remains. She can't see the face, but she's reasonably sure that the wounded man isn't the Shield Hero.
That's… good. Her Naofumi isn't hurt. Maybe, no! He mustn't be! Even if there's apparently already casualties amongst the House Chalphy host, and probably the other groups.
At least, that's what she tells herself. But the condition of the Chalphy man leaves her with nothing but dread. First, the cut to the man's shoulder isn't a clean severance, like his army is cut off with a sharp blade, or claw. It looks more like something has torn the poor man's army right off his shoulder, with bits of broken bones and muscles still attached. And despite the heavy injuries, and the amount of pain he's no doubt in, the man isn't screaming, or flailing at all. Which means he has probably lost consciousness, and is now on the verge of death.
She forces down the bile that threatens to work its way up her throat and quickly turns to the other side. A princess isn't raised to witness such a gruesome sight, even if she's been living like a vagabond for over a month now. If this is how bad at their secondary perimeter, how much worse at the frontline?
"Calm down, Big Sister. Please, calm down. You are okay, you are going to be okay…" Melty panics, and pushes down on her hard. The younger princess' quiet murmur makes a new wave of anxiety build up in the stomach of the elder princess for a different reason. There's still a chance that her identity gets inconveniently leaked out with the younger princess close to her vicinity. She must get away from her younger sister, no matter how the situation has turned out, hopefully as natural as possible without drawing further attention from anyone.
Although taking a quick look around, she suspects that it's safe to say barely anyone is paying Melty and her attention. Not surprising, considering how the wave battle has quickly deteriorated. Right now, she is lying behind a small hill where many wounded fighters are also spread around on the rough dirt. Warriors in different colored armor from the crusader families, free fighters and even a few royal guards, Issaachian seems to take the majority, considering their habit of forgoing armor all together, or only wear light protection such as chest plates to not impede their traditional sword dance. No doubt a rather devastating choice for them, when they faced exploding enemies.
More wounded men are constantly brought to the hill by the raptor division of House Yngvi Beige Ritters, each a more gruesome sight than the last, with gushing wounds on their body, or missing limbs. Healers like Lady Murine, and Rishia, and those in church robes are bouncing between patients, casting healing spells and miracles to save their lives. Those who manage to get back to their feet immediately rushes back into the fray once again, which seems to indicate the situation is getting dire at the front. She didn't expect the fight to get this desperate this quickly, even if they are in a Wave battle. This is only the Third Wave after all, and Father has already brought along some of the best glorious Melromarc and her allies had to offer. How did it already get to this point, where it's starting to resemble the most grim tale from the Great War?
Thankfully no explosion is ringing around the impromptu healing camp, and definitely no explosive fishes the size of one's fist raining down at them. And knowing how the Wavespawn works, at least the lesser ones, this small mercy is probably due to them having no ability to think or strategize, and only relying on whatever their instinct.
Despite the lack of apparent, immediate danger, the filorial squads the Spear Hero raised for Melty still dutifully stand guard around her. Well, two of them do. The bloodthirsty one who wanted to run off and hunt Wavespawn before their teleportation is obviously not around. Neither was the one with orange hair that was tagging all the incoming enemies using her magic. She was surprised to find the one with the long black hair was not around either. What was her name, and specialty again? Well, not important.
Although it does bring one particular question to her mind. "How did I survive? And where is Raphtalia?"
"You are asking about her?" Despite the wounded and the dying around them, Melty saw fit to pout at her elder sister. "You aren't replacing me, are you? Big sis-"
"Answer my question, damn you! Can't you see this isn't the time for fooling around?" Mein swings her arms around them, her voice raised higher than she intended to. Thankfully, most people around them are either in too much pain, or concentrated in their respective tasks to pay her much mind. "We can start playing our favorites and get jealous of each other after we survive this Wave!"
"Ri-right!" Melty fidgets on her knees as she takes a look around. From the sudden down cast eyes, Mein's sister is clearly ashamed at her sudden bout of childish envy after seeing the victims to the Wavespawn monsters around her. "Lord Keith saw you go down. He threw a blanket of dirt over you, and your… Well, Miss Raphtalia. You still hit your head pretty hard, that's why she, Miss Raphtalia I mean, let a Beige Ritter take you back here with the rest of the wounded while she keeps fighting on the frontline with the rest of the Shield Hero's party."
Raphtalia, and her Naofumi are still fighting at the front without her? They'll need the support of a mage, and the Shield Hero can't unleash his full power without her steam magic. She has to get back to them immediately! The princess turned adventurer gets back to her feet, ready to rush back to the frontline. She's grabbed by Melty. "Let me come with you! I don't want to see you hurt again…"
At least Melty didn't call her big sister out loud this time.
"I'm a fire mage. I have to be at the frontline striking at our enemies. You are a water mage, you are much better at healing the wounded, saving their lives." Mein points at the fighters still lying around the hillside. "We all have to perform our duties where we are needed the most."
She can't help but feel like a bit of a hypocrite, using Mother's words against her little sister. It's not like she listens to Mother's prattle unless it suits her needs, and she definitely didn't agree with her mother's assessment that her younger sister would one day make a better queen than herself. But anything to get Melty off her back, so that there's less of a chance her true identity gets revealed.
Melty opens her mouth, looking ready to argue for a moment before she simply picks up a sword with purple blade lying beside her. The Hidden Purple, the first princess, had the sword for such a short time, and she's in such a hurry to get back to the Shield Hero's party, that she completely forgot this sword she commissioned for herself. "Be careful out there, big sister."
Looking at Melty's crestfallen face, Mein doesn't even have the energy to scold Melty, or be angry at her. She gives one last ruffle of Melty's hair, turns around and starts running towards the frontline where rumbling of thunderous explosions can still be heard. The Wavespawn are definitely still pounding their line hard. She didn't see anyone from the Shield Hero's party back there on the hillside, but who knows if they are still unhurt by now.
The first princess ducks her head low, and makes a break towards the frontline where she imagines the Shield Hero's party is. From the distance, she can't see anything that resembles a Wave boss, but knowing her Naofumi… he'll be at the most dangerous place where the enemy is attacking his allies most mercilessly.
She ran past the wall of mages and archers still firing at the enemies above, and coming at them from the ground straight into the frontline. Lifeless bodies, or more to the point… chunks of broken meat wrapped and mixed in charred fabric or broken metal lying all over. Before, there was a neat and tight line of men stationed about a dozen paces behind Keith's giant golems. Now, there are still men fighting whatever Wavespawn monsters that get past the magical bombardment, and the moving wall of earth giants. But their formation is much looser. Not so much as they have already exhausted all their fighters, and more to leave room for them to dodge away, or at least throw themselves to the ground when a crashfish gets too close to minimize damage taken.
With the line no longer packed, the crusaders, and their disciples and retainers are taking a much more active role in fighting the Wavespawn than simply commanding the troops. Duke Oifey, Sir Seliph, Marquis Leif, Princess Nanna and Sir Finn have all forsaken their mount to fight on their feet, swords slashing and spears skewering. It's probably an effort to make themselves a slightly smaller target to the exploding crashfishes. Even without their trusty steed, each of them are easily acting like an unmovable boulder in a rapid stream. Stopping the tide of Wave monsters and leaving a small mound of broken bodies around them.
Not too far away from them, the heroes are also fighting amongst their party members. They aren't leaving bloody trails like the crusaders and their retainers individually, not even the Sword, or Spear Hero who are more well rounded at fighting by themselves. But with the support of their party, they are definitely also doing their part to stem what feels like an unending tide of corrupted, monstrous flesh.
She also got her answer to where the black-haired filorial woman was. Kazuhana's hands are pointed skyward, almost like she's trying to embrace the falling rain, or the falling exploding fish. But instead of being blown apart like some of the unfortunate souls, she's firing out gusts of wind into the air, knocking the fishes off course and falling harmlessly onto empty fields, or right into charging Wavespawn on the ground.
A loud screech that Mein has engraved in her memory suddenly rings out above her head. She looks up, just in time to see a crashfish diving towards her, without even the proper time to try intercepting it with a fireball. Just as the princess gets ready to duck, and covers her head, the fish is suddenly bisected by what seems to be an invisible blade. Instead of exploding, both parts of the thing splatters harmlessly near her feet. Giving the first princess a better look at what has already taken many lives.
The thing has a bloated body covered by dirty red, and yellow scales. A large lip that splits its lower face, and only a single, enlarged eye right above its mouth. Mein isn't exactly interested in the zoology of her world's many different monsters, but even she can tell it looks unnatural both for something that darts through the air, or as an aquatic creature.
The princess gives a quick glance back to get a look at her savior. The lavender-haired filorial woman is dashing towards her, ponytail and overcoat bellowing. Miya's hand is returning her blade back to its sheath on her waist. "Lady Melty sent me to watch over you. She convinced me that my ability has better use against the Wavespawn than protecting her."
"What about Melty? What if she gets hurt?!" The princess is vaguely aware that screaming at a filorial woman who can cleanly bisect a monster the size of someone's fist, flying faster than a flying arrow through the sky with a vacuum cut is potentially hazardous for her own health. Didn't stop her from doing so.
She is also vaguely aware that her prospects for the throne would go up exponentially, if Melty gets seriously hurt, or chief god forbid, worse from this Wave. But after everything she went through since becoming the follower of the Shield Hero, the idea of her taking the crown simply because there's no one else gives her a bad taste in her mouth.
Besides, Mother can always pop out more potential heirs if she truly doesn't want her as a successor. It would be a colossally stupid move for the future stability of the nation, considering how much younger her third child would be, but Mother can still do it.
"Mutsu is still with her." Miya's reply is short as she repeats the senseless motion of sliding her sword out of its sheath, and returns it in after every slash. Surely, it would be more efficient to simply have the sword out in her hands all the time? Then again, she was still a big bird without hands a day ago, she's probably not used to handling a tool like a sword. At least she's still cutting the bombarding fishes up. "He may look like a man, but he's a filorial monarch. If Lady Melty is in any danger, he will transform and take her away from danger."
That's a good point. She should probably stop worrying about her little sister, and focus on her own survival now that she's back in the thick of the Wave again.
"Miya!" The black-haired filorial woman looks back after hearing the argument between them, looking a bit too excited considering what's going on around them. Who knows, maybe the black feathered one… and possibly Firo aren't the only filorials with a cocktrice parent. "Good to see you rejoin the party!"
"Focus on the enemies, and keep our allies alive, Kazahana! There's nothing good about our situation!" Miya chided her sibling, the bird sword woman's hand not stopping at cutting down the numbers of crashfishes coming at them. Mein joins their effort, sending more [Flame Serpent] dancing through the sky, detonating the monsters before they can reach her allies.
"We can't keep this up! We'll be too spent before the Wave boss even shows up." Duke Chalphy cuts through another six-legged, crawling monstrosity with his silver sword. His normally well groomed hair and mustache ruffled and messy from heavy fighting, dust and smoke kicked up by constant explosions. "We have to press forward, and stop these crashfishes at the source. Anyone seen where they came from?"
"From those three floating islands, in the distance!" The Bow Hero points his arm forward at the sky, in the direction of the dimensional fissure. "My [Hawkeye Bow] helped me see much further. I can see them coming from those Void Reefbacks!"
The princess looks further away at the direction Itsuki is pointing, same as the people who aren't currently too busy fighting for their lives, or dodging the exploding fishes. She can't see the culprits very well considering the distance they are from the wave itself. But for a moment, Mein mistaken them for three bundles of dark, ominous looking floating clouds with three tails trailing behind them, and what looks like red, glowing boulbrous tumors growing on their underside. She can't say the crashfishes definitely come from those things for sure, but they are from the general direction. This is proving to be a real problem.
"They are too far away for me to hit." Duke Febail puts his bow down for a brief moment to look at the Bow Hero. The wielder of the holy bow Yewfelle goes back to shooting enemies right after. "What about you, Lord Bow Hero? Do you have a weapon form, or a hero's weapon art for this kind of situation?"
"If I have an anti-materiel rifle, maybe! But I'm not sure it'll be enough to bring it down. They look huge! Like a small floating island!" The Bow Hero sounds exasperated, but he's not stop intercepting the exploding fishes either. The danger of death, especially something unpleasant like being blown to bits, is a very unpleasant way to die, and a great motivator to drive even the most craven, sniveling coward to fight harder. "Don't we have our flyers? Maybe if one of them gets me closer…"
"It'd be suicide for our allies! We'll have to push forward on the ground!" Duke Chalphy shares a quick look with King Shannan. The king of Isaach and wielder of the divine saber Balmung. It seems like the two of them are formulating some haphazard battle plan together.
It won't be an easy decision to make, even harder to put into effect. Considering how hard they are being hit by the bombardment of crashfishes, they are barely holding the ground they are defending. To charge forward, right into the wave of monsters still relentlessly coming at them would increase their casualty exponentially. Even if some of their strongest fighters are willing to risk themselves and form a spearhead towards the incoming Wavespawn, there's no guarantee the soldiers are willing to follow them, likely to their own death.
"You have to help them, Father!" Over on the side of the Sword Hero's party, Wyndia is practically begging Gaelion, who is still in his pygmy form on her shoulder. "People are dropping and dying faster than bugs! You could help them!"
"You know I can't, baby girl. Not without serious repercussions!" Despite his draconic features, Mein can feel the sense of conflict within Gaelion. "There's a reason why even Forseti, the Child most sympathetic towards mortal plight, only runs around in the shadows and setting things up."
"Didn't you give your power to Wyndia and Faubley and turned them into dragon people?" Ren shouts back from the other wing of the heroes' formation. "And before that, you took the slaves we saved to Siltvelt."
"That's different! One of us Child of Gaia directly taking place on the battlefield, a WAVE battle no less will get us one step closer to release the seal of Lord Gaia's GUARDIANs!" The pygmy dragon screeches out in his scratchy voice. "And trust me, as a mortal, you don't want to release Lord Gaia's GUARDIANs!"
"Don't their name suggest they are supposed to protect people? [Shield Bash]! [Barrier]!" Naofumi bashes away a red fish with elongated body, and giant maw spamming half of its body. He quickly erects another barrier above everyone's head as the previous one fails. "How is releasing them a bad thing?"
"Yeah, they are tasked by Lord Gaia to guard this world, not its mortal inhabitants! Above you!" Gaelion warns his daughter as a crashfish slips through Naofumi's previously cracked barrier. The dog girl turned dragon girl slaps it away with her whip, making it crash harmlessly on empty ground. "They'll kill all the mortals in the world, sentient or not, to harvest their souls to rebuild and empower the Four Saints' Barrier around the world to keep the WAVE out! They don't care if they completely destroy whatever civilization the mortals built on Medea, so long as Medea survives!"
"Well… shit." The Shield Hero's response is crude, yet perfectly appropriate for both the situation, and to illustrate what everyone else is thinking.
"As much as I understand your concern, Lord Gaelion. I'm afraid you are way too late." Iris flips her fan, freely letting loose of her wind magic than shaping them into finely crafted vacuum blades. "Lord Whip Hero is known to have taken a dragon with him onto the previous Wave battles. And I have good sources to confirm the one besides him is a Dragon Lord like you. I believe she is the current patron of the Hodr bloodline."
The pygmy dragon lord remains silent for a few moments, before he screams out in frustration. His voice is no longer teeny and scratchy, like that of a child, but echoes with a thousand voices from all ages and genders. "THOSE FOOLS! DO THEY WANT TO DOOM US ALL!?"
"Dalvin, Creidene, you two have the command of our fighters. I'm pushing forward!" While the dragon lord of House Friege is no doubt having a conflict of faith, the sword king of Issaach takes a deep breath. A green colored flash of light burst from his body, coating him with a shimmering aura. King Shannan darts forward like a star shooting through the night sky. Balmung, the divine saber of Od bloodline becomes a blur in his hand, cutting down monster after monster like a hot knife through butter.
[Astra], also known as the 'Shooting Star Sword' is a sword art technique that runs strongest in the Od bloodline. It temporarily boosts a swordsman's speed, letting him move five times as fast as usual. Unlike the lesser version practiced by other sword fighters which would leave them only at half strength in their boosted state, where the Od bloodline is known to be able to enjoy keeping their full ATK rating while moving at five times the speed, making the technique one of the most dangerous in the world.
"You heard the king! Left wing, CHARGE!" Creidene raises her saber forward, even with her face and cloth covered by soot and dirt, ready to follow her king deep into fiery hell of battle. Her brother doesn't share her enthusiasm.
"NO! CREIDENE! We can't keep up with King Shanon's speed!" Dalvin waves his free arm towards Creidene, even as his sword arm jams his straight sword down the gaping maw of a crabsnake. "We have to advance slowly, hold down a secondary line, and leave the charge to our cavalry!"
"Worry not, fair Creidene~! This is what we, the Grau Ritter, are here for!" Luchar gallops over the disciples of the sword king atop his black scaled knight's dragon. Despite his usual theatrics, the heavy black titanite armor over his body and the blood dripping axe in his hand makes him look less a fool, and more a gallant… or perhaps intimidating knight. "Grau Ritter Division 2, follow me through fire and thunder at our enemies! We'll be fight for love, justice, and-"
The clown's pontification is interrupted by a much more emotionally raw war cry. Marquis Leif sits atop of his white steed in full armor, the gleaming golden sword 'Light Brand' in his left hand, and a silver lance in his right. His faithful protector, Sir Finn on his left holding his trident 'Brave Spear', his fiance, Princess Nanna on the marquis' right, an uncharacteristically looking sword with double hooked tip, and the texture of a stone tablet in her hand. "LANCERS! WITH ME! CHARGE!"
"FOR THE LOST HOMELAND!" The Leonster knights shout out in unison as they hold up their namesake weapon, and fearlessly surges forward into the incoming wave of monsters.
The Leonster knights have much to prove themselves in this Wave, to wash away the dishonor they suffered in The Great War twenty five years ago when they failed to protect the Lord, Lady, and heiress of their great house. Yet, even their enthusiasm falls short compared to the zeal of the church from the other side.
"HIS WRATH INDOMITABLE LIKE THE MOUNTAIN! HIS MERCY BOUNDLESS LIKE THE OCEAN!" A booming voice echoes over the battlefield, even covering the sound of explosions, the screeches of mindless beasts and the battle symphony still blaring in the background. It is loud as the collective rumbling warcry of the hundreds of men, yet filled with unshaken devotion like the chant of the most pious cleric.
Hundredth, closer to a thousand golden lightning bolts descend down into the Wavespawns, turning them into burnt husks. Mein has heard stories of how the battle priest Balmus, the Miracle Maker, helped turn the tide of battle during The Great War over two decades ago. But this is the first time she bears witness to the deed in action.
"Go forth without falter, my children! THE CHIEF GOD PROTECTS!" The Pope of THE Three Heroes' Church basks in the ray of golden sunlight which seems to pierce through even the red sky of the wave. He holds a golden spear of concentrated bundle of lightning in each hand. A wheel of golden sun hanging above his head, casting soothing, bountiful sunlight down on the army of men to heal their wounds and ease their pain. He is surrounded by the knight templars clad from head to toe in their silver heavy armor, all holding crackling [Lightning Spear] in their hands and tossing them into the advancing Wavespawn, stemming the red tide of destruction. A true army of the light.
With her front row seat demonstration, the first princess of Melromarc is starting to understand why he was considered one of the greatest Melromarc heroes from The Great War. And why so many people firmly believe the Pope was a true chosen of the Chief God himself.
Further away, standing at the front of the church formation was a woman around Mein's own age donned in silver armor. Long, golden hair freely falls behind her back, golden light shines in her eyes and cloaks around her like an aura. A literal pair of wings made of light behind her back as she points her spear towards the wave of monsters. "WAR PIGS! CHARGE WITH ME! THE LIGHT OF OUR LORD WILL PREVAIL!"
Janne D'Arc, the battle saint of Three Heroes Church, and one of the Pope's favorites. The first princess of Melromarc doesn't know the young saint of battle well, aside from her being another war orphan raised (indoctrinated) by the Three Heroes' Church. From the church's words, her pious nature and strong affinity for light magic supposedly caught Pope Balmus' eye early, and he picked her as one of his personal students, teaching her both the art of weapons and Chief God's miracles. Molding her into the living saint of Three Heroes' Church in the eyes of glorious Melromarc's good citizens, and the angel of death in the eyes of heretics and demons. Right now, the angel is being tested on the battlefield, then hunting down small clusters of heretics or lone demons.
The legion behind her wears the same silver armor as the rest of the church's knights, yet with a distinctive different style. As opposed to the uniformed, and clean tabard and cloak depicting the holy triangle of the Three Heroes, each of their armor is decorated differently, with what's usually considered to be unsavory materials by the clergy: cloaks made of the fur of monstrous beasts, protective pieces fashioned out of pelts, scales, and even bones. Things that make this legion look beastly, rather than the heavenly servants of the god the church loves to portray them as.
"Charge! OH, Children of SIN!" The loud, maniacal chanting of a battle priest carrying the banner of the Three Heroes' Church reveals the reason for this visual dissonance. The man walks behind the legion of the damned, waving his banner around while raving like a madman rather than a holy man. As if a slavedriver whipping his chattels. "You, who are born through the SINS of your fathers and bearing them with your body! CHARGE! FIGHT! DIE for the just cause of the CHIEF GOD! So you may redeem yourself in HIS SERVICE, and be reborn in your next life in the shape of our TEACHERS, casted in the image of THE LORD himself!"
Under the white confessor's cowl, Mein can see blonde locks of hair dripping down the man's shoulder, curling up near the end and a small mustache over his mouth. The princess narrows her eyes: Lord Confessor Oliver Cromwell. If Pope Balmus was the holy man of Three Heroes Church everyone looks up to, then he is the boogeyman used to scare the children. Despite, or perhaps because of his below pinnacle rank, the fanatic is well known for harboring ambitions much greaters than even the Vicars directly under His Eminence. Something that admittedly makes him useful to any monarch… if the same quality doesn't also make him a very dangerous tool to wield.
"BALMUS!" "FOR THE CHIEF GOD AND HIS MIRACLE MAKER!" The legion is let loose, they lunge forward, more like a pack of animals than a well disciplined army of the faith despite the shining armors underneath.
The princess vaguely remembers the talk of orphanages opened and operated by the Three Heroes Church right after The Great War, specifically for demi-human orphans. At one time, she wondered why the Three Heroes' Church even bothered with this drain to their coffers, considering helping demi-human children wouldn't really earn them a good reputation with the rest of glorious Melromarc. Now she knows why: To create a slave legion of demi-humans. Taken and indoctrinated since they are children and raise them as a complete obedient army of monsters under the command of the church, willing to throw their lives away for whatever cause the church provided them for.
The legion of beasts led by the angel kill the monsters with ferocious fervor, like boars goring their enemies with their tusks, or wolves tearing their prey with fangs. Jeanne's spear is coated in brilliant lightning, bisecting monsters in waves with every swipe, and blows apart spawn of the Wave with every thrust. The demi-human slave legion rip through the wave of monsters with their weapons, and even their gauntlet hands which are fitted with claws at the tip, yet another trait that separates them from the rest of the church fighters.
"[Ritual Spell: Thunderstorm]!" The Friege siblings, with the exception of Ishtar, stand in formation of the Founder's pentagon, their eyes all alight with the color of House Friege's light purple. A giant magical array of a five pointed star lights up under their feet, as dark clouds begin to cover the sky. Thunder booms above everyone's head, detonating the crashfishes before they have a chance to pass through the rain of arrows, and whatever defense the church and the heroes erected over the head of the defenders. Bolts of lightning, the size of fully grown trees, strike the earth, blowing apart clumps of Wavespawn and turning them into charred flesh. Giving small moments of reprieve to the attackers.
"Lester! Gather Division One together, and follow our spearhead to lay down the cover fire! I got everyone's back!" Duke Febail turns back and shouts out a command to his blue-haired cousin.
"Got it, my Lord. Division One, form around me!" The mounted archer knight shouts out his command to the now scattered raptor archers. The Beige Ritters of House Yngvi quickly deliver the last round of wounded to the secondary line, and gather into a neat formation around their commander. They pass over the foot archers of Yngvi host, and chase right after the advancing group to lay down more cover fire.
"We have to follow them!" In comparison, the parties of the four heroes are in slightly more disarray considering their limited time and experience of working together. But they still gather themselves, and follow after the church, Claus, Dozel and Yngvi hosts. Mein quickly throws her hand forward, and casts an [Invigoration] over everyone to help boost their stamina recovery.
"Big Sister Mein! You're okay!" Raphtalia looks back, and her solemn looking face instantly lights up seeing Mein approaching them.
"It takes more than a damn flying fish to keep me down." The princess turned adventurer quickly rejoins the Shield Hero's party, and stands between Naofumi and Raphtalia. "I'm Master Naofumi's first companion, and his partner!"
"Good to have you back, Mein. Let's go!" The Shield Hero points and runs forward, the rest of the heroes and their party members follow after. "Everyone on the lookout, we haven't encountered any boss monsters yet!"
"Please, Father! You have to help the heroes! And me!" Wyndia ties her whip around her waist, and holds the small form of her adopted father on both hands. Her voice is practically begging now. "I, I never knew the Wave to be this dangerous! If we fail, how many children will lose their parents and become homeless, like me before I was found by you?"
"Very well, baby girl. If those idiots already did it, there's nothing to lose if I take it to battle too." The black dragon lets out a sigh as he ascends up from Wyndia's hand into the sky. Over the different barriers and defenses of the heroes till his small form disappears. And then with a booming, echoing thunder, the giant black dragon the size of a castle takes shape over everyone's heads. "Corrupted spawn of dying worlds! Return from whence you came! [FUS RO DAH]!"
Unrelenting force, the most recognized dragon shout of them all, used by a Dragon Lord, no less. For a brief moment, the sky over everyone's head clears up. It's still tinted in crimson by the Wave itself, but the bombarding fish that's been pouring down like rain completely disappears from the sky, blown back into the coming wave of monsters, lighting up the entire valley in a splendid firework display that's as deadly as it is beautiful. The sudden gap in monsters gives all the fighters a brief moment of rest, just as King Shannan falls down on his knees in exhaustion, his traditional linen regalia tightly clings to his body, drenched in sweat.
"I got you, King Shannan!" Sir Seliph jumps over from his steed, and lands in front of the Issaach king, holy sword Tyrfing shining in his hand, cutting through the few monsters still left standing and ready to pounce on the tired heir of Od. "Creidne, take King Shannan back and let him rest! I got it here!"
"I got you, master!" The disciple of the Sword King quickly slings her master over her shoulder as she turns back, begrudgingly, away from the frontline. "Don't die yourself, Seliph, you idiot!"
The wave itself, for a brief moment, seems to have displayed a show of sentience as a cacophony of roars seems to ring from the otherside. Almost as if enraged by the challenge imposed by Gaelion. In the distance, large shadows begin to swim through the gap in the sky and breach into their worlds. Long serpents with claw-like horns around its head, mouth large enough to swallow entire carriages. Wingless flying chunks of muscles and scales, dripping with hot, corrosive blood, its head a twisted, macabre reflection of the Dragon Lord with a pair of strong frontal limbs, yet a bundle of tentacles made up of their rear body. The leviathan monsters collectively let out their roar of challenge back at Gaelion as they surge forward.
"House Friege! Our patron Lord has taken to battle beside us! FIGHT! Do not dishonor us in the eyes of our Lord!" Ishtore, the elder most Friege siblings, seizes the opportunity to raise the morale of the Friege host. His usually calm and collected voice booming like thunder as the mage fighter directs his siblings. "Arthur, take command of our riders and take Ishtar to the front to relieve King Shannan and aid Lord Gaelion, the rest of us will press forward and have your back!"
"Got it!" Arthur jumps on his unicorn steed, and gives a quick glance over to his cousin before galloping towards the heiress of his family. "Try to catch up, Amid. Hate to kill all the Wavespawn without you! Giddyup!"
"Don't get yourself killed, cousin!" Amid shouts back to Arthur as he puts his grimoire back on his waist, and pulls a sword into both of his hands, clearly ready for melee than long range spell. "Hate to fight the rest of the Wave without you!"
"Are any of these the Wave boss?" Shield Hero looks back at his fellow heroes and companions. "They are HUGE!"
"Eyes on target! They are coming at us, we'll have to kill them all anyway!" The Sword Hero is more focused, as he uses the brief gap created by Gaelion to chug down a stamina potion. "We'll know if one of them is the Wave boss."
While the heroes party, and Melromarc hosts, uses the brief moment Gaelion bought them to take a brief rest, the giant leviathan monsters quickly close in around Dragon Lord. The giant dragon-like monsters all release giant fireballs at the Lord of Thunder, the child of Gaia once again lets out another shout in his own language. "[STRUN BAH QO]!"
The dark cloud, already called over by the Friege siblings, seems to thicken above the Lord of Thunder. Blades of lightning rain down, forming a makeshift barrier in front of the black dragon as the fireballs collide into him leaving only clouds of smoke around its enormous form. With an angry roar, the Dragon Lord flies through both the storm and smoke, tearing its powerful maw into the heads of a twisted Wave dragon. But the Wave dragon also wraps its strong limbs around the Lord of Thunder. They both crash down into the sea of lesser monsters below. "Soulless puppets! How dare you strike a son of Lord Gaia!"
"FATHER!" Wyndia cries out in dismay, as she realizes what kind of danger her plea led her surrogate father into.
"Get your head in the game! We aren't out of it yet! The leviathans are coming at us!" Ren shouts over at his follower from the otherside of the heroes' rough formation. As the Sword Hero pointed out, while one of the wave dragons wrestled with Gaelion, the rest of the leviathan monsters are coming directly at them.
How can they fight against something that big?
"[Arrow Shockwave]!" The Bow Hero takes aim with his bow, a spinning arrow of air forms around his weapon, as a vortex of magical energy begins to compress and overcharge it. The young man let go of his fingers pulling back the string of his bow, and let loose of his weapon art in the form of a spiraling, powerful shockwave that even sent his companions around him to the ground. Yet the horned serpent leviathan he's aiming for tilts its body sideways at the last moment, and only lets a small trail of scales get scrapped off its body by the Bow Hero's attack. "DAMMIT! I missed it!"
"Hold your power moves till the last moment! They clearly aren't mindless like the mooks!" The Shield Hero holds his hand up at his fellow hero. In his distraction, he clearly didn't see the sudden sphere of ominous purple light spinning into over their heads. A purple monster, slightly taller than a full grown adult flies out of the ball of arcane magic.
It has a flat, fan-shaped head with two pairs of eyes and mandibled mouth. Its front limbs are a pair of single horned claws that are shaped like a pair of small sickles. Its chest and abdomen is a complete transplant, seemingly lacking any internal organs aside from some twisted tubes that seem to glow with hyper charged blue mana. Instead of a lower body, it splits into six tentacle appendages.
"Conserve your energy, fire your power moves only when you have a sure shot!" And right now, the thing is perfectly posed to strike at the Shield Hero while he is distracted and still shouting commands to his fellow heroes. The princess leaps forward, pushing the Shield Hero onto the ground as the creature's horned claw swipes through where the Shield Hero's head was a moment ago.
The angry shouts of the Spear and Sword Heroes rings in her ears, as two of Naofumi's fellow heroes bring their weapons forward at the eldritch monster. Dragon lances pierce through its body, and dragon swords hack away one of its limbs, severely if not mortally wounding the unspeakable abomination. Yet, both heroes are too late to stop the thing from doing what it obviously intended from the start.
A glowing purple sphere of aura, like the one it came out of arresting both Mein and the Shield Hero. Through the distortion of light, the first princess of Melromarc can see Raphtalia trying to reach them both with an extended arm. But she too, is too late to stop what the monster's nefarious plan as everything around the two of them disappears in a brilliant flash of light.
The next thing Mein feels is a sense of weightlessness, as she and Naofumi fall down towards the ground in the air. And a face that can be only described as personification of pure hatred, with six pairs of sharp, claw-like horns jetting out around its head staring right at them. It opens its abyssal maws filled with sword-like teeth, reading to tear both the Shield Hero and herself to shreds before they meet their end crashing into the ground below them.
End Note:
3rd Wave battle continues, the martial houses of Melromarc and their allies get a bit more spot light to show that they are most definitely NOT incompetent in this story. But of course, the Three Heroes Church and the Pope get to flex their muscles a little in this chapter to show that yes, they are a real threat going onward. And most of all, NOT brainless like their canon counterpart. Instead of pointlessly prosecute the demi-human population of Melromarc, they actually used them first to build a slave army before Naofumi has a chance to (not that this version would have done it).
AND of course, Naofumi and Malty gets caught in a bit of pickle at the end.
I have to confess, throw them into the air, AND being hunted down by leviathan (giant) class boss monsters isn't something I planned ahead before I started writing this chapter. But I think it works well. Since while the army of Melromarc is definitely taking a heavy beating so far, Malty and Naofumi are still safely tucked in the middle of the soldiers and that would make this wave fight boring with no tension around the main characters. Since my plan was using the Subnautica faune as a template for 3rd wave monsters for a long time, that means I can have a Warper teleport them away from the main force. So I thought up what would be the most dangerous situation to throw them in, and the end of this chapter is the result.
Next chapter, we'll get to witness how Naofumi and Malty use everything at their disposal to stay alive.