Congradulations on everyone who guessed Goddess Raphtalia, although DJman248 had the closest answer.
Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter.
Once again, HUGE thanks to my long time reader/consultant Commissar Gaunt. Who helped me hammer out a lot of the specific of what happened in the recent chapters.
And just a heads up for people who likes to read me ramble in my end note, it's going to be a long one this time...
The now split-apart helmet of the Shield Hero falls from his head, and clanks on the ground. His blood also slowly drips onto the ground, in single droplets. Despite the goddess staying her hand in the last possible second, the Shield Hero didn't escape her wrath unscathed.
Speaking of the dimensional invader, she actually takes a step back, almost as if she's taken aback by the Shield Hero's action. Perhaps the place she came from is so treacherous, that the act of self-sacrifice for one's own ally is an entirely foreign concept. "...why? Why were you willing to sacrifice yourself for… the witch?"
"I don't know where you came from, but we take care of our own here in this world, or the one I came from." Naofumi doesn't show any sense of fear, despite already losing his legendary weapon and being stared down at by an outer god. In fact, the spite in his voice is second only to that one time he went completely crazy on the Bitch Lord for nearly murder Mein. "I'd rather die first than let you murder Mein!"
The goddess stays silent at the Shield Hero's reply for a few moments, clearly thinking over… something. The princess isn't an expert on theology, so she has no idea what the possible outer god might be pondering about. "You believe in her? She is not who you think she is, and she will betray you-"
That's apparently the wrong thing to say, as the Shield Hero rudely interrupted her before she even finished speaking. "Do you know any of us?! Mein nearly pushed herself to death, killing a newborn plant god that would have destroyed the country, if not the world! She came to rescue me when I was captured and tortured by bandits working for a foreign spy! Who do you think you are?! Making judgments without knowing any of us, you BITCH!"
There are no more mistakes this time. The goddess actually recoils back at Naofumi's words as if she has the wind knocked out of her. In fact, she is so shocked by the Shield Hero's words, she didn't even seem to notice someone else coming after her.
Chapter 83: The Last of Us
"DIE! FILTHY ANIMAL!" A young man, no older than Naofumi or Jaune, picked up Lord Winchester's warhammer as he ran at the goddess, swinging his weapon at the goddess' head. His helmet falls off his head, revealing a thinly cut layer of orange hair, similar to the fallen Count Winchester. His son, perhaps?
The green energy shield dutifully spawns into existence behind Lautrec's goddess. Yet, it looks wrong this time. The shield looks more fragile than before, almost like it's just a trick of the light, rather than the near solid construct that it looks more like colored glass. The shape of the shield also looks less defined, rather than every curve looking intricately and lovingly carved out by a master smith.
The young man swings his hammer, nearly toppling himself which shows that he's either tired, or not used to wielding the weapon of Count Winchester. But the head of the two-handed warhammer successfully makes contact with the goddess' shield. It instantly breaks apart, shattered like glass.
Count Winchester's weapon, which was passed down from his own father (or rather, he pried it out of his father's dead hands on the battlefield and used it to slay his father's killer) was no doubt a finely crafted, and deadly weapon. But it's no enchanted artifact, and should not have the fortitude to smash right through a god's defense. Especially when wielded by an inexperienced young man who can barely use it right. Yet, it still happened, perhaps Naofumi's words have more effect on the goddess than Mein first thought.
The Count's steel hammer continues its trajectory and meets the back of the dimensional invader's head. It once again, instantly shatters its target, but it doesn't release a shower of blood and gore. The goddess seems to burst out into while particles of light, and black dots of shadow. With a loud boom, the emerald sky returns to its original azure color.
The princess looks over at the arm of Naofumi, and pointedly notices how his shield didn't return to him, despite the goddess being vanquished, or at least banished from their world. It also reminded her how scoldingly hot the sword she commissioned is feeling in her hand. She quickly clips it back onto her waist. The princess can't help but notice the irony of finally receiving her long commissioned magical sword, only to have it end up nothing more than a fancy belt because Father passed his vassal wand to her.
She gives a quick glance over at the new screen for her newly acquired vassal weapon, and feels instantly overwhelmed with the extensively unlocked options that look more like a tree. While there are plenty of forms unlocked that help boost her abilities, she noticed that everything is under level 40. Above the common level range is nothing but a blank void.
While this is the first time for her to witness what a heroic weapon's screen looks like in her status screen, she gets a feeling that it shouldn't be cut off at common level range. It's probably safe to assume that the curse brought forth by father has also in some way damaged the vassal staff. And the effect apparently carried over to her just like the forms he already unlocked.
Hoping to not attract the wrong kind of attention, she changes the wand's form into an inconspicuous wooden stick, and has it hidden inside her dress cloak.
"Big sister Mein! Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia returns to her adult body as she jumps back up to her feet. She runs over to them as fast as her legs can carry her. The raccoon girl's eyes also set on Naofumi's now empty right arm. "Master Naofumi… your shield didn't come back."
The Shield Hero brushes his left hand alongside his right arm, where his legendary shield usually hangs onto. He blinks a couple of times, almost like he doesn't know how to feel about suddenly losing access to something he had since his summoning. In the end, he lets out a sigh.
"Mein's still alive. That's the important thing." The Shield Hero looks back at Mein. He offers her his hand, to help her lean on. Raphtalia quickly runs over to Mein's otherside, leans down and throws Mein's army over her shoulder. "Come on, let's go find Kyubey, Farkas and Firo … and get out of here. Well, maybe we should check on my fellow heroes first. Ren and Motoyasu seem to get hit pretty badly after I go down."
"Aren't you forgetting about something? 'Lord' Shield Hero?" The young man with orange hair leans on the shaft of his father's warhammer, and smirks at them as they walk past him. Unlike Naofumi, or Jaune for that matter, this young man clearly has a massive ego and expected to be recognized for all his actions. "I'm the one who banished that supposed goddess and saved your hide back there."
"Hm,yes. Thank you for that." Naofumi's eyes wander over to the man across from them. His mind is clearly not on it, considering how he was rambling on and on a moment ago. "I didn't catch your name."
"Cardin Winchester. The son of Count Valentin Winchester." The young knight points his thumb at himself, and speaks his name as if he's some well-known figure. As the first princess of Melromarc, Mein can confidently say is NOT well known in the noble circles.
"Well done, young lord Cardin!" Confessor Cromwell walks right behind the young man, and places a hand on his shoulder. "What you did today rivals… no, surpassed what your own father did back in the Great War. Picking up his fallen weapon and using it to avenge him, against a possible outer god, no less!"
"You think so, huh?" Cardin turns around to face the head confessor of the Three Heroes' Church. His lips seem to split a bit wider than before. It's hard to tell if the young man is smiling at the congratulation aimed at himself, or sneering at the priest. Regardless, the boy obviously liked the attention, even if he tried to hide it.
"FATHER! NO!" And speaking of fallen fathers, Melty is currently running down a hill towards where Father is slumped on the ground. Both Sir Palmer, and the last monarch filorial Motoyasu raised for her running behind her back. She half sprints, half rolls her way across the muddy ground stained with both Wavespawn and human blood, and kneels herself right besides Father's motionless form. "This… this can't be happening! We were supposed to get out of this together, and save the world like a family! Who did this to my father?! And where is my elder sister?! Is she also hurt?!"
Melty's cry makes Mein feel guilty for what happened. Father wasn't the target of Lautrec's goddess, and he would have been fine if he didn't step in front of the goddess to save her own life. And worse… she can't even properly care, or mourn Father's injuries without publicly outing her true identity.
"Your Highness, I'm afraid a possible outer god breached into our world near the end of the battle, and she tore her way through our ranks." Confessor Cromwell figuratively tosses the Winchester boy aside as he walks over to Melty. The act clearly annoyed the arrogant knight, as he narrowed his eyes at the confessor's back. "King Aultcray is among one of the fallen, as is His Eminence Pope Balmus. Preacher Logarius is currently treating him…"
"Uncle Biscas is hurt too?! But what about my elder sister…"
"Let's quickly go gather our companions, and be ready to go, Master Naofumi." Realizing the following conversation could easily expose her identity, Mein pulls at Naofumi's army and tries to guide him away. "Your fellow heroes have all been indisposed of, and Lautrec's goddess… Well, she probably stole your shield. If the Three Heroes' Church wants to harm you, now would be the best time for them."
"Right. You are right." Thankfully, Naofumi is acting sensible as he quickly follows Mein away. They look around the ground to search for their remaining three party members. The ground is littered with sprawling bodies, both men and their steed. Although all of their bodies are intact, rather than torn apart like the victims of the wavespawn, Mein can even observe their chest slowly rise and fall which indicates unconsciousness rather than death. It seems despite being a dimensional invader, Lautrec's goddess did use discretion in her violence than simply paying lip service. Perhaps she truly believed in herself working for a worthy cause.
The three of them stagger their way through all the unconscious warriors who defended the world against the Third Wave, nervously looking around for their lost comrades. Not too long after, they see a figure jogging towards them from a distance, one of his army bent in the wrong way and a pair of long ears atop his head, revealing his identity as Kyubey.
"Master Shield Hero. I'm sorry to inform you that Lautrec has gotten away again amidst the chaos." The rabbit man stops in front of the Shield Hero, his ears drooping down again as he slightly bows his head down. "He seemed to be aware when his goddess was banished, and immediately ran the other direction. He's the better fighter between the two of us, and I wasn't able to stop him."
"Hey, it's okay. I'm sure you did your best to stop him. And you didn't let him hurt Mein, or hurt yourself. That's the most important thing." Naofumi reaches out with his free hand and gives Kyubey a firm shake on his shoulder. "Do you know where Farkas and Firo are? Are they hurt?"
"Farkas is fine, mostly. He got thrown around by the goddess like a lot of other people. But he's tougher than most." Kyubey gives a quick look around at all the unconscious people lying around them. Despite being much less bloody and gore-filled than their initial battle against the wavespawn, the lowland looks even more eerie with the amount of people and beasts sprawled around and barely any sound. "But Firo is out for good. She tried to avenge you with the rest of monarch filorials raised by Master Spear Hero. She got hit more directly than Farkas did."
"No quick getaway on her back then. Oh, well. I don't think Firo can carry all five of us." Naofumi leans down, and hesitantly casts a [Heal] onto Firo. Probably trying to revive her. It obviously didn't work, since this kind of healing spell or miracles is used to treat the body, not to start the mind. "I don't suppose we can just get a rope and strap her onto Farkas' back."
"I'm not carrying this deadweight like a beast of burden." Farkas growls at the suggestion. Knowing how he was at one point, a captain of the most illustrious group of Siltvelt warriors, he clearly resented the comparison, even if he is dishonored in the eyes of his people. "If she doesn't wake up, we leave her here. We won't get anywhere trying to carry her."
Mein turns to look at the giant bird slumped on the ground among the others that belonged to the Spear Hero. She has to admit that Farkas does have a point.
"We can't just leave Firo here!" While Naofumi is arguing over with Farkas, Mein looks around for possible opposition to them. She notices the young, blonde girl from earlier carrying the unconscious Janne over to a large gathering of church knights, and a much taller man chases after her.
The young church girl's short legs wobble underneath the much larger form of Janne, yet she runs faster than the man with longer legs. The battle saint's previously immaculate silver armor is split open from explosions, and partially melted by heat, revealing patches of darkened skin. "MASTER LOGARIUS! Save big sister Janne!"
"Hush! Mittelt! Don't interrupt Master Logarius while he's busy healing our father." The man is also in a thick robe of church attire, with short forest green hair. He finally manages to catch up to the now named Mittelt, when she's blocked by a row of knight templars. "I already healed Janne. She'll be fine, our sister only needs rest."
"Shut up, Cain!" Mittelt whips around, nearly knocking a knight over with Janne's legs when she swung the battle saint around. "Just because Father named you after him doesn't mean you are at his, or Master Logarius' level yet! I want Master Logarius to make sure my big sister isn't getting worse."
"It's alright, let them pass through." Logarius' voice beckens behind the templars. The church knights split apart, revealing the preacher kneeling beside Pope Balmus' motionless body. The preacher's long hair is drenched in sweat, his eyes are drooping, the fatigue makes the scars on his face look even more hideous. "His Eminence is stable. I can take a look at Saint Janne."
"Thank you! THANK YOU! Master Logarius!" Mittelt quickly runs over. She is about to set Janne down, but she looks at the stained and muddy ground and frowns.
"Set our sister on this, Mittelt." Cain strips his own priestly robe, and spreads it on the ground for Janne to rest on. Mittelt swings her head to look at Cain, to which the older man (seemingly, he could simply be under the demi-human growth boost) nods back. "Janne is my sister too."
"Thank you, Cain. Sorry, I snapped at you." Mittelt kneels down and places Janne's body on Cain's robe. She looks solemn as Logarius moves over to examine the saint's body. "I… I don't know what to do if something happens to big sister Janne. She saved me from..."
"I know." Cain places a hand on the small girl's shoulder in support. The two of them clearly don't need the actual words to be said to know the meaning behind them. Mein would have lingered her attention on them longer, if her peripheral vision didn't pick up a group of people coming up towards the Shield Hero.
The princess turns on her heel and looks at the incoming group. Confessor Cromwell leads a group of knight templars. Judging from their still unsullied armor and clothing, it's clear they didn't engage in any combat at the Wavespawn, or the goddess. She quickly pats Naofumi on the shoulder to get his attention. "Master Naofumi. They look troubled. We might have to do what Farkas suggested."
"Damn it." Naofumi looks over, and sees the other heroes are still nowhere to be seen.
Mein does a quick headcount in her head. There's around a hundred men behind the confessor. Not completely insurmountable, depending on their level and general competence. But they look fresh, while everyone on Naofumi's side is exhausted or hurt. If they come to blows, the odds are still not favorable to them. Which is why she chooses to take the initiation by stepping forward. "Confessor Cromwell, where is her highness Princess Melty? She was explicitly entrusted under the care of Lord Spear Hero, and the last I saw her was with you. You should return her to Lord Spear Hero's protection."
Underneath her hood, the first princess of Melromarc is sweating as much as preacher Logarius after what she assumed to be intensive and delicate use of healing miracles to save Pope Balmus' life.
Asking for Melty's presence is risky. As there is a very high chance that Melty will end up revealing her own identity during her distress. And it could crumble the whole deck of cards she built around the Shield Hero. But that's the only thing she can think of to stall for time, either hoping the other heroes can recover just like Naofumi did, or someone else to come along and diffuse the situation.
And if she needs to have her true identity revealed… Having Melty do it is probably the best outcome under the circumstance. As with Melty confirming her identity, she would be the only adult of House Melromarc present with Father incapacitated, and Mother far away from home. She could briefly take over the role of regency, and grant the now shieldless Shield Hero asylum from whatever nefarious purpose the Three Heroes' Church members no doubt had in mind.
Sure, the church could ignore her command and still take Naofumi by force since she lacks any powerful backers to ensure people follow her rule. But the church would still risk pushback from the loyalist noble houses by openly defying the royal house. If she tries to reveal her own identity… Even with her signet ring, the church could simply claim she is a fake witch controlled by the Shield 'Demon' and proceed to put them all down to leave no witness.
The confessor actually takes half a step back, clearly not expecting Mein would be making demand when she is on the weaker side. He blurts out, voice stuttering a little at the start. "We, well! His Majesty, His Eminence and the Spear Hero are all indisposed of. Considering the circumstances, Princess Melty's safety is our top priority. And the best solution is to take her under our protection, of course."
"And who says the church, or at least someone within the church wouldn't try to do her harm? Nobody knows the true identity of Her Highness' assassins. She should be in the observation of two separate parties to ensure she's not delivered right into the hand of her would be murderer!" Seeing the confessor's sign of weakness, Mein tries to press her advantage and points her finger at the gathered templars. Some of them shift on their feet, looking indignant at the accusation. But some look doubtful, as they turn to look at Confessor Cromwell. "And since Master Naofumi is the only hero still left standing, Princess Melty should be brought to his presence."
"Shut up, SLUT! Who gave you the right to demand anything!" A young nasal growls besides the confessor, sounding more like a shrieking animal than a noble scion. Siegmar Isaac Octavius Consevatie hasn't done anything to make him stand out during the fight against the Third Wave, or the goddess. But it certainly isn't stopping him from acting like he's someone important. "That fucking goddess was summoned by the Shield Demon's former slave. It's clear your precious hero man is to blame for everything!"
"How dare you try to pass the blame to Master Naofumi! You useless, pompous child! Didn't you see how he lost his shield fighting against the goddess while you hid among the mass of warriors doing nothing?!"The princess in disguise takes another step forward, pointing her finger at Consevatie's face, which slowly morphs from one of prideful aloofness to one of wrathful glare. "Go back and have your father, Lord Consevatie speak for you, if you don't know how to behave like an adult!"
"And who do you think you are, a princess? How dare you talk down to me, SLUT!" Consevatie's voice becomes even more guttery as his haunty features twist together.
"You are the one who has no right to call Big Sister Mein bad names!" Raphtalia strides her way to the front of their group and screams right back at the Consevatie scion right into his face. "Not when you didn't show your face fight against the goddess!"
"As if the Slut herself didn't spend the whole time running for her life." Consevatie smirks right back at Raphtalia.
"In spite of how heir Consevatie expressed his opinion, he is not wrong about one thing." Confessor Cromwell seems to have regained his composure after Consevatie's interruption. "The heretic who summoned the outer god was at one point, one of the Shield Hero's companions, who he himself set free. And considering the damage his goddess caused us, we must thoroughly investigate the involvement of Shield Hero's party to stop possible future heresy like it. You and your companions will be coming with us, my lord."
Damn it! This was the outcome she wanted to avoid!
"Hold on just a moment, Confessor." To Mein's surprise, the one who stepped in was also someone from the Three Heroes' Church. Preacher Logarius, to be exact. It seems like he has either finished examinine and healing their saint of battle, or wisely choose his priorities. "The Shield Hero did lose his shield fighting against the outer god, as his companion said and witnessed by all of us. This suggests the heretic was not working with him, at least not after they split."
"Are you suggesting we let go of possible heretics, Preacher Logarius?" Cromwell's eyes shoot up as he sneers back at the other church member. "Both His Eminence and the king of our nation has fallen against an outer god, and you wish to let go of the most palpable culprit simply because they were infighting, which happens to cultists of the same group all the time judging with how those Loptr cultists acted during the Wave battle? Have you simply gone senile, or are you in bed with possible heretics yourself, preacher?!"
"And why hasn't you done anything about the Loptr cultists, when they actually performed heresy in front of everyone through their evil spirit possession?" Mein interrupts their shouting match, in an effort to divert the Three Hero Church's attention to a rival cult that Cromwell already showed aggression towards earlier. Trying to stall time for the other heroes to be revived is pretty much the only chance for them to get out of this mess.
"Bah! They are small fry! It's more important to take the Shield Demon to task with what his lizard did!" Conservatie sneered again on the side. Thankfully, no one seems to pay the foolish boy any attention. Unfortunately, no one seemed to pay Mein's suggestion any mind either.
"Listen to what you are sprouting from your own mouth, Confessor! The decision to incarcerate a summoned hero isn't within your power either!" Preacher Logarius didn't back down at the thinly veiled threat, as he stood back even straighter at Confessor Cromwell. "Do you not know what's going on with the other nations? They are already talking about a crusade against our nation for summoning all four heroes without consent, and our faith for mistreating the Shield Hero! Now you want to overstep your power to arrest the Shield Hero for paranoia, or your own greed?! Do you want to doom us all!?"
"Master Logarius is on the right. Just because Lord Shield Hero is under suspicion of colluding with a heretic doesn't give us the right to detain him." Cain also steps forward and voices his objection. "The right thing to do now is to ask the Shield Hero to stay, but prioritize on reviving his fellow heroes. We can then question Lord Shield Hero fairly while under the watch of his fellow- ARGH!"
Both the green-haired man, and the blonde girl who was with him earlier suddenly fall on their knees, while clenching their chest. A sight that makes Farkas shift on his foot, clearly remembering his own bondage too well. Of course, the radicals within the Three Heroes' Church would do whatever they want to get to their goal. Including hurting their own supposed members. Especially when they happens to be indentured slaves, or members of a rival faction.
"Cromwell! How can you hurt our own brothers and sisters for speaking the truth!" Logarius' face whips over at the two demi-human slave legionaires in shock, before gritting his teeth at the head confessor.
"I am taking charge to follow His Eminence's order. Keeping this nation safe from all possible threats. Something you are either too soft to do, or willingly betrayed our order for!" The Confessor spats at the preacher one last time as he throws his arm forward, pointing in the direction of both Preacher Logarius, and Shield Hero's group. "Knight Templars! Fulfill your duties! Seize the traitor, and the heretics!"
"With pleasure." With a smirk that threatens to split his face, the Consevatie fool actually leads the charge. He closes in on Raphtalia in a split second, and knocks the raccoon girl on the ground with a bash of his shield.
"Raphtalia!" Naofumi struggles to get to his fallen companion, Mein quickly forces him back with her arm. She's not willing to let the now shieldless Shield Hero go, and test his innate DEF rating and armor against the blessed steel of the Three Heroes' Church knight templars.
"Take the Shield Hero and go!" Farkas charges forward, and barrels right into the incoming knight with his giant form.
"Time for me to put you in your place too, Slut- AHH!" Consevatie fool's sneer turns into a squeal of pain and surprise, when Preacher Logarius throws his scythe spinning at him and scratches his shoulder.
"I taught you to treat ladies better than this! Foolish boy!" The preacher catches his scythe on its return. His wild hair seems to flutter on its own despite the lack of wind of the inappropriately named Wind Valley. He glares dagger at the people he calls brothers and sisters as he chastises them. "Have all of you forgotten the lesson of our teachers? Strength, Trust, and Justice?! This is not the value our order should be striving for!"
Half of the knights not engaging in battle with Farkas already stopped their advance. The other half slows down and looks at each other. It's clear that despite his low rank within the church, the preacher commands a lot of respect either through power or influence. And the church knights are hesitant to confront Logarius.
"Stand down and turn yourself in for judgment, traitor." Cromwell raises his head, and looks down at Preacher Logarius as he points a finger at the two demi-human slaves on their knees. Cain, despite his face twisted by pain, simply keeps his head down, but the much younger Mittelt reaches an army over to the preacher, clearly begging him to save her life. "If not, the children of His Eminence will pay the price for your sin."
The preacher looks back at the two fallen demi-human slaves. He let go of his hand holding his weapon, and had his scythe slowly fall on the ground. Consevatie stomps his way over to his former teacher, and punches Logarius in the face. He gives another two kicks to the preacher afterwards. "Well, well well. Look how the mighty have fallen. For two slaves, no less."
Well… so much for the hope that the old preacher could have done something. She didn't want to leave Raphtalia with the Three Heroes' Church, especially not to Consevatie, but…
Mein quickly wraps her arm around Naofumi's waist. And screams to Kyubey. "Grab onto me!"
"But Firo, Farkas and Raphtalia-"
"We have no other choice, Master Naofumi!" The princess feels the rabbit man's one good hand grabbing onto her. She immediately channels most of her magic through her newly acquired star wand. "From the Earth to Aether… and Back! [Icarian Flight!]"
A pair of great, flaming wings sprout out from her back, as the fire spell pushes back the knights surrounding them and takes them into the sky. Despite its name seemed to imply, this specific spell has more in common with the wind spell [Jump], than the actual [Flight] in that the only controllable part is the initial trajectory. But it's the only thing she can think about within her own spell arsenal, to get them out of the current crisis.
"You aren't getting away this easily, Slut!" While most of the church knights are either too busy dealing with Farkas, or stunned by her magic, the Consevatie fop is surprisingly not among them. He raises his hand at them, and shots out a white colored fireball from his hand. "[Providence Fireball]!"
The princess looks down, and to her horror realizes that Consevatie's fireball attack is rapidly gaining on them. She hears a whisper besides her ears before she feels a weight leaving her shoulder and a shadow falling down towards the fireball. "Take care of the Shield Hero."
"KYUBEI-!" Naofumi's horrified scream is overshadowed by the boom of the explosion as the rabbit man throws himself into the fire. The spell explodes out in a wave of blinding white flash, as the shockwave further propels them away from the radicals of the church that seeked to do the Shield Hero harm.
But not all is well with them, as the princess can feel her own spell being disrupted by the Consevatie's attack spell. She can't see it, but she can feel her flaming wings flicker out as they tumble through the air with even less control than before, and the two of them enter into free fall once again similar to what happened with them in the wave fight. Except this time, the Shield Hero no longer has his shields, and weapon arts to rely on.
Knowing that she's at least partially responsible for getting Naofumi into this crisis with her secrets and lies, the princess is determined to get both of them out of it alive. She breathes in a deep mouthful of fresh air as ground begins to rapidly approach her vision. "Take a deep breath, Master Naofumi."
With another wave of the star wand, she conjures up a [Hydro Sphere] around them. Hoping the cocoon of water can provide enough cushion to help them survive their fall. She closes her eyes, and feels the heavy impact as her protective water barrier splatters on the ground. The princess lets go of the Shield Hero, as she rolls around eventually to a stop against… something. It doesn't feel as rigid as rock. Her vision began to darken, as she slowly slip away from consciousness… and then a warmth began to envelop her as she heard a voice. "They are alive, Lord Ludwig."
"Aren't they the Shield Hero, and one of his companions? What happened?" She slowly opens her eyes, and sees a group of riders with ridiculously large swords on their back. The head rider has a head of dark mane as long as father's and a wild goatee on his chin. A green sword that seems to be made of glass, faintly glowing and humming strapped on his back.
She's reminded of how Father commanded Lord Ludwig to form a second perimeter behind the main force at the start of the battle. She's unsure if it's an act of the Chief God's act of divine intervention, or divine comedy to have them fallen into the former cleric's hand. On the one hand, they might have died from their impact on the ground anyway, if the former cleric knight's underlings aren't here to heal them, on the other…
She flips over, and sees Naofumi slumped on the ground not far away from her. He is completely motionless despite the healers already leaving him, suggesting they did all they can to treat him. They said that he's alive like her… but is he completely immobilized, or fallen unconscious? It's possible that his body ends up absorbing most of the shock when they fall… The balloons that used to hide within his cloak have all come out, and they bounce all around Naofumi's face, furiously lick at his head.
Fearing the worst, the princess immediately begins to crawl towards the Shield Hero on all four, and then pushes her up to her feet as she runs toward him. She flips Naofumi over, and sees his face that looks both fazed out and shocked. She releases the breath she's been holding, knowing that the Shield Hero is simply paralyzed by what has happened in such a brief period of time. But once again, her relief is premature when a rider dressed in the church's tabard runs towards them.
"Lord Ludwig! I see you have stopped the Shield Demon from escaping! Good work, his eminence will be pleased!" The knight jumps off his mount, pulls out his sword and makes his way towards Ludwig and his Holy Blades. "One of the demon's former underling has summoned an outer god, and she incapacitated both His Eminence and His Majesty. We are to detain the Shield Demon from escaping- what is the meaning of this!?"
The knight's sudden change of tone has more to do than three balloons suddenly all turn to hiss at him. It happens when Lord Ludwig suddenly holds his hand up, and his riders form a wall of human bodies in front of Naofumi and Mein. Blocking the church's messenger from reaching them.
"If His Eminence is indisposed, then he can't have given the order." Lord Ludwig's voice sounds hollow, like the man's mind isn't entirely in front of everyone. "Who is in command of the Knight Templar? Confessor Cromwell? He is not one of the twelve Vicars yet, and has no right to assume the Knight Templar's command in the absence of both His Eminence, and Lord Commander Fordring."
"Well, yes. The Head Confessor has taken temporary command with our remaining force after what has happened." The knight's voice sounds young, someone in their twenties. Thankfully, not the Consevatie fool. "But surely, you saw the sky turn emerald, the color of the Shield Demon? An outer god breached our world at the end of the Wave, summoned by the Shield Demon's former follower. She nearly killed His Eminence, and badly injured His Majesty. We can't let the culprit get away!"
"You talk about demons, yet all I see is scared children running from the Wave." Ludwig pulls his greatsword of green glass from his back. He holds the sword in front of his face, closes his eyes and slowly dips his head forward to touch the sword's flat side as if in prayer. "It seems that my master agrees with me. Holy Blades, stand aside. Let the refugees pass through."
Considering what happened so far, Mein isn't about to throw away the sudden turn of fortune. She tries to pull Naofumi up to his feet, but the Shield Hero is still unresponsive. He's clearly in much worse shock than she initially thought. Understandable, considering how they lost most of their party members, one of them killed right in front of their eyes.
She quickly bends over, and props the unresponsive Shield Hero up against her shoulder as she staggers away. The curse of the young church knight still in her ear. "You are making a serious mistake, Ludwig! You WILL answer to his Eminence once he wakes up!"
"It goes without saying, as I will personally speak with His Eminence once he wakes."
o(-_-)o[T]
Mein's feet wobbles and slips, as she struggles to make distance between them and the Three Heroes' Church on the uneven terrain crumbled under the fight against the Wavespawn. A task that is made exponentially difficult by the fact that Naofumi is clearly still in shock, and he's little more than dead weight on her shoulder. But she's not giving up this time, because she owns the Shield Hero this much after he did so much to keep her safe so far.
Their only hope of survival now is to make it out of the Wind Valley, possibly find a small, obscure cave where they can strip away their distinct equipment and find some alternative costumes to hide their respective identities. And they need to do it fast, because she needs to find a disguise before their wanted posters get passed through the entire nation.
After that point… they'll have to find a way to escape to Zeltoble like they planned shortly after the Second Wave. Depending on if they can successfully find disguise, they might try to regroup with Yatsuhashi and possibly Eclair. They should hear the news of the Shield Hero being a wanted man soon, and they'll probably still try to help him considering their journey together and their respective dutiful personalities. Their strength will be crucial now that Naofumi has lost his shield, and almost all of his companions. Yes, if she can manage to gather these two, they should be strong enough as a group to make their way across a small hunting, or an adventurer's trail across the northern Griffen Back mountain range to escape Melromarc soil, by passing Fort Wolf's Mouth.
The princess lets out a small breath of relief as the cliff from the side slowly opens up, and she begins to see the ivory tip of the Founder's Cathedral in the far north. Knowing that she has managed to clear the first hurdle of their escapade, she nearly trips over herself when she sees a dark figure further slumped in the distance.
The princess slowly comes to a stop on her feet, feeling her heart jumping into her throat till she realizes the figure is sprawled on the ground unmoving. She slowly approaches the figure, slowly letting Naofumi slip off her shoulder behind some bushes against a tree as she slowly approaches the person. They wear a cheap, thick traveling cloak with a hood. A wooden rack that fell beside them with spilled bags and a wooden walking staff suggest the person is a pilgrim. Possibly someone who traveled north from the Golden Coast to visit one of the cathedrals of the Founder in Gallia city.
The princess changes Father's- her star wand into a much longer, wooden magic staff as she uses the tip to poke at the possible traveling pilgrim. They don't move. She flips the person over to their face to get a better look, and sees a face with eyes and mouth split wide open, and skin turned green.
It seems like the poor man succumbed to some kind of poison. Either from a local monster, or one of the Wavespawn that managed to slip through Lord Ludwig's second perimeter. Despite his unfortunate demise, it does present her with a rather fortunate opportunity.
She drags the victim over to where she left the Shield Hero, not wanting to leave the still shocked Shield Hero out of her sight in case whatever killed the pilgrim is still around. She speaks to the Shield Hero, in the most soothing voice she can still manage. "It's okay, Master Naofumi. We still had some of the money bags you didn't put away in your shield. I'll get into this poor man's clothes to disguise myself, and find a small cave or something. You can hide in there, while I sneak my way into Gallia city to find or buy a disguise for you. We'll make our way back north, try to regroup with Yatsuhashi and Eclair and escape to Zeltoble. We'll be okay, we'll survive this like everything we survived so far…"
The Shield Hero is completely unresponsive through most of her panicked ramble, making the princess fear for his well being. His balloons seem to have caught onto his demoralized mood, as they simply sit near him, making whimpering noises. But near the end, his lips move, clearly saying something.
It's too quiet for Mein to hear from where she is standing, so she moves closer to the Shield Hero. "Are you okay, Master Naofumi? I can't hear you."
Pressing her ear nearly next to the Shield Hero, she finally catches his words. He speaks, as if in a dream, and the content chills her. "...leave me…"
"NO! You can't give up now! Master Naofumi!" Mein quickly gets down to her knees, as she furiously shakes the completely demoralized Shield Hero. "We survived a newborn outer god! We survived a Siltvelt Raven Lord and the ancient Thunder Lizard he released! We survived an undead scourge! And we survived falling through the sky twice and another outer god! You can't just give up like this!"
"Kyubei is dead… Firo, Raphalia, and Farkas… probably also dead after we left them at the church… AND IT'S MY FAULT!" The Shield Hero speaks to himself than anyone else as his voice slowly gets louder and louder till he is howling at the wind.
Raphtalia… who defended her against the goddess as if Mein was her mother. And she just left her with the Three Heroes Church. From the nephew of the one who tortured her and caused the death of her friend no less. Like Uncle Aldrecht said, she didn't even try to save Raphtalia.
Kyubey and Farkas… the two demi-human slaves who both gave their lives for Naofumi. Would she have done the same, if her role was switched with them?
This was all her fault… if she didn't join Naofumi under a false identity, if she tried to talk with father like Uncle Aldrecht suggested. As the first princess of Melromarc and an adult, she could have ordered the Three Heroes Church to stand down.
"NO! Control yourself, Master Naofumi!" Mein tries to put a hand over Naofumi's hysterical mouth. To stop him from attracting attention to their possible pursuers. "It's NOT your fault! Please! I know you are upset, but you have to get a hold of yourself. We aren't safe yet…"
"I was warned… I was warned many times of people wanting to harm me because I was the Shield Hero. You warned me since you saved me from the trial. But I didn't take the warning seriously, because things always worked out for me. Because I wanted to help everyone else who has it worse than me." Unfortunately, the Shield Hero has completely lost it by this point as he doesn't seem to even notice Mein in front of him. "And now what everyone warned me has happened… and it wasn't even me who paid the price for my decisions! You should leave me here, and save yourself-"
*SLAP*
"SHUT UP! AND GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!" Not knowing what else to do, the princess turned adventurer… turned fugitive slaps Naofumi's face enough to throw his head the other way. Well, at least she managed to stop his hysteria, and he has gone back to being unresponsive again. Mein kneels down in front of the lost Shield Hero, and closes her hands in between the Shield Hero's face. "Listen to me, Master Naofumi. You are right, things don't always work out. But it's not always our own fault. You gave the slaves a life, Raphtalia, Kyubey and Farkas. That's why aside from that ungrateful cunt Lautrec, they were all willing to fight, and die for you. Sure, you made mistakes. But none of this would have happened, if that old fart Cromwell and the Consevatie boy wasn't acting like sons of whores back there! They are the one who hurt, and killed our friends. NOT you!"
The princess can't help but think back, and blame her mother for taking her own birthright away. If she was the rightful heir to the throne, then she wouldn't even have to worry about the Three Heroes' Church dismissing her identity as everyone would know who the crown princess was. She could have saved everyone back in their confrontation with the radicals by forcing their compliance.
Of course… there was a good chance that she would never have gotten involved with Naofumi, and the rest of his party if she was already the heir to the throne. As there would be no need for her to fight tooth and nail for her birthright. NO! More blaming everyone else! She doesn't need any more reason for Naofumi to give up on living.
"This world isn't fair, Master Naofumi. We can't depend on other people to always do the right thing for things to work out. We have to grow stronger… and take what's rightfully ours by force." The princess leans her head forward and peers into Naofumi's eyes, touching their heads together. "So don't you dare give up now. Not after Farkas, and Kyubey sacrificed their lives for you! Not after you never give up on me, because I damn will NOT give up on you!"
Seeing Naofumi's eyes slowly gaining their focus back, Mein let go of his face and began stripping down her very recognizable dress cloak and folding it back up. She hears the Shield Hero talking again, thankfully not about giving up on his life this time. "What if someone sees your cursed scar? They'll know it's you."
Damn… it feels so long ago that she's been walking around with her cursed scar, and having it hidden underneath her new dress cloak she forgot about it. And Naofumi is right. With her and Naofumi being fugitives who have possibly colluded with someone who summoned a dimensional invading outer god, all the travelers will be demanded to show their faces. And there is no way to hide, or heal her cursed scar.
Or rather… not exactly. There are ways to hide it. The most prominent way would be some kind of mask to change one's face, she knows that Mother's shadows have masks crafted out of peeled off faces of their victims which can perfectly mimic the subtle changes to one's facial structure depending on one's mood. Something she obviously has no access to.
Another way is to cast some kind of glamor that'll hide her real face, similar to what the Siltvelt Ravens did to hide their animal features. But she's not an expert illusionist, and after a quick look at Father's unlocked wand forms… there doesn't seem to be something that can help cover up her deficiencies.
That leaves the last way… Something she didn't want to think about, let alone doing it. But if it's the only way…
Mein closes her eyes and grits her teeth, igniting her hand in flame and bringing it up to the side of her face in fluid and quick motion. She might have heard something from Naofumi, but his voice is drawn out by her own screams of pain as her own fire burns her cursed flesh.
Omake: Death of the Rebellious Wolf/I'm My Own Master Now
How many throats has he torn open? It matters not in the end. With a blade, or his teeth, they blend in together after a hundred or so men he killed in his life.
"They will bring honor to the clan." He stands together, straight as an arrow with his twin brother as they are brought to Castle Siltvelt to be trained under their god king's Five Hundred Guards. "The first harbinger of Five Hundred Guards was someone from the Greyback Clan. Wilkas inherited his mind, and Farkas has his strength."
The words flow through his ears without leaving a mark. He wasn't particularly good with words, speaking them or listening to them. That was more of his brother's strength. All he needs to know is who needs a good bludgeoning.
"MY LIFE FOR THE SHIELD!"
Becoming a member of the Five Hundred Guards at twelve, becoming one of the five captains at sixteen.
Fire cracks, as bodies torn apart lie all around him. They never had a chance to begin with. They are nothing more than emaciated slaves, clothed in rags and wielding whatever wood and stone they had around them against the masters who treated them like cattle.
"Why do you fight back?" He looks down at the smooth skinned demi-Malisi in front of him. Someone who he was taught as his little siblings. Those who he should have guided and protected. "Surely, you know there's no way you'll live through it."
"Why shouldn't I fight back?" The smooth-skinned slave laughes back at him. "We'll die if we fight back against our masters. But we'll also die if we don't. And then… then these whoresons will point at our cold bodies, and say: 'Look at them, they were slaves.'"
Were he also a slave, beholding to will of a king that has long passed away from them?
Kinslayer, traitor who joined the rebellion of the slaves, who fought against his own brother.
He presses his greatsword forward, breaking through Wilkas' guard. Wilkas may have been the smart one, but he has always been the one with superior strength. He knocks the weapons of his brother away from his hand, and presses Wilkas on the ground. "YIELD! You are beaten! Do not force me to take away your life!"
"Kill me, like what you did to your own men who refused to forsaken their duties!" Wilkas spats right back, a sneer on his face despite his back on the dirt. "It matters not what happens to me. While you are busy dueling me, my forces have already destroyed your traitorous followers and put down those rebellious dogs!"
He looks deep into the eyes of his twin brother, and knows that Wilkas speaks the truth. His brother was someone who thinks many steps ahead, while he chases down whatever prey in his sight. He pulls back, if the people who he fought for and damned half of his fellow brothers and sisters to infamy are already dead… there is no need to add further bloodshred. He turns around, and leaves everything he once knew behind. "I will not kill you, brother. In the end, you are a slave, no different than me."
"Run away and have death befit a shrunken head turtle, you faithless dog!" The howling curse of his twin brother echoes behind him.
Grand champion of Zeltoble's Colosseum of Fools. Fighting for no cause, no glory, just his next meal.
"Grand champion, huh?" The young man in front of his cocks his head sideways and smirks, his little ponytail whipping in the wind behind him. "Hope you give me a better fight than that disappointing noble heiress."
An annoying human with an even more annoying, aloof voice. Almost like everything in the world is a game to him. He will wipe the smirk off his punchable face like so many before him.
A slave, kept in a cage almost like a curiousity, or an exotic animal, In the end, nothing changes in his life, only who holds his leash. Although he should probably be amused at the joke destiny played on him. Running away from his position as someone who serves the Shield Hero, only to run right back into the Shield Hero after his body has already been broken.
"I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."
He would have laughed at the boy, if so much of his own life wasn't already a joke. To think a boy who wield only a shield, most likely haven't even killed his first man would threaten someone like him.
Another weapon strikes him at his back as his knees buckle. He hears the annoying voice again as he lies on the ground, waiting for his executioner. "You, all of you. Back away."
"You haven't turned traitor, or heretic too, have you? Vice-Captain Zellus?" The pompous old man sneers at the annoying man from his nose.
"The man is barely even alive and you are worried about me letting him go? I didn't take you for such a coward, Cromwell." He looks up to see his former challenger standing about twenty paces away from him, holding onto his discarded great sword more like a walking stick than a weapon. So, he didn't come out unscathed against the goddess. The annoying man looks over and throws his sword over, seemingly noticing him paying attention to the argument. "Here you go. You gave me my second best fight in my life. Figure you deserve to die like a warrior, not get put down like a wild animal."
The voice of the eye patched hunter echoes in his ear once again. Or perhaps he's simply hearing things after losing so much of his blood.
"You are as selfish as you are arrogant. You are just letting out your anger on anyone in your path. And do tell me, what had Shield boy done to deserve your ire, great warrior of Siltvelt? Once again, you are just taking out your anger at everything else on him, because you are ARROGANT!"
In the end, perhaps he could believe in something more than this life of absolute bondage and servitude. With the naive boy as the Shield Hero… perhaps he will find a way to break through and set everyone free. Truly free. Not the same way 'everyone is equal as slaves under Shield Hero, our God King' way under King Mikage.
"My life… for the SHIELD." He picks up the hilt of his sword with his mouth and narrows his eyes to look at his prey one last time. Despite the annoying man who can barely stand on his feet, he pulls out his sword and gets into a fighting stance as well.
No, he had an actual name. Not 'annoying man'. His name was Zellus.
The two of them charge at each other one last time, their blades meet, and slices through flesh. Blood spills out their body, like a blooming flower.
"I didn't die a shrunken head turtle, brother."
End Note:
To repeat my line from a certain previous chapter: That escalated quickly.
Okay, to address the elephant in the room. Yes, the goddess summoned by Lautrec was Goddess Raphtalia. Although as guessed by DJman248, she is more based off WN Raphtalia than was the canon version. As I did make some changes to the original WN for the 'original timeline' in my own story, because it wouldn't be me if I don't gets annoyed at certain canon creative decisions and want to change them. Making it looks like Lautrec was a worshipper of the goddess from WN was an intentional red herring on my part at the start of this story, when the goddess he actually worships is Goddess Raphtalia.
The part where Motoyasu commented how the goddess look like Raphtalia was me specifically give away the answer to the readers, but still keeping the characters within my story guessing. Goddess Raphtalia having a veil that disrupt other people's ability to fully recognize her was suggested by Commissar Gaunt. Because as he pointed out, if people within the story realize the goddess look exactly like Raphtalia, it's going to cause a lot of very difficulte questions to be answered (and probably have poor mortal Raphtalia gets burnt to death... because they'd assume connection between them).
Not going to lie, since very early in this story's life cycle (about the time Comrade Broseph went aboard as my co-writer, press F to show respect for him), I been dying to get to this major plot point shown in the last chapter, and this one. While I give them separate titles, they really are part 1 and part 2 of this major plot point where Goddess Raphtalia show up, takes away Naofumi's legendary shield... and then he's betrayed by 3HC and becomes a fugitive with Malty. While certain specific details are changed (once again, thanks to consultation from the good commissar.), I'm overall happy with the current direction I'm going, despite still feeling sad to not have gone with my original plan. I might give a plot synopsis of what I planned at first when this arc fully wraps up.
Warning: Freeza blowing planet level of temper tantrum incoming
As pointed out by some readers (rightfully so), Naofumi isn't facing any real consequences in my story just like his original canon Rising version. Well... it's because I'm saving the 'unforeseen consequence' right here at the end of 3rd Wave. Where his kindness and focusing on helping others served him well... till it doesn't in the worst way possible.
People might think I hate Rising Naofumi for his less moralistic actions, which isn't wrong to be fair. But what I hate most is how the author didn't have any real consequence happen to him because of his actions. The two times where some major consequences did happen to him with Houou and whipping boy, the consequence isn't tied to his personality flaw (because he does HAVE flaws, in fact. I'd say he has the most flaw in all the characters in Rising of the Shield Hero). In fact, since both times he got nuked is because he wasn't strong enough, it's just further authorial emotional validation, as it shows that he needs to go even FURTHER with his 'me first' gathering of power above everything else.
Honestly, I think his Rising characterization would have worked brilliantly, if there is someone who stand as opposition to his idealogy who isn't shown as incompetent by the author. An upright hero who still managed to avert a lot of crisis within the story would further show why a character who has no moral guideline and only focus on power is needed during a world ending threat, when things truly gone FUBAR where moral has to be chucked out of the window. But of course, because Naofumi is the author's imaginary dream pet husbando, anyone who isn't cheerleading him is some combination of incompetent, stupid, and/or evil. And he's both right in the practical sense, and morally because only his action get good result.
Tamtrum over, for now...
So from my story's early inception, my aspiration is doing things differently from canon. I want to show how a good alignment Naofumi (roughly based on his Reprisal of the Spear Hero counterpart) would solve some of the problems his evil alignment counterpart encountered. But at the same time show the eventual consequence of his actions. Because just because Naofumi is on the opposite moral alignment to his Rising counterpart doesn't mean he's doing things perfect without fault. His higher focus on helping other people and keeping other people safe has resulted in that his own power being weaker than his canon counterpart, and he gets a major blow (to put things lightly) here at the end of 3rd Wave because he essentially backed himself into a corner. And Three Heroes Church gladly stabbed him in the back. Not sure if this is the best execution of my idea (as I have shown myself to be more incompetent than GoT's Dumb & Dumber), but I liked it well enough.
In a way, what happened at the end of this chapter is essentially the thematic equivalent to Malty's big betrayal at the start of Rising of the Shield Hero, where Naofumi gets pushed down to rock bottom. But unlike canon where everything was done at the beginning where he can't really do anything to save himself from the trap (unless he happen to overhear it and immediately GTFO, like in Allen Blaster's story.), in my story he had plenty of time to build a power base for himself to ensure he can't easily be touched by his potential enemies which Malty warned him about almost from the start. Something his Rising counterpart would have avoided in his shoe (although I'm not sure if Rising Naofumi would even bother staying in Melromarc. He'd probably immediately bolt for Zeltbole when Malty suggested it if everything else stays equal) due to his priority being self-preservation, this version of good alignment Naofumi wasted all the time he could have used to avert the disaster in helping other people.
And while it's my opinion, I think what happened in this chapter was a much more painful gut punch to him than what happened in canon. Even when he's shown that not everyone is against him. Because in canon where he blamed all his misfortune on other people, he blames himself most in this case as he knows he could have done something to avoid the disaster. And the worst consequence happened to his companions, rather than himself. Which is why I had him despair and almost turned suicidal at the end of the chapter.
So yeah... remember when I said Act III happens at the start of 3rd Wave? Now that I think about it, I realize I unintentionally lied. As this chapter is probably a more fitting conclusion to Act II, than the starting arc for Act III of the Three Heroes Church Saga. Although next chapter, we'll take some break from Malty (and Naofumi)'s perspective with possibly more than one alternate POV Interlude. Where we witness how the three weapon heroes react to the recent events, and also them clearing up one particular mess left by Naofumi.