Sword and Shield

Civil War 6

Clérigo City was a hive of activity.

As the capital city of a core Region of Melromarc, that was only to be expected. But after the pro-demi-human faction had conquered the city and consolidated its control over it, said nexus of activity had shifted gears a little.

"It's an impressive sight, is it not?"

"When people work together en masse the results can be quite something, yes."

Naofumi peered into the crystal ball on a large mahogany desk placed smackdab in the center of an ostentatious and richly appointed office. A large window behind said desk looked out over the city of Clérigo itself.

The images conveyed by the crystal ball in question shifted every few seconds.

Shift.

The first scene showed by the magical device was the Broadcast Jewel ensconced high up in the spires of the cathedral. The jewel was glowing brightly and spinning much more rapidly then normal on its axes.

Shift.

The following scene was an expansive view of a dark warehouse filled with rows upon rows of racks that were in turn chockfull with crystal balls. People in their dozens could be seen carrying said crystal balls to and fro from apparatuses that sprouted from the ground at almost every intersection in the warehouse.

They would place the crystal balls into the apparatus, after which they would tap some buttons. The crystal balls would light up and display a certain recording that had rocked Clérigo City to its core not long ago at an eyewatering speed. After that, they'd remove the crystal ball, hand it over to a carrier waiting in wings and place the next crystal ball into the machine.

Shift.

That last scene was a compound image that briefly showed all four main gates of the city. The gates were wide open, allowing cart after cart filled with crystal balls to pass through unopposed. Men and women in higher than average civilian garb that could pass for merchants escorted the carts out of the city and into the wider world.

With that, the images came to an end.

"…To think that something so simple could be so useful," Naofumi sighed.

This, the Broadcast Jewel and the accompanying warehouse chockfull with crystal balls, had been the main reason they had targeted Clérigo City.

To be more precise, the underlying system housed in the city itself was what they had been targeting all along. With the Broadcast Jewel, they could download the recording of Melty and Aultcray pleading for the people to side with the pro-demi-human faction and that it was in fact the Church of the Three Heroes who had kidnapped Melty into the crystal balls that were stockpiled in the city.

Their disguised operatives, men and women who had volunteered for that goal, would then take the crystal balls and distribute them far and wide. They would leave the crystal balls behind in cities and towns all over for people to find on a grand scale.

Thereby distributing the truth of the situation to the populace.

This was how countries in this world, if and when required, would convey information on the scale of a nation. And now they were using it for their own benefit.

"In my life I have come to the appreciate the truth of this saying: basic is best. Complexity more often then not just leads to problems and unforeseen consequences."

At those words, Naofumi looked up. He locked eyes with the person sitting behind the desk.

Mirellia Q Melromarc, the Queen of Melromarc, looked back at him. For once, her folding fan wasn't in front of her mouth as she conversed with the Hero of the Shield.

She had arrived in the city just three days ago with her personal guard. After meeting with the Shield Hero and his compatriots and a private discussion with her youngest, the queen had set to work. She had installed herself in the city and more or less took control of their rank and file soldiers and the citizenry, setting them to work to, among other things, preparing the crystal balls.

It should be noted, however, that besides a single extraordinary frigid conversation with Aultcray and Myne, a conversation both had walked away from pale faced, that Mirellia had completely avoided her husband and eldest.

Probably for the best, Naofumi thought. If she gave into her, ahem, passion, those two might not walk away alive from the experience. He wouldn't really mind if that were to happen, but it would be a mighty inconvenience right about now.

"And with this basic plan we'll take control of the narrative," Naofumi eventually said.

Mirellia nodded. "We will also have to capture the other cities that house Broadcast Jewels. That way we can increase the range of our narrative's coverage to the entire country. But as you know that will have to wait. We have a far more pressing concern."

At those words, Naofumi's expression became decidedly neutral.

"The next Wave will hit in three days."

The words by themselves were simple, but together their meaning was heavy.

"And considering the intelligence we have been receiving lately," the queen continued. "It's guaranteed that said Wave will also include a confrontation with the Bow Hero and, more than likely than not, the Church of the Three Heroes."

"Great," Naofumi muttered. He had already been aware of all this, but just hearing the situation told plainly like that put him in a bad mood.

"Though this might prove to be a blessing in disguise."

Naofumi arched a brow at that. "And how do you figure that?"

Instead of answering, the queen picked up a rapport from the desk, flipped to the relevant page and handed it to the Shield Hero. Naofumi accepted it and read what the queen gave him.

His face soured.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"My Shadows have reported mass logistics and troop movements in Siltvelt heading towards the border with Melromarc," Mirellia said. "Coupled with an uptick in rhetoric of 'Melromarc being weak' and going to 'aid the Shield Hero', it all points towards one obvious conclusion: Siltvelt is preparing to invade as we speak."

Naofumi closed his eyes and groaned deeply.

"I hate this world…no offence."

"None taken. I'm well aware how unreasonable politics can be."

The queen watched the Shield Hero for a long moment, allowing him to process the news.

"That's why I said that this, the forced confrontation between the upper echelons of the pro-demi-human faction and the anti-demi-faction, could be considered a blessing in disguise," Mirellia uttered with gallows humor. "If we can take out the enemy leaders, the Bow Hero and the pope, this civil war will end up on the fast track of being resolved. More importantly, it'll also give us breathing room and allow us to deploy a good chunk of our forces to the border with Siltvelt, which would hopefully deter them from invading."

What the queen said was true. The reason they kept their forces consolidated was because it would allow them to best protect themselves if the opposing side's heavy hitters were to take to the field. If they took out said heavy hitters, however, there would no longer be a need to do so.

"We could even deploy a Hero or two to the border," Naofumi mused out loud.

"That's the idea," Mirellia confirmed. "Not you, of course. It would not do peaceful relations in the long run any good for the Shield Hero to become an enemy of Siltvelt."

Ah, politics, and all that it implied. How Naofumi truly detested it.

"…All of this still assumes that the leadership of the Church of the Three Heroes will be participating in the battle," the Shield Hero changed track.

"True, there's no guarantee of that, but our intelligence gathering has shown that all the Heroes are now aware of the Battle Formations function," Mirellia said, leaning back in her seat. "On top of that, the pope himself has taken to the field of battle with the Legendary Weapon Replica. Considering all that, I'm quite confident that the pope and his forces will also show up for the Wave."

"And if they don't, it just means that we will have an easier time defeating Itsuki," Naofumi said and nodded to himself.

That was all that there was to it. The pieces had been set and the die had been cast. The only thing left to do now was but to prepare.


In a dark room, light strobed and blue energy crackled, briefly lighting up the space, before dimming again.

"…So that was the last piece of the puzzle. How simple."

Shirou sat cross legged on hard stone floor. In front of him, laid out in a neat row, were weapons of every kind from swords, maces, to spears and back again. All of them glimmered, as if freshly forged, and their cutting edges had been sharpened to perfection.

Even a complete layman could tell: those weapons were nothing short of perfect.

And they had only just sprouted into existence.

Knock. Knock.

There came the sound of knocking on the door behind him.

"Shirou, you in there?"

"Yes, come on in."

The door opened and Raphtalia walked in.

"Do you have a moment? We have finished gathering all the materials."

"Hmm? Sure. I was just about done anyway," Shirou said and got up. As he did so, he waved his hand and the weapons on the ground dematerialized.

Raphtalia didn't react at all to the odd sight. She had seen it many times before as Shirou had been in a constant state of experimentation with his powers.

They left the room together and stepped out into the hallway. They chatted all the while as they traversed the corridor, a constant stream of people rushing past them on either side. Wherever they were, it was, much like the city itself, a bustling hive of activity.

A minute or so later, they entered an inconspicuous looking door. The door itself was normal, but the space behind it was massive, about twice the size of a gymnasium. It was filled to the brim with weapon racks and shelves, all of which were full with many different types of armaments, armor and a deluge of bottled potions.

This was the storehouse where they were gathering everything that they would need for the coming Wave. Besides preparing and distributing the crystal balls, it was only natural that they would use the resources of the city to prepare for the inevitable battle.

As Raphtalia had just said, their men had finished stockpiling everything that was needed.

"…" without a word, Shirou walked forwards.

Raising a brow, Raphtalia trailed behind him with a questioning look on her face.

"This place should be good," Shirou said as he came to a stop in the very center of the room.

"What do you..?" Raphtalia began to ask, only to pause as she saw Shirou pull out a Magic Water potion.

"Just a little experiment," he said.

Placing the Magic Water on the ground, he sat down, once again crossing his legs. He closed his eyes as his Circuits switched on, spinning up rapidly and producing magical energy. The magical energy produced by Shirou rose rapidly, until his Circuits became plainly visible on his skin.

Raphtalia's eyes widened as excess magical energy began to surge over Shirou's skin as he produced more and more at a rising clip, looking as if blue lightning was crawling all over him. She took a cautious step back as the spectacle intensified even further.

Hair set aflutter by the surging magical energy, Shirou breathed deeply. Cupping his hands in his lap, he concentrated the magical energy in front of him.

"I am the bone of my sword."

Raphtalia shivered at those words, the beginning to an aria she had never heard before. In response to said aria, Shirou's magical energy surged and condensed even further.

"All Blessing."

In an expanding sphere, Shirou's magical energy radiated outwards from his body. Said sphere of energy continued to expand at a relatively slow but steady pace, until the entire interior of the room and everything in it was held inside the aura Shirou had produced.

Said aura concentrated on and seeped into all the items – the weapons, armor and potions – and raised their inherent quality by at least a single tier. The aura dissipated as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind the now faintly glimmering objects.

Letting out a deep breath, Shirou relaxed and the visible Circuits on his skin disappeared. His internal body temperature had risen so high that the breath he had released came out in a white puff of fog.

Raphtalia looked at him in incredulousness as he chugged down the Magic Water potion.

"…What?" Shirou asked as he got up and noticed the look Raphtalia was giving him.

"What was that?"

"An area of effect Blessing."

"And since when could you do that?"

"Since the beginning, I guess, but I hadn't thought of using it as an area of effect ability," Shirou answered. The ability to apply Blessings was an inherent effect of his magical energy, and to imbue it into an object direct physical contact wasn't strictly necessary. All that was needed to do as he just did was sufficient concentration and enough magical energy to spare.

"…You don't see what you just did as anything special, do you?"

"Compared to Elrasla's mastery of Hengen Musou and Naofumi's Enhancement magic?" he returned. "What I just did wasn't anything noteworthy, no."

"I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on that," Raphtalia countered.

"At least, this way, we don't have to spend an entire afternoon doing this," Shirou said. Applying Blessings to everything within this room by hand would have been a slog.

"True," Raphtalia admitted.

"…Care for a spar?" Shirou suggested. He had been sitting down nearly the entire day and he felt it in his bones.

"Gladly," Raphtalia immediately took him up on it.

They found themselves an out of the way spot just outside the city limits, and spend the rest of the day training the time away with a high intensity spar.

Of course, Atla crashed said training regiment less than a half an hour in, demanding to be included. Naturally, Fohl was hot on her heels. It didn't take long for a tag team battle to develop, and Atla was quite happy to be teamed up with Shirou.

Fohl, on the other hand, was annoyed at this turn of events and took the opportunity to try and take said annoyance out on Shirou with a good few fists to the face.

He didn't get very far, but he got an A for trying.

All in all, for the party members of the Shield Hero, it was a fairly ordinary day.


Aultcray stood in the shadows of the cathedral in Clérigo City, watching as Elrasla trained her students in the art of Hengen Musou out on the wide open plaza that surrounded the grand building. His niece and nephew were among said students, which were currently paired up and in the middle of trading a rapid series of hand to hand blows with each other.

It was simultaneously an exercise in pure combat ability and an exercise in how to guide and safely expel the Life Force that one's opponent injected into you.

Even now, in spite of how similar Atla looked to his sister, he still had trouble coming to terms with it.

But there was no denying in his mind that Atla and Fohl were the children of his late sister.

Their features were simply too hauntingly familiar. And Atla's manner of speech, especially when she was reprimanding her brother, never failed to make his heart pang.

Bottom line, his sister hadn't been killed. After having sired children with a Hakuko from the lineage of Fayon, she had simply died from the illness that had plagued her since birth. As usual, the thought that he could have had many more years with his sister elicited a hot pinprick of anger in his breast, but every time he laid eyes on her children, it went away just as quickly as it came.

They were demi-humans, and Hakuko of Fayon lineage at that. The sight of them alone should have made him sick to his stomach. The fact that they were his sister's children should have only made it worse…but, somehow, all that he could feel towards them was-

CRUNCH!

Atla and Raphtalia's fists smashed into each other, the much shorter girl having to leap to meet the incoming blow head on. The sound of two Life Force enhanced strikes meeting was far louder then it had any right to be, reminiscent to the sound of a boulder exploding.

It put Aultcray's teeth on edge. He bit the inside of his cheek.

BOOM!

Forelegs smashing into each other with a terrible noise, Shirou and Fohl had blocked each other's Life Force empowered kick with a kick of their own. By all rights, both their legs should have broken.

Aultcray clenched his fists.

The Stats of the larger demi-humans were far higher, and it showed.

WHOMP!

In spite of the fact that Atla's hand to hand skills were far better the Raphtalia's, she still managed to get through Atla's guard and strike her shoulder.

Aultcray gritted his teeth.

Atla went flying, spinning as the blow sent her backwards. Not fighting her momentum, she came down on her shoulder, rolled and skipped back upright. With a spirited shout, Atla launched herself back towards her superior opponent.

"…Tch."

Aultcray spun on his heel, averting his gaze. He could no longer stomach the sight.

He left, unseen by those sparing in the plaza…but, nonetheless, he didn't leave entirely unnoticed.


"Ha…Ha…"

Rishia panted for breath.

Drip. Drip.

And blood dripped from her knuckles.

The sky overhead was dark, the stars blinking away and the moon was almost full. Night had fallen a long time ago, and most of her fellow students had long since gone to rest. Not her, however, as she knew that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep unless she was completely wiped.

"Yah!"

Her knuckles once again smashed into the large boulder before her, the Life Force enhanced blow making the tough rock crack in a spiderweb's pattern. The damage was only surface deep, however, and not nearly enough to destroy the boulder.

….Two days.

Two days until the next Wave.

Two days until she would be forced to confront Itsuki-sama.

Rishia felt sick to her stomach just thinking about it. The Hero who had saved her. The Hero who had betrayed her. The Hero who's sense of justice had allowed her to be tortured.

The Hero who she loved. Or…had once loved? She wasn't sure anymore.

"I'm not sure about a lot of things anymore."

Once, she'd had an iron clad faith in Itsuki and his justice, but that was now truly dead and gone. As a result she had been left floundering, hurt and weak, though thankfully not alone. The party of the Shield Hero had welcomed her.

Rishia murmured to herself as she continued to deliver blow after blow to the boulder.

"Find my own sense of justice, huh?"

That's what Shirou had said to her when he had convinced her to join them. Looking back, though he definitely meant everything he said, it was obvious that his words had been an attempt to give her a sense of footing, something to strive for so that she wouldn't do anything…rash. Again.

And she was grateful. It was because of Shirou that she still drew breath. She was certain of that.

Still, she hadn't been able to come up with a notion of justice that satisfied her.

She had nonetheless made progress, however.

Rishia's lips pursed, an angry look overtaking her features as the strength of strikes gradually seemed to increase.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

…She had seen many terrible things since joining up with the Hero of the Shield and his party. No matter how much her convictions had been shaken, there was one other thing besides her gratitude towards Shirou that she was certain of beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The anti-demi-human faction was evil. Plain and simple.

Like mentioned earlier, she had seen many terrible acts committed by the anti-demi-human nobles. It was only natural. In the campaign towards Clérigo city, they had invaded and occupied many territories under the control of the anti-demi-human faction. More often than not, they'd encounter some kind of affront aimed at the demi-humans.

Demi-humans living in slums. Demi-humans eating nothing more then the smallest of table scraps. Demi-humans being denied any kind of housing. Demi-humans being kept as illegal slaves, exploited both for cheap labor and sick amusement.

Rishia had been aware that demi-humans didn't have an easy time of it within the borders of Melromarc, but this entire civil war had shoved it in her face just how rampant the problem really was. It was beyond the pale.

Rooting out the anti-demi-human faction and the Church of the Three Heroes – the institution that gave said faction its legitimacy – that, if nothing else, would be justice. Even if she wasn't certain just what kind of justice she should pursue, there was most definitely justice to be found in eradicating the anti-demi-human faction.

Rishia was certain of it.

WHAM!-CRUNCH!

Though her mind had been going a mile a minute, Rishia's thoughts suddenly froze, as did her fist.

She watched, stunned, as the last blow she had delivered to the boulder caused it to crack even further. With a groaning sound, the boulder broke open, the damage that had been previously only been surface level deep all of a sudden reaching all the way to its core. The boulder fell apart, large individual chunks fallen to the ground with a heavy sound.

Drawing her fist back, she looked at the bloodied hand. A faint aura of pale energy roiled around it, her Life Force, which now responded eagerly to her mental command. Before, she had started to feel her Life Force, though it had been a muted sensation, and she could direct it with a lot of difficulty, but now it felt no different to her then magical energy: it had come into focus for her.

"Feh!" a sound of shock escaped her.

"Well done, Rishia. I knew you had it in you," a voice came from behind her.

"Feh!" another sound of shock. Rishia twisted around, wide eyed.

Shirou stood behind her. There was a pleased smile on his face as he beheld her progress.

"Shirou," Rishia said, calming down. "For how long have you been there?"

"For about a minute or two," he answered as he got closer. "You were training with such focus that I didn't want to interrupt."

"I see," Rishia nodded. "Uhm…"

"Why am I here?" Shirou guessed what she wanted to ask. "I was looking for you, actually, but unlike everyone else, you weren't in your quarters, so I came to find you."

"How did you find me?"

"An educated guess, mostly."

They were in one of parks inside of Clérigo city, hidden away in one of the dense thickets. There was no residence anywhere near close enough for the sound of training to disturb anyone.

Shirou had guessed that Rishia had gone out to train and had simply sought out the nearest spot she could do so undisturbed. Finding her hadn't taken all that long, either.

"But that isn't important," he said, eyes drifting over to the destroyed boulder. "Elrasla will be pleased. Only Atla had a quicker grasp on her Life Force then you did. And you managed to do so just in time for the next Wave. This will be a mayor boon for us."

"It's not that great," Rishia mumbled, going cherry red at the frank praise. "It's just me we are talking about."

"Yes, just you," Shirou nodded. "Another person in our roster who can entirely ignore Defence now. I mean, I don't think I need to explain how useful that is."

Rishia was well aware. The ability to ignore Defence, that by itself could circumvent the sheer gap in raw power implied by a Level gap of two dozen Levels. So long as the situation was right and one was an excellent fighter, of course.

As Shirou gave her an appraising look, Rishia blushed all the harder.

However, that blush abated as quickly as it came as her previous thoughts came back to the forefront of her mind.

"Shirou, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm? Sure. What is it?"

"What do you think justice is? How do you pursue it?"

Shirou started at the question, lips pursing as he heard it. He didn't immediately try and answer, allowing the question to linger in the air. Rishia looked at him expectantly, seeing the look of deep thought on Shirou's face.

"…I have been thinking about that a lot lately," he finally said. "In my opinion, saving everyone, finding a result where everyone could be happy, that's true justice. But that's impossible. In the end, the only people you can save are the one's who you chose to side with."

Rishia's eyes widened. The genuine pain in Shirou's words took her by surprise.

"…This whole civil war must be torture for you," she let slip.

Forced to fight people who became their enemy by pure chance who hadn't done anything obviously wrong, who likely hadn't done anything wrong, either. It was state of affairs that had been plaguing Rishia as well as she grappled with her own notion of justice, but they had to fight them nonetheless, if they wanted to protect and aid the people who they had chosen to side with.

"Yes," Shirou admitted without shame. "I don't like this civil war one bit."

Paradoxically, those words relieved Rishia. Itsuki had also been driven by his justice, but he had been so sure in what he considered justice that he hadn't hesitated to do and let terrible things happen. The fact that Shirou harbored doubts about how he was going about pursuing justice, that he second guessed himself, meant that he wouldn't do such terrible things unless truly necessary, if even then.

It relieved Rishia more then she cared to admit.

For a brief moment they shared a companiable silence, just thinking about the paradox.

"Why did you come find me tonight?" Rishia eventually asked.

Shirou cocked his head at the question. His hand dipped into his pouch and he pulled a certain object out of it.

Sky Emerald Choker – Enchantment: Agility Up (High) / Attack Up (Medium) / Health Regeneration (High) / Sacrificial Protection (ingrained spell) [Blessing: Medium → High / Low → Medium]

Rishia had appraised it before she even consciously realized it.

Shirou smiled at her reaction. The choker was a comparatively simple piece, a band of high quality black leather with a large emerald in the front that had been delicately cut into the shape of a flower in mid bloom.

"It's…"

As Rishia trailed off Shirou gently placed the choker around her neck, tying it securely. Rishia touched the emerald flower with the tip of her finger.

The Health Regeneration (High) kicked in, healing her injured knuckles. With a soft green glow, the skin over her knuckles was once again hale and without blemish.

Pulling out a handkerchief, Shirou took Rishia's hands and starting dabbing away the blood covering them. The gentleness of his touch made Rishia's blush return with a vengeance and she squirmed on the spot.

Focused on his task as he was, Shirou took no notice of this.

"There," he said as soon as Rishia's hands were clean. He looked up and smiled at Rishia, who could only look back at him with wide eyes.

"Feh," Rishia's customary sound escaped her as Shirou rubbed her head.

"It's late. We should get to bed. We have a lot to do tomorrow, after all," Shirou said, and he turned to leave.

Rishia was rooted on the spot, merely looking at Shirou's back as he walked away. Her face became redder and redder by the second and her gaze had grown half-lidded.

"You coming?"

"Feh!? Yes!" Rishia squawked, Shirou's words startling her back into motion. She ran after him.

Once she caught up to him, she secretly enjoyed walking by his side and how their shoulders almost but not quite rubbed up against each other.


The day was upon them. The Wave was upon them.

The battle with the Bow Hero and the Church of the Three Heroes was upon them.

"Quite the sight."

Well over twelve hundred men and women in knightly garb were marshaling in the plaza. Marching in closely packed ranks, they moved to and fro, collecting various armaments and resources as they operated with purpose.

Naofumi gave a non-committal grunt at Raphtalia's comment. His focus was more on the timer that was placidly counting away in the corner of his vision.

[00:22:68]

A little over twenty-two minutes until it was do or die yet again.

In spite of how the situation had even more riding on it then usual, Naofumi found he was not nearly as nervous as all the previous times.

The benefit of experience, I guess, he mused to himself.

Naofumi perked up as Aultcray came walking up, leaving the side of the Spear Hero, Myne and their party. The king downright ignored the Shield Hero, however, striding past him with not even a glance to spare. Turning around, Naofumi's eyes narrowed as he tracked Aultcray.

"Shirou-sama, please watch me during this battle. I'll show you how much I have improved."

"I'd much rather you take as little unnecessary risk as possible, Atla."

"As much as I hate to say it, I agree with Shirou on this-OWH!"

"You stay out of this, Onii-sama."

"Why am I the only one getting jabbed in the ribs like that! I was only agreeing with Shirou!"

"Hahaha! You little ones really are a riot! Hahaha!"

"Sometimes, Sadeena, I really hate your manner of speech."

"Feh! How can all of you be so relaxed? Shirou-sama, do you think that I'll ever..?"

"I'm sure that you'll be able to do so too in the future, Rishia. Have a little faith in yourself."

"I'm hungry."

"What a Filo thing to say! Hohoho!"

"Don't just laugh, Elrasla! When Filo says she's hungry, give her something to eat. Filo, here. Some dried jerky."

"Thanks, Mel-chan! You are the best!"

In spite of himself, Naofumi felt his expression soften as he listened to all his party members banter amongst themselves. That expression hardened again just as quickly as he watched Aultcray march up to them.

Said party members fell silent as the king got close.

"Father, what can we do for you?" Melty addressed him.

"Melty," the king smiled at his youngest. "I just want to exchange a few words with a few of you. That said, I also want to say that I am relieved that Mirellia agreed with me that taking you with us into the Wave isn't an option."

"Rub it in, why don't you," Melty muttered, face souring. Taking the crown princess into the field of battle, especially considering her relatively low Level, was a not a risk worth taking. Melty understood that, truly, but that didn't mean that she had to like it.

Having said that, Aultcray turned his attention to the Hakuko siblings. Fohl tensed as the king's gaze settled on him, but Atla merely cocked her head, looking entirely at ease.

"You, boy," Aultcray's eyes speared Fohl. "You better protect your sister. I promise you, you'll regret it if you don't."

Fohl blinked and his mouth moved in astonishment. Whatever he had expected the king to say, that wasn't it. He crossed his arms and looked away with a huff. "You don't have to tell me things I already know, old man."

Despite the disrespect, the king didn't look offended. There was even a glimmer of approval in his eyes.

"I don't need protection," Atla interjected, stomping her foot for emphasis.

"We're going to have to agree to disagree on that, Atla," Fohl said stubbornly.

As the siblings started to kibble, Aultcray turned on his heel and left. He had said what he wanted to say.

Shirou watched him go, a complex expression on his face.

"What was that all about?" Rishia muttered.

"The king's reasons are rather obvious, but it's not really my place to say," Shirou said.

In the meantime, their forces had continued to marshal and prepare. But a minute later, over twelve hundred men and women were lined up before them in closely packed ranks and formations.

Mirellia Q Melromarc, having donned her armor, stepped forwards as she faced her soldiers. Behind her on her left was the party of the Shield Hero plus Melty and Sadeena. Behind her on her right was the party of the Spear Hero plus Aultcray.

[00:07:17]

"I'll keep this short," the queen announced, expression austere and serious.

"The next Wave is upon us! Once we are on the field of battle, we'll also be confronted by the Hero of the Bow and whoever he has bespelled to stand at his side!"

The soldiers remained silent. They listened, grim but determined.

"We will split our forces! The king, the Spear Hero, his party and over three fourths of our forces will suppress the Wave! Aultcray will lead you!"

The queen indicated the king, who placed his hand in front of his chest and bowed his head. Next to him, the Spear Hero stepped forwards and brandished the Legendary Spear.

"I, the Shield Hero, his party and the remaining quarter of our forces will deal with the Bow Hero and his forces! I'll be the commander!"

Mirellia's eyes roved meaningfully over the gathered soldiers. Naofumi stepped forwards, hefting the Legendary Shield for everyone to see.

"The Sword Hero, his party and his own forces will also come to our aid! As soon as the Wave begins, they will be at our side! Their regular forces will aid with the suppression of the Wave! The Sword Hero himself and his party will lend their weight to defeating the Bow Hero!"

Unseen, but most definitely felt, was the energy beginning to exude from the soldiers. It was building and as tightly coiled as a whip.

"As soon as one side finishes their battle, they will come to the aid of the other! In other words, the quicker we can end our fights, the better off we will be!"

The queen stared hard at her troops.

"Fight well and fight hard! Fight beyond your limits! And if necessary, give your very lives! No matter what happens, I will make certain that we will be victorious! For the future of Melromarc!"

The soldiers didn't join in with their monarch's declaration. Instead, they all took a step forwards in perfect unison. The sound of their clacking armor was deafening on its own. Their expressions of grim resolve matched that of their queen.

[00:01:09]

"Stay save, Filo," Melty implored her friend, grasping her hand tightly.

"I will, Mel-chan! Let's eats lots of yummy food together later!" Filo smiled brightly.

[00:00:43]

"I'd like that."

A few deep breaths later…

Energy blanketed the land, blindingly bright. It went as soon as it came. Everyone sans Melty had disappeared, leaving the crown princess standing alone in the expansive plaza, her hand grasping at nothing but air.

"…"

Melty closed her eyes. Being left behind hurt more than she cared to admit.


It was the same as always. The cracked red mess of a sky. The terrible sound of a monstrous horde in the distance. The ominous red glow staining anything and everything.

There was one key difference, however.

"One Thousand Arrows!"

A wall of energy arrows, taking up their entire field of vision. They had blinked and said wall was all of a sudden bearing down on them.

"Meteor Shield!"

Naofumi acted on reflex. The force field of a shield Skill snapped into existence, grand in its scope as it was deployed. It had to be, since it had to protect well over a thousand people. It took a hefty chunk of his SP to do so.

The next few second were a flurry of maddened activity.

A thousand arrows pounded the Meteor Shield like a drum, the noise deafening. Behind the Hero of the Shield over a thousand feet stamped the ground as their army sought to orient itself.

As the Shield Hero, it was his duty to give their forces the time to do so.

That, and…

"All Zweite Power X! All Zweite Guard X! All Zweite Agility X!"

The magic radiated out from him, the casting as natural as breathing after hundreds of repetitions during life combat. Like usual, the boosts to Defence and Agility were universal, but the boost to Attack was restricted to their most powerful and important fighters.

"One Thousand Arrows! Piercing Eagle Shot!"

Another deluge of a thousand energy arrows made for a truly grand sight. A projectile of energy in the shape of an eagle soared in the wake of the wall of incoming arrows.

Behind that came yet another wave of arrows, physical ones at that, and these were even more numerous. Spells of every element and type were mixed in as well. Together this sheer concentration of attacks completely blocked out the view of their enemies.

"Naofumi!"

That was Ren. The Sword Hero was all of a sudden beside the Hero of the Shield.

"Let me help!"

The Legendary Sword was reared back.

"One Thousand Swords!"

Following the swing of the Legendary Sword, a thousand ghostly, blue outlined blades rocketed forwards, passing through the Meteor Shield like it wasn't even there.

Many people were quick to follow the Sword Hero's example, piling on.

"Light Swords!"

"Hidden Light Slash!"

"Zweite Wind Cutter!"

"Hengen Musou, Hidden Technique: Bullet!"

"Dritte Thunder Burst!"

"Hengen Musou, Hidden Technique: Large Caliber Piercing Bullet!"

"Hengen Musou, Hidden Technique: Flying Tiger Kick!"

"Dritte Icy Blowout!"

"Zweite Fire Ball!"

"Zweite Earth Buckshot!"

"Zweite Sonic Slash!"

"Zweite Mini Fireballs!"

"Zweite Icicles!"

It made for a grand sight as many of their prominent fighters, the entirety of Sword Hero's and Shield Hero's parties plus the queen, unloaded a massive wave of attacks in a ripple of fire.

KA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The sound of the two oncoming waves of attacks meeting and annihilating each other was beyond description. The only thing that could be said with any certainty was that the resulting explosions were more than enough to make the ground underneath one's feet feel like it was roiling like water.

The mere proximity of the explosion put an immense strain on the Meteor Shield, which now had a series of visible cracks running throughout it.

Smoke and ash enveloped everything. Outside the damaged Meteor Shield, the range of one's vision had dropped like a rock.

"How is it coming!?" Naofumi shouted.

"Almost done, you bastard!" Motoyasu called back

Their army was in the process of position itself. A distinct split had occurred, with roughly three hundred soldiers having formed packed lines behind the queen, the party of the Shield Hero and the party of the Sword Hero, who themselves were set to confront the Bow Hero and his forces.

Another and considerably larger force of soldiers were just about finished forming up into their own formations, directed under the skilled hand of Aultcray.

"Mirellia, we are done here! Heading out!" the king called.

"You better not fail!"

With Aultcray, Motoyasu and his party at the head of the pack, the Wave suppressing part of all their forces moved out. In the distance, the main crack in reality pulsed as it disgorged evermore monsters.

Naofumi watched intently, waiting for the immense smoke cloud to settle. A large part of their forces had just left the protective embrace of his Meteor Shield. Should the enemy target them, it would be his job to protect them.

"…"

To everyone's surprise, however, no such attempt was made. Nor did the enemy try and attack them again, either. The battle seemed to have briefly fallen silent, and the army sent to suppress the Wave had been allowed to leave unmolested.

"Form up! Fighters in front! Mages behind!"

Mirellia was quick to take advantage of the momentary breather. With the aid of Olberic and Eclair, who would be nominal commanders of their regular forces in this battle under the general guidance of the queen, they further refined their position.

"Ren," Naofumi called. "Ready for this?"

"…I feel like I have a rock in my stomach right now," Ren admitted. "But, I'll manage."

"Don't worry, Ren-sama. We will win this battle," Mai said. Isaac nodded along with that sentiment, Garett gave a thumbs up and a roguish grin while Ivan silently bared his staff and prepared to cast a spell at a moment's notice.

"Everyone else?"

"You already know the answer to that, Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia reproached.

Shirou had long since drawn his sword. Filo's claws clacked as she flexed them. Elrasla grinned and punched her fist into her palm. Atla clenched her fists, barely visible whisps of Life Force beginning to emanate from them. Fohl bared his fangs. Rishia's face was so hard, it could have been carved from stone. Sadeena spun her harpoon with practiced ease, looking entirely relaxed and ready.

"I know. I just like to make sure," Naofumi admitted.

A moment later, a harsh wind blew away the last dregs of the smoke cloud. The scene and the enemy host was all of a sudden laid bare to them.

They were out on a large open field of flat grassland with no trees or other greenery in sight. Nor was there any kind of city or town in the vicinity. They seemed to have been transported out somewhere into the wilderness of Melromarc.

Plus, there was no uninvolved third party to protect during this battle. Negative, the flat terrain gave them very little maneuvering options and would more or less force a head on slugfest.

"That's…a lot of opponents," Isaac said, swallowing.

Less then a hundred meters in the distance, separated from them only by swaying grass, was a horde of enemies neatly lined up. Itsuki stood out at the very front of said horde, the pope of the Church of the Three Heroes at his side. What stood behind them, however, was as grand as it was intimidating.

It was such a vast host of enemies that counting them was but a fool's errand.

In truth, the numbers would come out roughly like this: two thousand men and women in knightly armor, three thousand priests and nuns, and most surprisingly of all, ten thousand civilians.

The odd glint in all of their eyes would clue one in on the fact if these people were still of sound mind or not. Answer: they were not.

"What?" Fohl blinked. "Why would they bring a bunch of villagers..?"

The answer was obvious: as meat shields and sheer numbers to drown them in. Those that had figured out that fact didn't have the time necessary to explain.

"Charge! Attack! In the name of justice!"

Itsuki hollered, his impassioned command echoing over the field. The gaze he'd leveled at them was twisted and his smile was so wide as to be indistinguishable from the rictus grin of a mad beast.

In the dark red glow of the Wave, the Bow Hero looked nothing less than a demon.

The enemy horde roared in response. All the civilians rushed forwards in a mad dash. The pounding of all their feet made the earth vibrate.

The knights, all equipped with bow and arrow, pulled back their bowstrings.

The priests and nuns chanted like a choirs, hands clasped together as a bevy of spells were prepared.

"Mages!"

Mirellia, in spite of the intimidating sight, did not hesitate and was quick to act.

"Ceremonial Earth Magic! Create distance for us!"

The three hundred men and women that had stayed to confront the Bow Hero and his forces could in fact be divided in two distinct parts: knights and mages. One hundred knights and two hundred mages, to be precise. Those two hundred were all the mages that had flocked to their banner during the civil war.

Most importantly, as luck would have it, most of these mages specialized in Earth magic. And on top of that, these mages had trained and fought together long enough that large scale Ceremonial Magic was, in fact, within their capabilities.

Hands in their hundreds slammed into the earth, magical energy pouring into the ground.

"We command the origin of power! Land bereft by the chaos of war! Hear our petition and grant it! As the source of your power, we implore you! Open the way before us!"

The mages chanted in perfect unison. The ground underneath everyone's feet groaned in protest.

"Ceremonial Magic: Continental Cleft!"

With the sound of the earth ripping open, a massive chasm opened up in between the two armies. The two forces were split apart as what could have easily been mistaken for a god physically reaching down and ripping the ground open with their bare hands.

This prevented the brainwashed civilians from reaching them. It did not, however, deter the rest of the enemy from attacking.

"One Thousand Arrows!"

Another deluge of one thousand energy arrows, followed by even more normal arrows as the knights unloaded in one massed volley.

"Devout believers! We will purify the Devil of the Shield, the false Sword Hero and their wretched followers in holy light!" Biscas T. Balmus roused his fellow faithful. The Legendary Weapon Replica in his left hand glowed and took on the shape of spear.

Several eyes narrowed at the sight of the menacing weapon.

All of them had been briefed on the Legendary Weapon Replica, an item forged long ago in an attempt to rival the Legendary Weapons. It was said to have been lost, but clearly, the Church of the Three Heroes had merely secreted it away.

More importantly, the stories told of a weapon that only had a fourth of the potential compared to the real deal. On top of that, using the abilities that came with the weapon required the accumulation of magical energy equivalent to what a hundred average people could produce at any given moment.

Even now, as the priests and nuns prayed, they could see ethereal balls of golden magical energy feeding into the pope and his weapon. Said pope set his stance and made ready to use the Legendary Weapon Replica.

In response to the pope's words, the chanting of the priests and the nuns increased in intensity even as they continued to provide power to the Legendary Weapon Replica.

Up high in the sky directly above the parties of the Shield Hero and Sword Hero, a dozen magic circles of incredible complexity spun into existence.

Naofumi recognized it for what it was. The Ceremonial Magic spell: Judgement.

"Crap! Isn't this a little too much!"

For the Shield Hero, who had faced this attack once before, it felt overwhelming. He had grown quite a bit stronger since then. His Level was a bit higher and he had diligently spent every day further refining his Stats through the use of all the Strengthening Methods available to him, but he was sure that a dozen Judgement spells was well beyond his ability to block.

Luckily for Naofumi, he was anything but alone.

"Shield Hero-sama!" Mirellia called. "We will deal with the Judgement spells! You take care of everything else!"

"That's easy for you to say! How are you going to-!?"

WHISTLE-CRACK-BOOM!

An arrow shot upwards from the ground like a rising star, a visible slipstream of wind around it. Just as the magic circles in the sky grew ever brighter, one of said magic circles was struck by the arrow as it spun. The following explosion utterly wrecked the nascent Judgement spell.

A second arrow was already shooting upwards before the first had even detonated. Aiming skywards with the Elite Power Bow, Shirou had a third arrow nocked and ready.

"Ceremonial Magic counter strategies! Long range!" Mirellia commanded.

Ceremonial Magic was extremely powerful and could be a game changer during any fight, but as one should know, everything and anything has a drawback. For Ceremonial Magic, it was a comparatively long cast time, which left it vulnerable to being interrupted. Especially in an open environment.

"Meteor Shield!" a fearless grin overcame Naofumi's face as he refreshed the battered force field. The Skill had just come off cooldown. His sudden trepidation seemed to have vanished like wet snow before the sun.

As thousands of arrows once again struck the Meteor Shield like raindrops in a thunderstorm, those that could tried to interrupt the casting of the Judgement spells. As the magic circles were quite high up in the sky, it was more difficult than one would like, which was exactly the point.

On top of that, they had more things to worry about.

"Brionac!"

The pope swung the Legendary Weapon Replica, its spear-form glowing gold. A golden beam as wide and tall as a school bus erupted from it at the apex of its swing.

Ren stepped forward. The Legendary Sword was reared back yet again.

"Meteo-

"Don't bother!" Naofumi stopped him. "I've got this!"

"Naofumi-!"

"Trust me! I know what I can and can't take!" the Shield Hero asserted. "Air Strike Shield! Change Shield!"

The ethereal shield blinked into existence with a rush of air. It spun, twisting into a new shape, and took on the appearance of the Light Metal Shield. As always, this shield's anti-magic properties made it ideal for defending against spells of virtually every type.

The golden beam slammed against the Light Metal Shield, errant bands of light, sparks and superheated air blasting outward from where the two opposing forces met. Most people, if they had been standing close, would have been sent flying from the resulting air pressure alone.

CRUNCH!

Unfortunately, though the Skill had been strengthened by a healthy chunk of Life Force, it still wasn't enough to halt the golden beam unleashed by Brionac.

"Tch!" Naofumi gritted his teeth. Okay, he might have underestimated the power of the Legendary Weapon Replica a bit, but nonetheless, it was obvious that a majority of Brionac's destructive might had been spent getting through the Light Metal Shield.

Another Air Strike Shield should stop it cold in its tracks.

However, that would not be necessary.

"Little Naofumi, let me help!" Sadeena singsonged, sashaying forwards.

She spun her harpoon like a whirlwind with practiced ease, errant arcs of electricity sparking up and down her tall frame. Another step, another spin of her weapon, and then she all of a sudden jabbed her harpoon forwards.

"Dritte Lightning Blast!"

And released a third tier spell without any apparent preparation or chant.

A narrow lance of lightning shot forwards, as straight as an arrow. It plunged head-on into the oncoming but weakened beam of Brionac. The golden beam rippled, then exploded in a truly brilliant conflagration.

"Thanks!" the Shield Hero gave Sadeena a thumbs up over his shoulder.

Ignoring the byplay and without pausing, Ren finished the previously aborted attack.

"Meteor Sword!"

The wide blast of silvery energy released at the apex of the Legendary Sword's swing flew true, flying over the chasm in a subtle arc. In answer to the earlier attack, the blast was heading straight towards the pope and Itsuki.

The Bow Hero and Biscas watched the attack coming.

Neither seemed alarmed.

SCREECH-BOOM!

The Meteor Sword seemed to strike the general location of Itsuki and the pope, releasing a blinding explosion and kicking up a thick cloud of dust. The ground was ripped open violently and scattered by the Skill.

But when the air cleared, both Itsuki and the pope were unharmed. An hexagonal golden barrier with lots of complex geometric patterns on its surface had taken the blow instead, barely even flickering in defiance of a Life Force empowered attack by the Sword Hero.

The Ceremonial spell: Castle Wall. Another staple of the Church of the Three Heroes.

"…Tch!" narrowing his eyes, Ren reversed his grip on the Legendary Sword and brought the weapon back around. "One Thousand-"

All those not busy intercepting the Judgement spells once again followed the example of the Sword Hero.

"-Swords!"

In the wake of a thousand ghostly swords followed a deluge of spells and techniques, released by the party members of the Heroes. The first time they massed an assault like this, it was in order defend themselves. Now, they intended to batter down the opponent's defenses in a single overwhelming attack.

And their assault was not all. Over a hundred arrows followed, fired by their very own knights. And in the very rear came a cascade of spells, arching over the foremost fighters.

To everyone's surprise, the opposing side didn't even try and block the incoming assault.

KA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!-KA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!-KA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!-KA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!-KA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!

KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The veritable downpour of attacks hammered against the Castle Wall for well over a minute, making the magical fortress light up across the entire length of the enemy army.

However, to the shook of all, the Castle Wall held, taking everything thrown at it with no apparent trouble to speak of. Explosions peppered its entire length, but not once did the barrier break or even bend.

"…The hell?" Ren was honestly stunned, as were many others.

Their opponents did not give them a chance to digest their surprise, nor question what had just happened.

"One Thousand Arrows!"

"Brionac!"

ROAR!-ROAR!-ROAR!

The last three remaining Judgement spells reached completion, the rest of the magic circles having been prematurely destroyed. The three remaining magic circles spun rapidly, before opening up, and pillars of burning light lanced downwards.

"Intercept!" the queen's command was once again heard loud and clear.

"Ren! Take one of those beams! I will take the other two!" Naofumi shouted.

Following his words up with deeds, the Hero of the Shield was quick to call on his Skills.

"Second Shield! Third Shield! Change Shield!"

As a beam of silvery energy rose skywards to counter one of the golden pillars coming from above, the other two found their paths waylaid by ethereal shields that took on the form of the Light Metal Shield.

And as that was going on, a storm of arrows and the golden beam of Brionac was quickly closing the distance from the front.

"Light Swords!" Raphtalia shouted.

"Hengen Musou, Hidden Technique: Large Calibre Piercing Bullet!" Atla, Fohl and Elrasla screamed.

"Zweite Fireball!" Rishia added.

"Dritte Lightning Blast!" Sadeena piled on.

The spells and techniques met Brionac head on, seemingly fusing into each other just seconds before impact, creating a beam of their own. The two opposing forces met and annihilated each other, wind being kicked up into a fierce gale by the blowback.

"Filo commands the origin of power! Filo has read, deciphered and augmented a law of nature! Blow them all away with a harsh gale of wind!"

"I command the origin of power! I have read, deciphered and augmented a law of nature! Blow them all away with a harsh gale of wind!"

"Dritte Gust/Dritte Gust!"

Though it was not proper Combo Magic, the twin complimentary third tier spells launched by Filo and Ivan still amplified each other. Wind screeched with such force that it was deafening, and though it didn't deflect all of the energy arrows, only a pittance made it through to hit the Meteor Shield.

Overhead, Meteor Sword cancelled out one pillar of Judgement with yet another grand detonation. The other two were still trying to get through the Light Metal Shields.

Though which side would prove to be superior would forever remain a mystery.

WHISTLE!-WHISTLE!

Two expertly aimed arrows flew just around the Light Metal Shields, curving just enough to fly up and into the raging pillars of energy.

BOOM!-BOOM!

The following explosions ripped both the shields and the weakened Ceremonial Magic utterly apart.

"Nice one, lad!" Elrasla cackled. Shirou merely inclined his head.

As soon as that was done, however-

"Attack! Don't let up! Don't let the enemy take the initiative again!"

Mirellia was quick to issue further strident commands. Orders which she herself followed as she fired off a storm of icy shrapnel at the far Castle Wall barrier.

The others followed suite, launching spells and techniques in a constant stream. From behind them came arrows and even more spell fire. In the distance, the Castle Wall barrier glowed and rippled, but did not seem to have any problem repelling the assault.

"Queen, I don't think-" Ren began.

"I'm well aware, Sword Hero-sama," Mirellia cut across him. "The Ceremonial Magic spell: Castle Wall gets stronger the more magical energy it has. It takes a lot to power, but conversely, as long as it does have magical energy to spare, it can basically repel anything. In order to get through it, the common tactic used is a constant series of attacks to drain the enemy's magical energy as quickly as possible, not to bust through it with brute force."

"And the enemy has several thousand mages worth of magical energy!" Naofumi spat.

"With those numbers…" Raphtalia trailed off, even as she fired of yet another Hidden Light Slash.

"We might have the Shield Hero on our side," Mirellia confirmed, grim. "But when it comes to defence, the opposition has us beat."

It was to be expected, honestly. Heroes, when properly powered up, were without a doubt mighty. But they were still flesh and blood humans. It was folly to assume that a Hero could outmatch several thousand men and women on their own.

"But then why are we continuing to attack like this?" Fohl asked.

"Haven't you noticed, lad?" Elrasla grinned.

"What?"

"The enemy, they aren't using spells to attack anymore," Atla stated in realization.

That's right. No spells came arching over the enemy's frontline, and no magic circles were spinning up in the sky in preparation for Ceremonial Magic.

"The harder we hit our opponent's defences, the more magical energy it takes to repel our attacks," Sadeena said, leering at the far Castle Wall barrier. "Even with three thousand mages, our attacks must pack such a wallop that they've decided that wasting magical energy on offence to be foolish."

"Brionac!"

Except for powering the Legendary Weapon Replica, apparently.

"One Thousand Arrows!"

Their enemy could no longer attack with impunity. Only Itsuki and the pope were still free to do so, as were the bow wielding knights accompanying them. Arrows in their thousands, both normal and energy based, flew to meet them. A golden beam quickly overtook said arrows.

"Don't bother blocking those! Just keep attacking!" Naofumi said. All his Skills had just gotten off cooldown, and he intended to make full use of them.

This had just turned into slugfest and an endurance match. Whichever side could batter down the opposition's defences faster would come out the victor. In other words, whoever managed their energy resources better would win.

Sheer destructive power. Mind warping arrows. Chances are that, the moment one side got through, the battle would effectively be over.

The pro-demi-human faction had superior offence. The anti-demi-human faction had superior defence. If either side wanted to win, they had to leverage their advantage as much as possible. For the pro-demi-human faction, that meant freeing up as much room as possible to attack en masse and drain the priests and nuns of the Church of the Three Heroes of magical energy as fast as possible.

"Meteor Shield! Air Strike Shield! Change Shield!"

The newly refreshed Meteor Shield took the hailstorm of arrows admirably, its surface rippling, but showing little other reaction. The golden beam of Brionac found its way forwards blocked by the Light Metal Shield that had all of a sudden appeared in its path.

…The problem was this. Naofumi alone formed the backbone of their side's defence. He was but one man. The mages behind him might be able to help a little with their Earth magic, but he very much doubted their aid would be enough to tip the scales in their favor. The other side could call on the magic reserves of three thousand mages, after all.

Naofumi did have access to Soul Healing Water, a resource that he had become aware of after allying himself with Ren. That handy potion would allow him to restore his SP, which would extend the time he could defend everyone. But that's all it was: buying time.

Getting up close and personal was not an option, either. Not with that mob of ten thousand civilians that would drown them in innocent blood and bodies before they could close the distance.

No matter how many times the Shield Hero ran the numbers through his head, the equation did not end in favorable terms for them.

"…This isn't going to work, Naofumi!" Ren realized at the same time he did, even as he fired of yet another One Thousand Swords.

"I know!" the Shield Hero acknowledged, but then stalled out. He had realized the problem, but he didn't have a solution to offer.

"We need to take out the priests and nuns!" Mirellia gave them a path forwards. By bombarding the barrier, they were draining the enemy's energy reserves, but taking out their mages directly would cut off said reserves at the source. Going after the mages directly made sense. For all intents and purposes, in this battle, the enemy's main advantage wasn't the Bow Hero or even the Legendary Weapon Replica, but it was its host of mages.

Naofumi's face showed his frustration. "A nice thought, but those mages are behind that damned barrier! Reaching them won't be that easy!"

"…Hey, Isaac?" Ren blinked, turning towards his golden haired party member.

Isaac fired off several long lances of hardened rock, then looked towards the Sword Hero.

"Remember that one spell of yours? The one you used to get us out of that collapsed cave that one time?" Ren alluded.

Isaac blinked back at Ren. Then, his eyes widened.

"That…might just work."


"One Thousand Arrows!"

Itsuki fired off yet another storm of arrows. Beside him, his erstwhile companion the pope swung the Legendary Weapon Replica yet again, a golden beam following in the wake of his arrows.

This battle, unfortunately, hadn't been the glorious confrontation between good and evil in the pursuit of justice that he had been expecting. Neither had it been relatively quick. Before the battle had started, he had assumed that with their numerical advantage, army of mages, the Legendary Weapon Replica and himself, that whatever defences the opposition could bring to bear would be quickly routed.

That obviously wasn't the case. The blatant cheater and evildoer that Naofumi was, his Skills were grotesquely and unexpectedly tough. The defences he had expected to fall quickly stubbornly held up without any apparent trouble.

On top of that, their opponent's offence was insane. After only a single full exchange of fire, their mages had switched fully into powering the Castle Wall barrier plus powering the Legendary Weapon Replica. Mixing in offence of their own would drain their mages far too quickly, which might leave them vulnerable if the battle were to take too long.

This had turned into an endurance match, with both sides bombarding the other with as much as they could bring to bear.

"Sir Itsuki, don't lose heart!" Biscas offered, seeing Itsuki's heavy expression. "The infidels are mighty, but we will be victorious!"

"I don't have any doubt in our victory, friend. Justice is with us, after all!"

"Too true!"

"But this back and forth is not what I came out here for today!" Itsuki shouted, firing off another One Thousand Arrows. "This should have been a quick battle! Our enemy must have used some kind of foul trick to get this powerful! Like usual!"

"Your words ring true, sir Itsuki!" Biscas immediately agreed with the person who had stolen his mind. "But haven't you noticed, sir Itsuki? Enemy fire slackened a little while ago! In the end, no matter what foul trick our enemies use, it will not be enough to-!"

CRUNCH-BOOM!

An explosion resounded. That wasn't all that weird. Explosions had been going off for quite a while now. If it weren't for the fact that the explosion in question came from behind, neither Itsuki nor the pope would have given the sound any thought.

As it was, the pope went silent and Itsuki's eyes opened wide in fury.

Turning around, both were confronted by a large dust cloud rising in the very center of the formation made up out priests and nuns, the ever so vital mages to the rear of their army.

"I don't think enemy fire slackened because they couldn't continue at the rate they were going," Itsuki said with barely restrained wrath.

Off in the distance, too far for the Bow Hero's ears to hear, but close enough for him to see…

"Dritte Chain Lightning! Dritte Lightning Rain!"

Lightning crackled madly, jumping from priest to nun back to priest as it quickly spread like some virulent, infectious disease over the formation of mages. Tightly packed as they were, more than two hundred priests and nuns were fried to a blackened crisp in the blink of an eye.

Worse, up above, a sphere of coruscating lightning swelled into existence. Bolts fell from it like rain in a wide spread, spreading the devastation over an even greater area.

"Fried zealot, served up hot!" Sadeena chortled, standing in the very center of said devastation.

The cloud of dust behind her was all of a sudden blown away, revealing a deep hole where the demi-human had appeared from moments ago. The hole, a tunnel they had made to get behind the Castle Wall barrier, had opened up dead center in the formation of mages.

Four other figures followed her, leaping from the hole in every direction.

"Light Swords!"

"Hengen Musou, Hidden Technique: Bullet!"

"Hidden Light Slash!"

"Zweite Earth Buckshot!"

Shirou, Rishia, Raphtalia and Isaac used their techniques and magic liberally, targeting every priest and nun within sight. Having had Naofumi's Enhancement magic freshly reapplied before being sent on this spoiling attack, every hit, no matter how minor, would kill nine times out of ten.

"Dritte Thunder Burst!" Sadeena added insult to injury.

As a huge blast of lightning fried even more priests and nuns, Rishia was quick to stomp the ground. In spite of her relative weakness, it was because of this spell that she and Isaac could perform that she had been sent along on this assault.

"Zweite Earthen Path!"

Another hole opened up in the ground. Rishia was quick to dive into it, the others hot on her heels as they beat a hasty retreat underneath the soil.

And not a moment too soon. A silvery beam of energy struck where they had been standing a moment ago, exploding with a brilliant flare of light and a shockwave of air.

"…Tch!" Itsuki spat out a wordless curse.

"Earth magic! Create tremors and kill those infidels!" Biscas took over, issuing a strident command that echoed.

Words of power were spoken and feet stamped the soil as those that could perform earth magic did so. Over a large area, the earth quaked and trembled. Dust clouds rose up as the soil shifted and broke apart in certain areas.

After that, except for the explosions hammering the Castle Wall barrier in the distance, everything for a brief moment fell silent.

Itsuki allowed himself to hope.

CRUNCH-BOOM!

A hope that was swiftly dashed.

Another explosion, far off to the right but still within the formation of priests and nuns. From within said cloud of dust lightning reached out every which way with speed that boggled the mind, frying mages in their dozens every second. Spells and techniques followed the lightning out of the dust cloud, wreaking even more devastation.

The Bow Hero quickly pivoted and fired off another Meteor Arrow. The priests and nuns, having grown wise to what was going on, were quick to counter attack and lob every manner of spell at the attackers. However, by the time their attacks would have reached the enemy, they had long since disappeared back underground.

"Spread out! Don't bunch up! Try and feel them coming!" Biscas tried a different tactic.

Showing a remarkable amount of discipline, the priests and nuns spread out, creating distance in between all their fellows. Even as they were doing that, however-

CRUNCH-BOOM!

Another explosion, to the far left this time. Casualties this time were less, but still substantial as magic and techniques reached out greedily to reap a bloody toll of death.

Again, they counter attacked. Again, their enemy was long gone by the time their attacks would have reached them. This process repeated a couple more times, the result being the same each time.

With remarkable swiftness over eight hundred priests and nuns found death's embrace.

"This isn't going to work!"

Itsuki yelled, incensed at what was going on. This cowardly tactic of the enemy was butchering the backbone of their forces!

"Everyone! Use Enhancement magic to raise your Defence as high as it can go!"

Even as he said that, the Bow Hero drew back his bow string and aimed towards the sky.

"Biscas! Lower my Attack Stat!"

"Sir Itsuki?"

"Just do it! Trust me!" Itsuki yelled as an energy arrow manifested, already nocked to his bow.

"I-yes! Understood!"

Biscas agreed. He extended a hand to the Bow Hero.

CRUNCH-BOOM!

In the distance, the soil once again burst open and death's greedy claws reached out from it in the form of lightning, earth, light and Life Force, claiming even more lives.

"Zweite Power Down!" Biscas casted, and Itsuki's Attack Stat was lowered by a sickly gray aura of magical energy. As that was going on, the Guard Enhancement spell was cast en masse in order to raise everyone's Defence Stat.

"One Thousand Arrows!"

A thousand arrows were fired skyward. A moment later, they came back down like rain in a wide spread over the entire formation of priests and nuns. Many were struck, but thanks to their heightened Defence and Itsuki's lowered Attack, casualties were minimal.

Of course, the arrows had completely missed their attackers. They had long since retreated back underground by the time the arrows had come back down.

But hitting them had never been the point.

Itsuki grabbed Biscas by the wrist.

"Friend, prepare yourself."

The pope seemed to realize what Itsuki was planning. The Legendary Weapon Replica glowed and took on its sword-form.

CRUNCH-BOOM!

Again, the soil burst open. Again, lightning was quick to reach out and claim lives, however-

"Arrow: Translocate!"

In a flash of light, Itsuki and the pope disappeared.

Raphtalia reared back her blade, light magic and Life Force already coating it in preparation for a devastating technique.

An energy arrow lodged in the ground to her right glowed, after which it disintegrated. In yet another flash of light, Itsuki and the pope appeared on Raphtalia's right flank, who's eyes widened.

The first wave of lightning had already passed. All of a sudden, even as the lightning was still frying priests and nuns to a crisp, the Bow Hero and the pope were right on top of them.

Raphtalia visibly faltered.

"Bunker Buster!"

"Phoenix Blade!"

A green tinted energy arrow took aim for Raphtalia's chest. Scarlet fire in the form of a phoenix took flight and followed in the wake of the arrow, an imitation Skill launched by the Legendary Weapon Replica.

"…Tch!"

Caught flatfooted though she was, Raphtalia was quick to twist her hips and turn towards the newly materialized threat. Her blade, having already been reared back, was brought to bear just as quickly.

"Hidden Light Slash!"

Over Raphtalia's shoulders-

"Light Swords!"

"Hengen Musou, Hidden Technique: Large Caliber Piercing Bullet!"

Came a wide spread of light elemental swords and a large, oscillating sphere of Life Force. Before all the attacks could meet, Raphtalia was already in the process of jumping back.

BOOM!

The shockwave produced by following explosion nearly sent Raphtalia flying in an uncontrolled tumble regardless, though she managed to ride it out and come back down on her feet.

And it was good that she did. Out of the smoke from the explosion came a dozen energy arrows.

"Zweite Light Shield! Zweite Light Shield!"

Rishia was all of sudden beside Raphtalia, hand held out, as if to ward away danger. Stacked on top of each other, two screens of hardened light manifested in front of them.

The energy arrows shattered the first barrier, but the second barrier held.

"Isaac!"

"On it! Zweite Earthen Pa-"

"I won't let you escape again! Dritte Holy Spears!"

Just as he was about to stamp the earth and open up an underground path, Isaac had to abandon the spell and jump back as a straight and narrow shaft of light erupted out of the soil and nearly ran him through. As a matter of fact, dozens of such shafts erupted out of the ground, so the entire party had to abandon the idea of escape in favor of dodging.

"Zweite Light Shield! Zweite Light Shield! Zweite Light Shield!"

As they did so, Rishia spammed the Light Shield spell, protecting them from a continues hail of energy arrows.

"Light Swords!"

"Dritte Thunder Burst!"

"Hidden Light Slash!"

As soon as they had dodged the pope's magic, Shirou, Raphtalia and Sadeena counter attacked.

The smoke from the previous explosion cleared, allowing them to see Itsuki and the pope again. Both of them clearly saw the trio's overpowered attacks coming, but neither tried to dodge.

And they didn't need to.

"Figures," Shirou muttered, as he saw their attacks get stopped cold in their tracks by the Castle Wall barrier.

His eyes darted around. The priests and nuns that had been running away earlier had returned. They now surrounded them, hands still clasped in prayer as they powered the Castle Wall barrier. Now, the army of mages still powered the barrier defending against the assault of their main army, but they had also generated another stretch of barrier around Shirou and his team, hemming them in.

"Hahaha!" Itsuki laughed raucously. "No more running for you! No matter how hard evildoers try, you can never escape the lang arm of justice! Now, we will-"

"Hidden Light Slash!" Shirou and Raphtalia mirrored each other.

"Hengen Musou, Hidden Technique: Large Caliber Piercing Bullet!" Rishia added on to it.

"Zweite Earth Buckshot!" Isaac joined in.

"Dritte Thunder Burst!" and Sadeena finished.

The Bow Hero choked and stumbled back a step. Even if he knew he was protected by the Caste Wall barrier, the sudden continuation of the assault caught him flatfooted. Even the pope flinched as the attacks surged against the barrier in front of them.

"You dare-" Itsuki started to rage.

"Shut your god damn mouth, Itsuki-sama!"

Those words, filled with anger, were not spoken by Raphtalia, Isaac, Sadeena or even Shirou. No, those words came from an enraged looking Rishia. Having the Bow Hero all of a sudden in her face seemed to have caused something to snap in the girl, and her enraged words were underscored by what would have been a Large Caliber Piercing Bullet to the face, if it wasn't for the Castle Wall barrier.

"Rishia, how low you have fallen! To turn your back on true justi-"

"I said, shut your mouth, false Hero! You wouldn't know true justice if it smacked you across the face!"

Bullets of pure Life Force hammered the barrier with a fury that would have surprised anyone that had any passing acquittance with the usually mild mannered girl. Light elemental sword techniques joined in, as did a huge blast of lightning that crackled along nearly the entire length of barrier trapping them.

"Isaac!" Shirou shouted.

"I've been trying! The spell isn't working! They must have used magic or something that prevents us from escaping underground!"

Then, they were well and truly stuck. And in that case…

"Attack! Use everything you have! Hold nothing back whatsoever!" Shirou raised his voice. A Hidden Light Slash far larger then normal leaped from his blade's cutting edge, and struck the barrier with such force that it made the very air tremble.

Life Force, light, lightning and earth started hammering the barrier with an unrepentant fury.

"You vicious, irredeemable louts! How dare you not listen to justice made manifest!" Itsuki raged, spittle flying from his lips. "You might have taken out nearly a third of our mages, but do you really think you have any chance of getting through the Castle Wall barrier!?"

Shirou's narrowed eyes met the Bow Hero's. He raised his hand and gave a loud snap of his fingers.

BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!

A dozen or more explosions ripped through the open field, so many of them in fact that said explosions were difficult to count. The explosives in questions had been planted underground as they had employed their hit and run tactic earlier. Priests and nuns in their hundreds were sent flying in gruesome, bloody chunks.

Itsuki could only stare in open mouthed shook. All of a sudden, their casualties had increased to the point that over half of their mages now laid dead.

"You-!"

"I'll say it one more time! Shut your damn mouth, Itsuki-sama!" Rishia raged, yet another Large Caliber Piercing Bullet leaping from her fist. Again, if it wasn't for the Castle Wall barrier, the Bow Hero would have had a rather unpleasant experience.

Surprisingly, Itsuki did stop talking for a moment. His eyes darted around, a clear shine of panic to them. Half of their mages, dead. In the distance, the assault of the main enemy army against the main part of the Castle Wall barrier continued unabated. Their knights were completely out of position and would take some time to make their way here. Moreover, there was now an extra length of Castle Wall barrier that this small enemy team were hammering away at like men and women possessed.

In his mind, he didn't like the conclusion he came to: the advantage had decidedly shifted into the enemy's favor.

"Attack! Kill them all!"

These enemies to justice had to die. Right now!

Itsuki was quick to follow his own orders.

"Anti-Zweite Power Down!" Biscas cancelled out the spell that had lowered Itsuki's Attack Stat just a few moments ago.

"Arrow Rain!"

In spite of the fact that they had stopped attacking earlier to conserve their magical energy, the priests and nuns unloaded spells into the circular area that they had trapped their opponents in. If they could just kill these few enemies quickly..!

Shirou and co. dodged Itsuki's arrows, but didn't bother trying to dodge the spells. With said spells coming from every direction, it would have been fool's errand anyhow.

CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG-CLANG!-CLANG!

The no damage indicator rang out several dozen times as they were all peppered by spell after spell.

"W-what!?" Itsuki spluttered.

Naofumi's Enhancement magic was still active, after all. As it was, their Defence Stat was so high right now that they could outright ignore most attacks. Only the attacks from the pope with the Legendary Weapon Replica might be able to harm them now. And they had dodged Itsuki's arrows because of an abundance of caution, taking into account their mind warping powers.

Even now, the bow Hero had that twisted bow equipped. A Cursed Series weapon that looked like an angel's wings, but also had distinctly demonic motifs and gruesome looking spikes.

None of them wanted to run the risk of being brainwashed.

"Enhancement Magic!"

The pope ordered. Variations of the Power spell were deployed en masse, raising the Attack Stat of everyone on the Bow Hero's side considerably.

As the Legendary Weapon Replica was reared back, it assumed its spear-form.

"Brionac!"

"Spread Strafing!"

A golden beam of burning light. A constant stream of Skill-empowered arrows, instead of a dozen arrows in a single shot. Another deluge of spells from every direction.

They didn't try and block any of those attacks. Instead, they continued to hammer the Castle Wall barrier with everything they had. Light, Life Force, lightning and earth hammered practically every inch of the barrier constantly.

Unseen by the enemy, a marble hidden in Shirou's hand colored a vivid crimson. In the distance, their main army redoubled their assault across the main section of the Castle Wall barrier.

Unnoticed by the main players of the battle, priests and nuns were starting to collapse at an increasing rate, their magical energy utterly spent.

"Zweite Earth Pillars!"

Isaac stomped the ground. The earth groaned, then all of a sudden shot upwards in the form of long pillars, carrying them all up high. In spite of their sudden change in position, a few spells with aiming properties still managed to hit them, only to produce the no damage indicator sound again.

Itsuki's arrows missed them entirely. The Bow Hero was quick to adjust his aim as the beam of Brionac burned through the base of the earthen pillars like a hot knife through butter, causing them to collapse and sending Shirou and everyone else falling back to the ground.

"I've got you now!" the Bow Hero taunted as he fired more arrows at his midair opponents.

"Light Swords! Light Swords!"

Shirou spun twice, even as he continued to fall. His sword whistled as he swung it, two dozen light elemental swords raining down towards the rising arrows. Much like the battle back at the miniature fortress Melty had been imprisoned in, instead of the attacks canceling each other out, the Light Swords ripped through Itsuki's arrows and would have struck the Bow Hero if it wasn't for the Castle Wall barrier.

They all landed on the ground, bending their knees to absorb the impact.

"Goddamn it!" Itsuki cursed, spittle once again flying from his lips.

The Bow Hero looked hatefully at Shirou. In spite of the fact that Rishia had 'betrayed' him, it was this demi-human that infuriated him the most. It was Shirou that had beaten Itsuki before. It was Shirou that had looked down on Itsuki before. It was Shirou who had said his notion of justice was wrong before. It was Shirou who had told Itsuki that he didn't understand what it meant to be a Hero before. And now, it was once again Shirou who was waylaying him at. Every. Bloody. Opportunity!

"Debuff Magic!"

Biscas ordered as the Legendary Weapon Replica changed into the form of a bow.

"Mirage Arrow!"

The pope shimmered, then seemed to disappear. A few moments later, multiple copies of Biscas could be seen in every direction, mixed in with his forces behind the Castle Wall barrier. The Legendary Weapon Replica once again took on its sword-form as all the copies of Biscas reared the weapon back.

"Phoenix Blade!"

From every direction, fire in the form of a Phoenix plunged down on them. As that assault began, gray colored spells were lobed at them in the wake of said fire. The Debuff magic that the pope had ordered moments ago.

"Meteor Arrow!"

Itsuki joined in. A silvery beam of raging energy, fired directly at Shirou.

"Allow me!"

Sadeena didn't look worried one bit as she all of a sudden took center stage. She spun her harpoon like a whirlwind, errant electricity once again dancing up and down her frame. Raising her harpoon above her head with both hands, she then plunged the weapon down into the soil with eyewatering force.

"Dritte Lightning Barrier!"

A barrier of crackling lightning suddenly surrounded them all.

Beside her, Raphtalia's eyes were rapidly darting in their sockets as she studied every fiery phoenix for the most minute of details.

"That's the real one!" Raphtalia pointed towards one of the fiery phoenixes coming from their left. Her familiarity with illusion magic had allowed her to pick out the genuine article out of all the fakes.

"Thanks, little Raphtalia! That helps a bunch!"

Without pause or hesitation, Sadeena stabbed her harpoon at the incoming phoenix.

"Dritte Thunder Burst!"

A huge sphere of lightning met the fiery phoenix head on, cancelling out the powerful imitation Skill. And as that happened, the Debuffs spells ran into Sadeena's barrier of lightning. Said spells fizzled out harmlessly as soon as they made contact.

"Hidden Light Slash!"

A Hidden Light Slash launched by Shirou sliced into Itsuki's Meteor Arrow, cutting quite deep into the beam before destabilizing and exploding, destroying both attacks.

Itsuki gritted his teeth so hard that his gums started to bleed.

Sadeena flicked her wrist. In response, the barrier of lightning suddenly launched itself forwards in every direction. The lightning in question struck every inch of the Castle Wall barrier around them with an audible gong and the unmistakable hiss-snap of electricity.

"Hidden Light Slash!"

"Hengen Musou, Hidden Technique: Large Caliber Piercing Bullet!"

"Light Swords!"

"Zweite Earth Buckshot!"

The others once again took the opening for what it was and unloaded another series of attacks into the barrier surrounding them. With increasing speed, priests and nuns were starting to drop.

With another shimmer, the pope reappeared beside the Bow Hero. Much like Itsuki, the man in question did not look happy.

"Ceremonial Magic!" he ordered with an even more mad glint in his eyes. "Burn these affronts to god and sir Itsuki to cinders!"

The choirs of the priests and nuns rose in volume and intensity. Up high in the sky, a single magic circle of gargantuan proportions spun into existence. Compared to the magic circles seen in the earlier part of the battle, this magic circle was more than thrice the size.

And it was so high up, in fact, that none but Shirou had a chance of hitting it and disrupting the highly complex magic circle before it reached completion.

With an audible sound, the bowstring of the Elite Power Bow was pulled back as an arrow was nocked.

"Like hell! Arrow Lock! Slipstream!"

Itsuki declared. Aiming skyward himself, an energy arrow manifested. Said arrow of energy changed color twice as the Bow Hero called on the power of two of his Skills.

TWANG!-TWANG!

Shirou and Itsuki fired at the same time. The air screeched as both arrows soared skywards with enhanced speed. The target of Shirou's arrow was the magic circle. The target of Itsuki's arrow was Shirou's arrow, as the arrow in question moved to intercept the other.

"Quick! Close off the sky!"

The pope followed up. The choirs rose and then waned again. The Castle Wall barrier rippled, and then another section of said barrier extended overhead from all sides, enclosing Shirou and co. completely.

WHISTLE!-BOOM!

Overhead, Itsuki's arrow, after a harrowing and narrow chase, caught up with Shirou's arrow and struck it midflight, setting off its Enchantment of Explosion. The shockwave of said explosion bled off into nothingness long before it would have reached its target.

"…" Shirou's lips became a tight frown.

As if to declare victory, the overhead glow of the magic circle grew brighter and harsher.

"HehehehahahaHAHAHA!" Itsuki burst out laughing with a demented belly laugh.

Even as Itsuki laughed ever harder, the slowly building choirs started to overtake it in volume.

"This is my victory! No, this is a victory for justice itself!" the Bow Hero declared, nonetheless still quite audible over the building crescendo.

"…Tch!" Shirou spat something underneath his breath.

"What was that?" Itsuki asked mockingly, leaning forward with an eager, twisted grin. "What did you tell me the last few times we met again? That I didn't know what it meant to be Hero? That the justice I sought was just an arrogant attempt to be right at all times? Can you say those words to me now!? Repeat them, I dare you! Try, and I will enjoy watching you choke on them! In the end, my justice has proven itself superior!"

Shirou tilted his head, just looking at Itsuki. Slowly, his frown fell away as a chuckle escaped him.

"…What was that?" the Bow Hero asked dangerously.

"He is just laughing," Rishia cut in. "At what a fool you are, Itsuki-sama."

The Bow Hero's thunderous eyes turned towards Rishia, but his attention was dragged back to Shirou as he chuckled even louder.

"…There are several things I have learned about justice recently," Shirou said, still chuckling. "Justice can be used as a vindication, a weapon to be wielded against one's enemies. Justice changes its shape depending on where you stand. And if you pursue justice, you sometimes have to harden your heart to others, in order to protect your justice and those who you have chosen to side with."

Abruptly, the chuckling stopped. Shirou gave the Bow Hero an expression that was for him very uncharacteristic indeed: a sneer of utter contempt.

"I want to add an addendum to that list," he continued. "Have you ever beaten us or performed better than us, huh, Itsuki? The tournament back in Zeltoble. The Wave with the Soul Eater. When we rescued Melty. Each and every time we proved ourselves the better fighters. Now, for once, you think you have us driven into a corner, and you think you have already won?"

Clink.

With a soft sound, Shirou sheathed his blade.

"Power without justice is merely violence, but justice without power is empty!"

Shirou placed his hands together, seemingly grasping at nothing.

"You gain a little power, and all of a sudden you let it go to your head even more than usual! With that meager amount of power of yours, your justice is still empty, Itsuki! And words of victory are cheap! If you truly believe yourself superior to us, than stop your prattling and prove it!"

In response to his words, a wave of corrupted power rolled off the Bow Hero. Itsuki looked mad, beyond mad even, but instead of lashing out with his words, he merely became icy. Shirou's words had driven him beyond rage and into an ice cold fury.

"Prove myself superior?" Itsuki asked quietly. "Oh, I will. Don't you worry. I will prove that my justice is superior to yours. The justice of some two-bit pretend hero like you."

With that vow, the Bow Hero raised his weapon and took aim. The energy arrow that manifested was focused directly between Shirou's eyes.

Up above, the glow grew harsher still, to the point that it burned the skin. The magic circle for Ceremonial Magic was about to reach its zenith.

"Shirou!"

"I'll take care of the Judgement spell! Can you guys deal with the rest!?"

"Who do you take us for? You can count on us!" Sadeena laughed without even a trace of fear. Static electricity once again started sparking up and down her tall frame.

"We will not let Itsuki-sama have his way!" Rishia declared.

Raphtalia and Isaac readied themselves. Neither showed even a hint of trepidation.

In turn, Shirou felt any kind of apprehension on his end melt away. Instead, he blocked everything and anything else around him out.

"Now! Brionac!"

The pope's command was barely audible over the maddeningly loud choirs. At the same time, he acted, swinging the spear-form of the Legendary Weapon Replica.

Itsuki let go of the bowstring. The energy arrow turned silver and swelled.

"Meteor Arrow!"

From the front came a massive golden beam and a more narrow silvery one, side by side. At the same time, the priests and nuns of the Church of the Three Heroes showed their uncontested skill, lobbing spells of every type and variety even as they completed Ceremonial Magic at the same time.

"Dritte Thunder Burst! Dritte Lightning Barrier!"

"Light Swords!"

"Hengen Musou, Hidden Technique: Large Caliber Piercing Bullet!"

"Zweite Earth Buckshot!"

A barrier off coruscating lightning enclosed them. A humongous ball of compressed lightning, light elemental swords, a massive and oscillating sphere of compacted Life Force and a shotgun-style spray of hardened pebbles were launched to meet the incoming Brionac and Meteor Arrow beams.

Shirou took no note of this. He had focused all of himself on the magic circle dominating the sky above

He took a deep breath, released it.

"…"

Speeding up all processes, Shirou disguised that moment in eternity.

Magic Circuits spun up and became plain on his skin.

"Trace, on."

His hands closed around the hilt of a sword that wasn't there.

Judging the concept of creation. Hypothesizing the basic structure. Duplicating the composition material. Imitating the skill of its making. Sympathizing with the experience of its growth. Reproducing the accumulated years. Excelling every manufacturing process. Projecting the resulting image. Blessing the product in the midst of its creation.

The fruit of all his training, in this world and the one before it. Seven steps of a mental process he had dubbed Tracing, an eight step of Projecting the finished product into existence, and a final ninth step that took advantage of his Divinity born ability to Bless items, raising the final product's quality to be every bit the equal of the original.

Up above, the magic circle opened up and unleashed Judgement upon them all.

Shirou reared back a nonexistent sword over his head.

"I am the bone of my sword."

Blue magical energy crackled and surged around him, collecting in his hands. His hands closed around said energy, and the moment he did, it took the shape of the image in his mind.

A flash.

A second Legendary Weapon Replica was born.

"Brionac!"

And as Shirou swung that weapon skywards, it changed from its sword-form into its spear-form.

The golden beam released by this was incomparable to the one unleashed by the pope. No matter how much magical energy the pope got from his followers, in the end, the attacks released by the Legendary Weapon Replica were still dependent on the Stats of its wielder.

The pope was mighty in his own right, even without all the Buffs that had been applied to him.

But compared to Shirou? The companion of a Hero and who's Stats were currently under the influence of the Enhancement magic of the Shield Hero?

It was like comparing a water pistol to a firehose.

A golden beam rose skywards. It was more narrow than the Judgement spell coming from above, but in the end, it mattered little.

The Castle Wall barrier that had closed off the sky to them fell away moments before Judgement would have made contact, but again, it mattered very little in the end. No sooner had Judgement crossed that threshold, and the golden beam coming from below forced it back. There was a brief struggle, but after a moment, Shirou's Brionac forced it even further back before punching clean through it.

KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The resulting explosion was blinding, and made the Castle Wall barrier tremble to its very foundation.

"…"

The fact that Sadeena, Raphtalia, Rishia and Isaac had successfully warded away all other attacks in that moment seemed to be completely forgotten by both sides. All that everyone could do was look skyward, stunned.

Only Shirou wasn't frozen in disbelief. He took a step forward, and-

"Brionac!"

Unleashed another Brionac, straight at Itsuki and the pope. For all that the Legendary Weapon Replica was made to imitate the Legendary Weapons, it was not, in fact, a Legendary Weapon. Its abilities were not actually Skills, but just imitations of Skills. To imitate a Hero's Skills while not being a Hero required a huge amount of magical energy to compensate, but so long as you could provide said magical energy, it also meant that you could spam the abilities of the Legendary Weapon Replica as required.

And Shirou, in certain limits, could do so. After his growth in Levels and how high his Stats had gotten under the influence of the Legendary Shield's Stat growth adjustment ability, his Magic Circuits were far beyond what one would usually consider extraordinary.

"B-Brio-"

"P-Piercing Eagle Sh-"

Itsuki and Biscas tried to counter, but everything had happened so quickly that they barely had any time to react. The fact that Shirou's impossible actions made it feel like the ground had fallen away underneath their feet didn't help.

GONG!

The beam of Brionac struck the Castle Wall barrier, making the entire structure ring like the world's largest temple bell.

The others joined in, spells and Life Force pounding seemingly every inch of the protective barrier. In the distance, their main army redoubled its assault.

At an ever increasing rate, priests and nuns started to drop like flies.

"Phoenix Blade! Phoenix Blade! Brionac!"

Circuits burning scalding hot in his flesh, Shirou did not let up, dug deep and supplied as much magical energy as he physically could and attacked, attacked, and attacked some more. Even as sweat exploded out of his every pore and his breath was steam-like. Again, the others joined in on the assault with as much fury as they could provide.

Itsuki's and the pope's attempted counter attack was hopelessly overpowered.

GONG! GONG! GONG!

The Castle Wall barrier rang, again and again. Louder and louder. Harsher and harsher.

CRACK!

And then, at last, the barrier visibly cracked and splintered.

"Brionac!"

CRUNCH!

A final golden beam, striking with the fury of an angry god, smote into the Castle Wall barrier yet again. The cracks widened with a horrible crunching sound, and then widened and widened some more. Eventually, as the last few priests and nuns started to collapse, the structural integrity of the Castle Wall barrier teetered on the edge.

"Isaac! Rishia!" Raphtalia called.

"On it!" Isaac responded as he and Rishia stomped the ground.

"Zweite Earthen Path!"

A hole opened up in the ground, whatever magical means that had been used earlier to prevent their escape no longer active now that almost all the priest and nuns were out of commission.

In the distance, as the barrier around them fell, the main section of the Castle Wall barrier collapsed as well. The last assault of the pro-demi-human faction was thus unobstructed. An veritable avalanche of Skills, spells and techniques came down on them all in an arc.

Shirou himself stumbled as he shut down his Magic Circuits, a deep burning heat enveloping his every cell. Before he could even start to teeter, Raphtalia slung an arm around him and helped pull him towards the hole leading to the safety of the underground.

TWANG!

A single energy arrow sliced through the air, aimed towards the back of Shirou's head. A last attempt at vengeance of the Bow Hero.

However, all that did was prove Shirou's superiority over Itsuki yet again. Instinct moving his lead-like limbs, Shirou managed to block the energy arrow with the copy of the Legendary Weapon Replica, the energy making up the arrow harmlessly dissipating into the air.

As Shirou dropped into the hole together with everyone else, he looked over his shoulder. Next to the still alive but weakened pope that now laid sprawled out on the ground, Itsuki had taken a knee. The Bow Hero was in the midst of drawing back the bowstring again, but there was no way he would make it in time.

Shirou and Itsuki made eye contact.

And then Shirou fell, swallowed up by the earth.

"…"

Itsuki closed his eyes.

With the sound one would expect from the world coming to an end, the avalanche of attacks came down like hail in a thunderstorm, annihilating everything.

For the Bow Hero, the world went white.


An indeterminate amount of time later, Itsuki came to. He was sprawled out on the ground. By some god given miracle, except for a few bruises and scrapes, he was whole and uninjured.

I'm alive?

Scarcely believing it, the Bow Hero tested his limbs. They were still attached and responded to his mental commands just fine. After a moment of lying in the dirt, stunned at his survival, the Bow Hero slowly got up onto his hands and knees and looked around.

The scene around him was, in but a single word, terrible.

In the time he had been out, the Wave seemed to have come to an end, with the cracks in the sky gone and the red glow staining anything and everything having similarly disappeared.

It did little to change how red everything around him was, though. The scene around him was gruesome, with blood and bits of flesh coating nearly every surface area. To his right were the few scraps that remained of the pope. His body practically didn't exist anymore. The only reason why Itsuki knew who it used to be, was because he recognized the tattered remains of the pope's robes.

The Bow Hero cast his gaze as far as he could. No matter where he looked, he was surrounded by all that remained of his followers. He was once again alone on his path of justice.

"…Hehehe…"

A disconcerting chuckle escaped Itsuki's lips.

"Fine then," he said as he arduously got back to his feet. "I'll fight for justice on my own! I don't need anyone else to see my justice realized!"

Cursed, toxic fumes started to emanate from the Bow Hero as he pulled deeper on the power of the Cursed Series of Pride. His lips pulled wide into a menacing grin as his eyes glowed an eerie red. The fumes solidified into a full set of holy-looking armor that was meant to resemble a winged angel, but also possessed distinctly demonic decorative designs.

"Law Fanatic," Itsuki cackled as he called out the name of the Skill. "I'll be an unseen knife in the night! I will hunt all those who opposed me this day! All those who would object to justice! And once they are all gone, I'll pick up where I left off, and unite this world in the name of-"

"Give it a rest already, Itsuki-sama."

Eyes flying wide, the Bow Hero twisted around, a startled yell on his lips.

WHAM!

Only for his breath to explode out of him as a fist packed to the gills with Life Force drove itself home just underneath his breastbone, his new armor doing little against the Defence ignoring attack. Spittle flew as the Bow Hero went limp. The fist was torn back just as quickly, and Itsuki collapsed to his knees, the whites of his eyes showing.

Fist still aglow with Life Force, Rishia looked down on the Bow Hero.

"…Ris…hia…"

"This fight is over, Itsuki-sama."

Before, Rishia had looked at him with rage. Now, however, her eyes showed something much worse: pity.

"Don't…you dare…" Itsuki wheezed. "Look…at me…like that…"

"How else should I look at you, Itsuki-sama?" Rishia asked, almost plaintively. "You tried to force what you consider justice upon this world, seemingly not realizing that your 'justice' is just what satisfies you personally at any given moment. Then, when the world forced you to confront the consequences of such brazen actions, instead of admitting that you were wrong, you went off the deep end and drew on a cursed power in another attempt to realize your 'justice', only to fail again."

Rishia let out a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"What else can or should I think about you, other than the fact that you are pitiful?"

"Ris-!" Itsuki started to yell, lurching towards Rishia.

WHAM!

All he got for his trouble was Life Force empowered kick to the face, breaking his nose and knocking him over onto his back. Rishia had shut Itsuki down without even opening her eyes.

"…"

His world spinning and the feeling of pain being the only thing he could make out with distinction, the Bow Hero had to wonder, in some secluded part of his mind, how he ended up where he was right now.

"…I realized this just now," Rishia said as she approached.

Her face became clear to the Bow Hero as Rishia loomed over him.

"It's really quite simple, actually," she began. "Justice is whatever anyone makes of it. Everyone has a different notion of justice. There's no such thing as perfect, absolute justice that satisfies everyone. A result that saves everyone."

Rishia raised her leg.

"For anyone that wishes to pursue justice, there is no other choice but to accept that fact," Rishia said. "And then strive for that perfect, absolute justice anyway. Because, even if it's impossible, if you want to save everyone, to find a result that everyone could be happy with, earnestly just striving for that impossible goal will result in the best possible outcome. In the end, that's the greatest justice anyone can truly pursue."

WHAM!

Rishia brough her foot down, driving her heel full force in between Itsuki's eyes. The back of the Bow Hero's head was pushed into the ground as his skull compressed. The force of impact knocked him out cold, and if his Stats had been any lower, that blow would most likely have killed him.

A foul aura enveloped the Legendary Bow and vanished as quickly as it had come. The Bow of Pride had been unequipped as soon as Itsuki had lost consciousness.

"…"

Rishia let out a deep sigh, tension leaving her shoulders as she looked down at the out cold Bow Hero. It looked like a great weight had been lifted from her.

"…Are you alright?" Shirou asked.

He, Raphtalia, Sadeena and Isaac were standing a little ways away, just watching.

"…No," Rishia eventually said. Contrary to her words, she turned to look at them with a smile. "But, I will be."

Shirou nodded at her. Unbidden by anyone else, Isaac walked forwards to pull the unconscious Itsuki up from the ground. He shouldered the out cold Hero, ready to drag him away.

"…Strive for it anyway, huh?" Shirou muttered underneath his breath.

Raphtalia's raccoon ears twitched. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

In spite of his words, it looked as if an even greater weight had been lifted from Shirou's shoulders then the one that had being weighing down on Rishia's.


Omake: a short tale of a future maybe

CLANG!

A curved katana struck aside a thrust from a crimson, barbed spear.

CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!

The exchange continued, with the katana wielder doing everything in his power to ward away the cursed spear baying for his flesh.

"Hahaha!" the blue spearman, the Lancer of the Fifth Holy Grail War, laughed a genuinely delighted laugh. "Damn, kid! I really misjudged you! When you ran away earlier, I'd assumed that you were just an uninvolved nobody! But you can move! And I mean really move! I'm not even holding back that much! Hey, might you actually be a Servant or something?"

Shirou remained silent, focusing all he had on defence. Despite Lancer's claims, he knew that the man was not going anywhere near all out. Neither was Shirou, for that matter, but as of this moment buying as much time as possible was key. Going all out on offence would be just stupid.

"Let's take this up a notch!" Lancer's red eyes flashed.

The next thrust came so fast at such an unpredictable angle that it nearly succeeded in breaking Shirou's guard. It was only thanks to all the combat experience that he had accrued that he managed to block the hit. Still, it was an awkward block, one in which he could not adequately bleed off the force of the blow. As such, the blow knocked him back a few paces and wrenched open his guard.

Lancer's legs tensed, ready to leap forward and thrust his cursed spear into the opening with all the force he could muster.

Shirou swung his katana at the shadow at his feet, one of many in the Emiya Residence's courtyard. The dark of the night and the full moon overhead meant that there were many such shadows. The katana swung down onto and then into the shadow, as if it was a liquid instead of just a dark shape on the ground.

The shadows around Lancer's general vicinity exploded, dozens upon dozens of shadow-lined blades erupting out of seemingly every angle.

It was only thanks to a humongous leap that lancer didn't become a pincushion.

Instead of pressing the assault, Shirou jumped back and made more distance between himself and his opponent.

Inadvertently, this took him close to the storehouse at his back.

"Ho?" Lancer mused as he came down. "You're fighting rather conservatively, boy, even though you are clearly capable of doing much more. Is there something you are waiting for?"

Again, Shirou didn't answer. Instead, his Magic Circuits started spinning faster and faster, producing more and more magical energy for the fight ahead.

This, in turn, had an unexpected side effect.

Behind him, in the storehouse, a long forgotten magic circle, hidden underneath a thick layer of dust, reacted to the powerful surge of magical energy.

Both Shirou's and Lancer's eyes widened as they detected an answering surge of magical energy from the storehouse.

A new presence all of a sudden made itself known to their finely honed battle senses. A petite figure bolted passed Shirou with a speed that rendered said figure little more than a blur, a speed that far surpassed what Lancer had shown so far.

Lancer himself was clearly caught of guard by the rapid assault. He managed to block the attack, but just like he had knocked Shirou back earlier, the force of the strike was enough to send him flying.

He still managed to land on his feet. It didn't take long for Lancer to figure out what had just happened.

"Hoh, so that's what you were going for! Now, this is truly a battle for the Holy Grail!"

Shirou mostly ignored Lancer's words. Instead, while he kept one eye on the spearman, his other was focused on the new figure.

Female. Petite. Hair the color of golden wheat. Deep green eyes. Decked out in a set of knightly armor. And seemed to wield an invisible blade.

"I ask of you, are you my Master?"

The swordswoman asked him without turning her eyes away from Lancer.

Shirou felt a distinct pull on his magical energy, flowing into the swordswoman. On the back of his right hand, the markings of a Master had appeared: Command Spells.

"…I am."

"At your call, I have answered. Our contract is finalized, Master. I'm Servant Saber."

There were a million things going through Shirou's mind, but he pushed them all aside. Right now, there was a more important issue to deal with.

"I'm Shirou. We'll talk later. First, we deal with the spearman."

"Yes, Master!" Saber agreed, her fingers clenching around the hilt of her invisible blade.

"Bring it!" Lancer goaded them. In spite of the sudden turn in the situation, his smile had become wide and bloodthirsty.

Saber exploded forwards and Lancer met her head on.

CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!-CLANG!

A furious exchange between Servants followed, spear meeting invisible blade several times a second at least. Most people, if they had witnessed the scene, would have been frozen in awe at seeing these two superhuman figures duking it out.

Shirou was not most people. He watched the exchange, waiting for the perfect moment.

Now!

Just as Lancer locked his spear with Saber's invisible blade, Shirou once again stabbed the shadow near his feet. With saber so close, he couldn't do an indiscriminate attack anymore, but he could tag team with her to target any openings Lancer made during his fight with Saber.

A single shadow-lined blade erupted out of Lancer's own shadow. It came from behind, in a total blind spot to the blue spearman.

Lancer dodged it anyhow.

This scene repeated itself, with Lancer locked in a furious exchange with Saber, Shirou using every opening to attack with shadow-lined blades in Lancer's blind spots, and Lancer dodging the attack anyhow. However, the combined high speed assault was slowly but surely overwhelming Lancer.

The exertion was clearly visible on Lancer's face.

A few moments later, Lancer managed to not quite dodge another shadow-lined blade, the shadow-lined blade screeching past the spearman as it left a moderate cut on his thigh. More importantly, however, the high speed combined assault had finally been enough for Saber to get a hit in of her own. Her invisible blade left a deep cut on Lancer's shoulder that wept a considerable amount of blood.

Far from showing fear or even pain, Lancer responded with a sudden burst of speed. A straight kick found Saber's stomach.

Saber was not caught of guard. Her armor caught the blow, and she was already in the process of jumping back. Instead of harming her, all the kick did was give her a little extra momentum. She came to a rest right beside Shirou.

Lancer chased after her, leaping forwards.

"Air Strike Shield!"

Only to be forced to abort when an ethereal shield appeared in front of him.

Saber's eyes widened. Shirou felt a measure of relief.

"…What the hell is going on here!?"

Naofumi was on the roof of the Emiya Residence, looking down on the battle. The Legendary Shield strapped to his right arm glowed and changed into the Chimera Viper Shield.

"Shirou, I got your message. What's the deal?"

"The spearman is an enemy. The swordswomen is an ally," Shirou explained succinctly

Knowing enough, the Shield Hero turned towards Lancer with less then friendly eyes. Even as he did that…

"Dritte Grow Heal X!"

…He made sure to cast a spell to replenish any lost stamina. A green glow enveloped both Shirou and Saber. Shirou looked refreshed. Saber surprised.

Now, Lancer showed a hint of worry.

"…Any other allies of yours I should know of?" Lancer frowned.

Naofumi glared at him. "…Maybe."


GOD DAMN, I LOVED WRITING THIS CHAPTER!

Seriously, I haven't had this much fun in ages. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.

By the way, the omake you just read is not so much something that will happen, but a scenario that might happen instead. When I am further along, I intend to take the story back to Shirou's world and include the Fifth Holy Grail War. I'm quite excited to get to that point, but it's a long time incoming, and I couldn't help myself writing a little snippet of what that might look like, when Shirou and co. go to his world and get embroiled with the cast there.

Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter.