Kurose checked that he had everything. The invisibility Charme was placed in a small pouch he had gotten from Matthias when he had asked for one. Kurose had claimed it was to hold Charmes when he eventually got around to making them, but it was likely for anything that might be vaguely helpful. It was always good to have a pouch full of random stuff you could throw at anything or anyone. Just a small moment of distraction could help after all.

Unfortunately for him, he only had the Charme in there, so there was going to be no chance of him being able to throw random stuff at the monsters of the wave, but it was fine. He could prepare even more for the next wave.

He was also wearing some spare armor. It was a bit tight for him, but again, it was better than no armor at all. The armor he had been wearing yesterday was once again being repaired. He was really going to have to apologize to Bosco for repeatedly damaging the armor if he actually managed to see him again.

Kurose let out a sigh, stroking Firnen who was once again wrapped up on his head. He had seemed to grow a bit during the night from what Kurose could tell, but it wasn't enough to make it so that the Vindr Glaedr couldn't wrap itself around him still. That wasn't to say that Kurose couldn't feel the increased weight of it though. It would likely be by the next growth spurt that Firnen wouldn't be able to lay on his head comfortably.

As for his growth, it seemed to be both a mixture of levels and the growth adjustment he had gotten the weapon. On that note, he had also unlocked another weapon form after cleaning up Firnens feathers again, with this one giving him Vindr Glaedr status adjustment (Small)

He was slightly annoyed at himself for not having absorbed any of Firnens feathers earlier, but he supposed it was better now than never. Firnen was level 14 from the short expedition yesterday. He was still cautious about wanting to actually bring him to the wave, but he figured that he would be safer with them. Kurose wouldn't exactly be on the front lines, after all, not this time.

Plus, with Firnen being in a party with both him and Eorna, he would absolutely gain more experience during the wave. Maybe it would be just enough to level him up to the class adjustment cap, but even if it wasn't, it would certainly bring him close enough. He looked at the timer for the wave, checking it over once again.

Palinfa: 00:00:9:42

It was just under ten minutes until the wave was due, and his thoughts were already moving on to the next wave. That would be a few days after the Palinfa wave, and then they would have a gap between them, giving them time to grow stronger in preparation for whatever was going to happen in the future

He let out a small sigh, quickly pushing it away as the rest of his group finally filtered into the room, smiling at them. Lea smiled back at him whilst Sigun and Osvien seemed to look at each other with nervousness written on their faces.

Kurose's eyebrow raised slightly, and he spoke up. "Hey, what's up?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it." Osvien spoke, avoiding eye contact with Kurose. That just made him more curious, but before he could ask, Sigun spoke up.

"Don't worry about it Kurose. Really. Just concerned about the wave and all that." Sigun answered him.

He looked at them for a moment before nodding his head. "If you are sure." Kurose spoke slowly, earning a nod from the both of them before turning to Eorna.

"Think you are ready for the wave?" He asked quickly.

"Yeah, I think I'm definitely ready." She spoke with a smile. "Oh, is Firnen coming along?"

"Yeah, he is. I was thinking about leaving him here, but… I figured that if he was with me, it should be fine. Plus, it is a decent amount of experience, so it should help him grow faster."

"Hm, good point. Maybe he can even reach the level for his status adjustment. What are you going to do with that, by the way?"

"Hmm? Doesn't Firnen choose on his own?" Kurose asked slightly confused.

Before Eorna could speak up, Lea entered the conversation. "Oh, I can explain that! From what I recall, the decision is usually defaulted to the owner of the monster, but, you can pass it back to the monster to make its own decision."

"Huh, that's pretty neat actually. But I will probably let him choose his own stat adjustment. I mean, we are pretty well-rounded right now, so it's fine."

Lea and Eorna both nodded at that. "Yeah, you are right," Eorna spoke with a smile. "Say, what do you think the wave is going to be like? Monster wise?"

Kurose thought about it for a moment. He couldn't remember what the first wave was like, but the second wave had been animals. "Well, from the last wave, probably something animal-related maybe?"

Whilst this was going on, Lea would walk away to speak to Sigun and Osvien, whilst Eorna gave her answer. "That's a good guess. I'm thinking it might be some sort of underground monster! I mean, we had some land and flying monsters for the last wave, along with golems for the Dajero wave. Wait… would golems count as cave monsters?"

"Maybe? I guess it would depend on what they are made out of…" Kurose spoke slowly, thinking it over.

"Well, either way, I still think it's going to be some sort of monster that might dig through the ground!"

"It could. Though, it would be super annoying to fight." Kurose pointed out.

"Ah, you are right. Just let it be some normal monster or something then!" She spoke quickly, earning a laugh from Kurose.

His vision went to the timer, and he let out a sigh.

00:00:03:24

"3 Minutes…" He spoke quietly. Before Eorna could ask what was up, Matthias came over to them, smiling slightly.

"There you two are. You look prepared enough for the wave." He spoke happily.

"Oh, Matthias. What's the plan for the wave? Are we just going to rush the boss to end it as quickly as possible?" Kurose asked quickly.

"Hm? Oh, well, you two are. I'm going to be going around and making sure everyone stays safe."

"Eh? You are leaving the boss to us?" Eorna asked in shock.

"Yup! I'm certain you two can deal with it. I meant what I said you two are much stronger now."

"Well… if you are sure. Are you at least going to be nearby or anything?" Kurose asked.

"Probably? I mean, my plan is to basically go around and help out everyone else. Also just keeping an eye out to make sure nothing happens."

Eorna and Kurose both nodded at that, but Kurose couldn't help the feeling of nervousness that was beginning to creep up on him.

It's not like he wanted to rely on Matthias the entire time, but considering how strong he was, it did make him feel safer when the elder hero was looking out for them. But knowing he probably wasn't going to be focused on them put him on edge. Before he could continue on with that line of thought, however…

The sound of someone slamming through a door caught his attention, and he turned to face it, seeing a round-looking man.

"Your majesty! What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Matthias asked in confusion. "I'm going to fight in the wave."

"But didn't we discuss this before? That you would be leaving the wave to the Accessory and Dagger hero?" He spoke loudly.

"No, I spoke about leaving the boss to them, as I have already said. I don't plan on sitting out the waves. I thought I told you all this?"

"That's ridiculous! What if you are harmed during the waves? What would happen to my prof- the kingdom if that happens?" The round man asked once more.

"Huh? And what would happen if I just didn't participate in the waves?" He asked back. The man didn't seem to have a response, and Matthias pressed on. "I wouldn't even deserve to be king if I just let the kingdom, no, the entire world get destroyed by the waves, would I?"

"I… Well, you see…"

"Save it. I'll be fighting the waves, and you aren't stopping me."

"But your Majesty."

"No, there's no `but` anything. My word is final, do you understand?"

Kurose watched the round, noble-looking man struggle with his words before huffing. Yet, before he could say anything else, a golden light engulfed everyone present in the room, and then they were gone.

Almost as soon as they could finally see around themselves, one voice spoke out, silencing any small talk that may have been happening between the people they had bought with them.

"Everyone! Into formations, listen to your squad leaders, and do not die!" Euge spoke calmly.

He got a range of responses, but the most prominent one seemed to be one of acceptance and quick shuffling. Kurose was distracted, watching as some monsters seemed to fall out of the crack in the sky, jolting slightly as Matthias tapped his shoulder.

"You lot get going, Don't take too long, we want the wave done as soon as possible. I'll catch up to you a lot when I'm done securing the surroundings, okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I got it. Let's go." Kurose spoke, nodding his head. Firnen shifted, once again resting on his shoulder as if to act like a lookout, which Kurose appreciated.

He turned to face the others. Eorna had a smile on her face as per usual, but it seemed smaller than usual, but he could excuse that due to the wave. Lea was holding onto her chakrams, her hands pale as she gripped them tightly. Sigun and Osvien were also in similar situations, gripping their weapons

"Yeah, let's get going. Might as well end this as soon as possible." Sigun in agreement. With that, they quickly moved away from the group of soldiers. They slowly picked up pace until they eventually came face to face with the wave of monsters.

Interdimensional Helot

Kurose felt almost sick looking at them. Their skin seemed almost stuck to their bones, with their ribs visibly showing. They seemed almost slumped over as they stumbled forward. It was still at a fast pace, but they seemed to be holding back. As they got closer, Kurose could see they had pale, white skin, with three finger-like extensions on their hand. They had no eyes, their faces a simple mass of flesh, with the exception of a mouth.

That mouth, as Kurose came to find out, was filled with rows upon rows of small, spiky teeth as it let out a small screech. That seemed to alert some of the other wave monsters as they slowly began to make their way over to the group. The Helots, however, started sprinting, quickly rushing towards the group.

Kurose ignored the other wave monsters that were approaching, instead more focused on the incoming Helots. Sigun stepped forward as Kurose decided to try out his new skill.

"Scatter" As soon as he said that, small, green glowing barbs spilled forward, blocking off a small section of the area before him. It was decent he guessed, but it wasn't going to be anything major. Instead, he decided to focus on trying to thin down the small horde that was getting closer.

"Eorna! Try some ranged skills to cut down how many there are!" he called out before using feather volley.

"Got it! Split Dagger X!"

Kurose watched as the dagger she threw split and seemed to tear through a portion of the small horde. Even his own feather volley seemed to be doing good work against the horde. Were these just weaker monsters in general or something? Or was it actual proof that they were getting stronger?

Even as he thought that the small horde of Helots finally fell onto them, almost immediately, several smashed into Osviens shield, pushing him back slightly. He let out a small grunt but raised his hammer, smashing it into them. They seemed to tear apart, and even Osvien seemed surprised.

He was surprised enough that he lowered his shield as another Helot jumped towards him, letting out a screech as its arm was raised to slash at him, only to be cut off as Sigun's sword slashed through it.

"Don't get distracted Osvien! Whoever kills the most is buying the other person dinner when we are done here!"

"Huh? When the hell did I agree to that?" He shouted back, lifting his shield back up. Despite that, he had a smile on his face.

"You didn't, I'm forcing you to." Sigun responded blandly.

"Oh? Mind if I join in?" Lea piped up from beside Kurose, chucking one of her Chakram into a horde. It tore through a couple of the Helots before getting stuck in one of the corpses causing Lea to frown. It wasn't long after that it slowly pulled itself out, returning to her hand.

"Sure, don't complain when you lose though!" Osvien spoke with a laugh, cutting through another few.

It was only a few moments later that another wave monster made its presence known, letting out a smaller screech as Kurose spotted it. Several similar screeches could be heard dispersed throughout the horde, followed by a few roars. Looking into the horde, Kurose could easily see where they came from.

Interdimensional Chevalier

Its body was covered in what Kurose could only assume was some sort of chitin. It only had a few points uncovered, and it seemed unnaturally focused on running towards their group, to the point of stomping on a few of the Helots as it pushed past everything else. It was still a good distance out though, so Kurose turned his attention back to the other monster he had seen.

Interdimensional Adherent

As he turned to face it again he was shocked by a small, blue bolt being fired towards him.

"Wha- Protecting scarf!"

The bolt hit his scarf, and whilst the skill didn't break, the blue bolt seemed to stay there for a moment before flaring up. His eyes widened as he quickly pushed himself away from it, tumbling to the floor as it exploded.

"What the hell is up with that? They get explosives!?"

"Kurose, you okay?" Lea asked quickly, putting a hand out for him.

He quickly grabbed onto the hand, lifting himself up before speaking. "Yeah, I'm good. But we need to get rid of that real quick. Erst Thread!"

The skill appeared and immediately shot off towards the Adherent, wrapping around it easily as it struggled to break out. Lea, upon seeing it restrained by Kurose, threw her chakram towards it. It lit up slightly as one of the Charmes activated, coating it in fire. It hit the Adherent, and it let out a screech, but it still seemed to be alive.

As if to prove it could still do something, it raised its arm, pointing towards where The two were, and its hand lit up with the blue flare. Kurose's eyes widened as it did did. He turned slightly, prepared to tell Lea to move before noticing that she was fighting with a few Helots that had run up on them as they focused on the Adherent.

He looked around, noticing that both Eorna and Osvien had disappeared into the distance, seeming to be fighting their own battle in the distance against what Kurose could see to be a Chevalier. Looking around again, he would notice Sigun simply cutting through the hordes.

"Sigun! The Adherent!" He shouted, hoping he would get the message over the various dying screeches being released by the Helots.

Sigun turned to look at him, and he nodded, seeming to have understood. He looked towards where Kurose's skill had rocketed off to, slowly starting to carve a path through the Helots that had made their way to block their advance.

Kurose turned back to the Helots closer to him, using Feather volley once more to take out one of the Helots, giving Lea the chance to cut through another with her Chakram. The last one fell shortly after, and Kurose let out a breath. It was going to be an uphill battle to even find the wave boss, and if it was anything like this, it was going to be annoying.

Eorna let out a breath as she cut through another Helot. They weren't tough in the slightest. That wasn't what was giving her any issue. It was just the number of them that she was cutting through. Every one she seemed to cut down seemed to be replaced by another taking its place immediately, and it was starting to slowly wear her down. It was only just the beginning!

She let out a small noise as she stepped back, dodging the claws of one Helot, only to see another one lunge forward. Before she could do anything in response, an outstretched arm moved in front of her, with the sound of the Helots claw scratching against metal filling the air.

"Thanks, Osvien! Split Dagger X!" She used the skill quickly, chucking it under Osviens outstretched arm, with the several daggers easily tearing through the small group that had separated them from the others. She did enjoy the skill, it was just the cooldown that had prevented her from doing it earlier.

"No problem. Let's-" Before he could continue, a roar was heard, and the ground shook slightly. Eorna and Osvien looked at each other for a moment before turning to face the direction that the roar had come from.

A singular Chevalier was charging at them, and Osvien let out a sigh. "Right, let's get this over with. The quicker we kill it, the quicker we can get back to them."

Eorna nodded her head at that, agreeing with him. She didn't like the sight she was seeing with the Kurose's group. Especially since they had their own Chevalier approaching them.

"Yeah. You defend, I attack?" She spoke with a smile.

"Of course. Just be prepared, yeah?" Osvien spoke, flashing her a smile before turning towards the Chevalier that was now upon them.

Osvien wasn't fully prepared, his eyes widening as the Chevalier swung its blade down upon his shield. He let out a grunt as he fought against it, lowering to one knee as the Chevalier continued to press its advantage, baring down on him.

Moments later, Eorna dashed past him, her blade slashing into the Chevalier. It didn't tear through it like it did with the Helots, but it did leave a small mark, a black liquid seeming to fall from it as she pulled back. Its focus on Osvien was lost as it roared at Eorna, using its other hand to try and swing at her as she pulled back.

Osvien took the opportunity to angle his shield slightly, letting the blade slide off harmlessly as he swung his hammer at its leg. The hammer struck its intended target but did not leave any mark, seeming to bounce off of it. The knight roared again, its sword slashing at Osvien, who couldn't raise his shield quick enough to avoid it slamming against his chest.

He was sent back, breathing heavily as he looked down. The armor had done its job of protecting him, but it was dented slightly. Not enough to impede his breathing, but still enough to annoy him. "Oh come on! I just got this armor!" He complained.

"I don't think it's the time to complain about that, come on!" Eorna spoke quickly, dashing towards the Chevalier.

"Yeah, yeah… Bloody…" He grumbled to himself as he pulled himself up. He put his hammer back on his waist, intent on focusing fully on his shield. He moved forward, still a small distance behind Eorna as she engaged with the Chevalier.

"Erst Slash V!"

Her dagger glowed for a moment as she struck the Chevalier, and it let out a roar as it sliced against its chest, the black liquid once again pouring from its chest. He quickly reached Eorna as the Chevalier began to retaliate, slashing its sword down, and bringing its entire weight to bear against Osvien and his shield.

"Grr! Not this time!" He spoke heavily, using all of his strength to hold his shield to the blade. Despite that, he could still feel the Chevalier winning against him, if only slightly. He could feel himself being pushed down, but not for long.

Eorna slid between its legs, appearing behind the Chevalier as she thrust at its back.

"Backstab IV!" Her blade pushed into the Chevalier's back, and it let out a roar, falling to one knee as its sword lay on the floor.

Eorna dodged a swing of its arm as it looked at her before shouting another skill.

"Pierce V!" The weapon sunk into the Chevalier, and it let out one final noise before finally collapsing, with Eorna pulling her dagger out of it.

"That… that was tough actually." Eorna spoke, taking a deep breath.

"Hah? You're telling me. The bloody thing kept pushing me back." Osvien spoke with a small, tired smile. "Ready to get back to-" Once again, he was cut off, and he let out a sigh.

"Dagger Hero! I'm glad to see you are doing well. Have you made any progress on finding the boss monster?" Evandar asked as Eorna turned to her.

"Hm? The boss? Nope, we got held back by these monsters." She spoke, gesturing towards the Chevalier and Helot corpses.

Evandar looked at them before nodding his head. "I… see. Well, if you would please focus on locating the boss, that would be fantastic."

"Eh? The waves been going on for… how long has it been going on for?"

"About… ten minutes now." Evandar answered quickly.

"So not that long!" She responded, watching as a few knights made their way past them, beginning to fight the wave monsters. "I know we need to finish this off as soon as possible, but we pretty much just arrived!"

"That may be, but you have spent your time so far focusing on the smaller monsters as it were."

"Well, yeah. They were in our way, and then we got split up from the others, so of course we are going to have to deal with them! They aren't just going to step out of the way for us to find the boss, are they?"

"I…Well…" Evandar stuttered at that, not expecting that sort of response. "That's beyond the point! Your goal is to focus on the boss monster, is it not?"

"Yes, I'm aware that it is my main objective, but I'm free to do that how I see fit, right?"

"No, because we had a plan!" Evandar spoke, starting to shout towards the end.

"Guys, can't we just calm down?" Osvien asked.

"No, who do you think you are, trying to boss me around?" Eorna demanded.

"What? Do you think you are so much better than me just because you are a hero?"

"When did I ever say that? I just said I'm trying to do my job! Now move out of the way so I can actually do it like you keep telling me to." Eorna spoke. She moved, letting her shoulder hit his.

"Oi! Get back here! We aren't done with this conversation!" Evandar shouted, grabbing hold of her shoulder.

Almost immediately, Eorna grabbed his arm, quickly pushing him away. "Get the hell off me! I'm trying to do my job and get back to my friends! Are you trying to stop me or something?"

"No, I just want an apology for how you are treating me!"

"How I'm treating you? If anything you should apologize to me! You are shouting at me for doing something I'm already trying to do!"

"Can't we just sort this out later?" Osvien spoke pleadingly. "We are kind of in the middle of a wave here?"

Evandar held a scowl on his face as he looked at Eorna. "Fine. I'll let it go for now, but I'll be bringing this up with his majesty." He spoke with a hint of smugness in his voice.

"What are you, some sort of child trying to snitch on a sibling? Why would he believe you over me as well?" Eorna let out a sigh, putting a hand on her head. "Come on Osvien, let's get back to Kurose, so we can do our jobs."

With that, Eorna began to walk off in the direction that she had last seen Kurose, with Osvien following close behind.

Evandar simply shook his head as Eorna and Osvien walked away. "Damned hero. Are all heroes like that?"

Earlier, with Kurose.

Kurose took his attention off the Adherent as Sigun moved to deal with it, his eyes scanning the area quickly before he shot out another feather volley. On his shoulder, Firnen was shooting small bolts of wind into the groups of Helots. Whilst they weren't immediately defeating them, they were distracting them, giving Sigun opportunities to strike at them, whilst he and Lea stayed back.

Lea had stayed close to Kurose, being the only one of the group that had as of now, though it didn't seem to matter as Sigun seemed to be attracting all of the wave monsters' attention. This left the three to stand back and simply pick them off as quickly as they could.

"We haven't really gotten any further without a goal, have we?" Lea spoke casually, throwing another Chakram into the group.

"Goal? Oh, you mean the wave boss. Yeah, we haven't. It has been a bit difficult with all these monsters and that." Kurose responded easily.

Even as he said that a group of soldiers ran past him, with Kurose blinking at them in surprise.

"Accessory hero! How goes the search for the wave boss?" Izlandi spoke with a smile.

"Not well. We've been stuck here dealing with all these monsters, plus we got split up from Eorna and Osvien. Siguns holding them back whilst we try to pick them off."

"I see. It's a shame that you haven't been able to find the wave boss yet, but it can't be helped. I do have some good news though."

"What is it?"

"We can take over from here. There are no villages or anything nearby on which we have to focus on protecting, so you and your party are free to look for the wave boss."

Kurose nodded at that, a small smile on his face. "That's good be careful of the adherents, they shoot explosive bolts."

"I'll ensure that the information is passed on to our archers. I'll have them focus on taking them down." Izlandi answered quickly.

"That's good. I'm going to go find Sig-" he was cut off as Sigun came into sight, his normally clean armor was now coated in splodges of black liquid, and there were visible gouges out into it.

He lifted his sword, blocking a strike from the Chevalier he was currently fighting before attempting to slash back at it.

The Chevalier simply grabbed the sword, yanking it forward, throwing Sigun off balance.

"Sorry, gotta help him!" He spoke, quickly apologizing to Izlandi.

She didn't try to stop him, instead shouting. "Soldiers! Take out the monsters blocking the accessory hero's path! Ensure he does not have to pause!"

Kurose was thankful for Izlandi's assistance as he ran towards the Chevalier. He watched as the Chevalier raised its weapon, intending to strike Sigun.

"Erst Thread! Change Accessory!"

The thread rocketed towards Sigun, and with Kurose changing it to the Jiralyk tongue scarf via change Accessory, it attached to his back, and Kurose tugged on it.

Sigun let out a noise of shock as he was yanked back, and the blade narrowly avoided cutting into his chest. Instead, it left a thin trail across the armor on his leg.

"Thanks for the assist. But… What's the plan with this now? I don't exactly have my weapon." Sigun spoke, shifting slightly.

Kurose looked him over, nodding his head before shifting his gaze over to the Chevalier. It was currently engaged with a couple of other knights who had moved past them, and he could see Sigun's sword behind the monster.

"Honestly, no idea. Actually…" Kurose paused at that. "Scratch that, I have one, but I'm going to need some time for my skill to be off cooldown."

"Yeah, got it. Any idea on how to get my sword back?"

"One or two. I'm going to need you to focus only on getting your sword though."

"I can do that. Just tell me when."

Kurose nodded his head. "Unburdening Thread"

He let the thread connect to Sigun back, nodding as it did. "This should help you move a bit faster. I hope so. Once the Chevalier swings, just focus on getting to your sword. I should be able to handle it until you take over."

Sigun put a hand on Kurose's shoulder. "Got it. I trust you Kurose."

Kurose couldn't help but slightly smile at that. "I'm glad, now let's get going."

With that, the duo began to run, with Kurose shouting as he did. "You two, move out of the way!"

The knights didn't put up any argument, quickly disengaging with the Chevalier, focusing their attention on the Helots as the Chevalier turned to focus on Kurose and Sigun.

It swung its sword at Kurose from above, but he simply raised his hands. "Protecting Scarf!"

The green, glowing scarf formed, and Kurose immediately tilted it to the side. The sword struck it, sliding off and seeming to catch the Chevalier off guard. He didn't know how long it was going to take Sigun to get his sword, so he was going to try and stop it for as long as he could.

"Feather Volley! Into… Flame Shot!" Both skills hit against the Chevalier. The feathers quickly disappeared, whilst the fire seemed to linger slightly, before the Chevalier pulled its sword out of the ground, roaring at Kurose.

It swung its blade once more, and Kurose held up his protecting scarf, intending on doing the same as last time, only for his eyes to widen as the Chevalier changed its position. Kurose had assumed it was going to swing down as it had before, but it had swung at his waist instead of slamming the blade straight down onto him, as it had before.

Kurose braced himself for the impact of the blade against his side, but it never came. He looked to his left, seeing Sigun struggling as he held his sword's handle with both hands, barely able to hold up against the Chevalier.

"Hah! Back for round two, you bastard!" Sigun shouted with a grin.

Kurose pulled back, and Sigun ducked under the Chevalier's blade, bringing his own with him.

"Right, we just need to kill this thing, then we are free to look for the boss properly, yeah?" Sigun asked Kurose.

"Yeah. Just need to kill this, then we are free."

"Got it. Let's get this over with as soon as possible then!" He spoke happily. He moved forward, raising his sword to meet with the Chevaliers, whilst Kurose used more of his skills.

"Scatter!" Again, the green, glowing barbs covered the floor, but this time, Kurose actually had a plan for them. Sure, they only covered a small area, but it was still enough to be an annoyance if someone happened to step into that small area.

"Erst Thread, Change Accessory!" He stuck the thread to the Chevalier, using all the strength he could muster to pull it into the area with all the barbs. It let out a roar as it was tugged, and it gave Sigun the opportunity to land a strike against its chest

Kurose let the thread disappear as the Chevalier stepped forward, only to step onto one of the barbs. It raised its foot back up before stepping again, trying to maneuver its way through the barbs. Kurose however, wasn't going to waste any time in waiting for it to come to him.

"Right, do you think you can stab into it?" Kurose asked quickly.

"Hm? Yeah. I definitely can. Just need it to be off guard again."

"Got it. Right, well I'll use Hairpin, and Electrify on your sword. How I'll get it to be off guard… I don't know, maybe it will just be more focused on me than you because of how much I'm annoying it. Either way, just get ready."

"Got it. Just give me the signal." Sigun spoke with a smile.

"I think you will know when it's time to act," Kurose replied easily. "Right, now how to get it focused on me… Just use a skill or something, I guess. Scale Shot!"

The singular scale shot out from his necklace, hitting the Chevalier on the forehead. It paused its movements, seeming to look at Kurose for a moment before a small, black line began to fall from where the scale had hit.

That did a bit more damage than I expected. He thought to himself, just as the Chevalier roared, seemingly enraged by the damage Kurose had just done.

"Hairpin!" The skill embedded itself into the Chevalier's chest, but it either didn't notice or didn't care, simply charging at Kurose.

He dodged the downward swing of its blade, before pointing at Sigun's blade.

"Electrify!" The skill caused Sigun's blade to spark slightly, and he took that as his sign to start moving.

Sigun quickly made his way over, staying just out the sight of the Chevalier as Kurose shouted another Skill.

"Erst Thread, Change Accessory!"

He let the thread stick to the Chevalier's sword, doing his best to yank it out of the monster's hand.

No matter how much he tried, he was unsuccessful in that regard, but it did have another effect. It yanked the Chevalier forward, putting him off guard for Sigun.

Sigun, upon seeing this opportunity, moved as fast as he could, positioning himself before the Chevalier. He thrust his sword into the location the hairpin had hit, before trying to push his sword in further.

The Chevalier let out a roar of pain that began to fade away as the green, glowing eyes faded.

Sigun let out a breath, withdrawing his sword from the monster before pushing the body back, breathing heavily.

"Ha… good job Kurose. Not sure what I would have done without you."

Kurose couldn't help but smile at that before shaking his head. "I'm sure you would have found a way to do it on your own." He offered instead.

"Well, maybe. You just helped out a lot."

Even as they were speaking, Lea made her way over to them, seemingly out of breath.

"Guys…" she spoke between breaths. "Wave boss… is over there…" She gestured to the distance.

"Huh? How do you know that?" Sigun asked

"Some knights… told Squad Leader Izlandi they saw it… staying next to the wave crack."

"Alright. That's where we are headed next then. Eorna and Osvien will eventually make their way towards us, so let's get going!"

"Got it." "Alright!" "Gao!" Was the response from the three party members with Kurose currently, and they quickly made their way toward where the boss was supposedly located.

Matthias let out a sigh as he hit the Chevalier with his weapon, sending it stumbling back.

"And… Clamp Bind" Almost immediately, two clamps appeared, locking onto the Chevalier's legs, preventing it from moving.

It let out a roar, swinging its sword wildly at Matthias, but he simply ignored it, instead opting to speak out loud.

"Wonder how Kurose and Eorna are doing… I haven't heard anything from them yet, but hopefully, they are on their way to the boss."

He let out a sigh, ignoring the swinging of the Chevalier as he looked out into the distance. A majority of the wave cracks were in the sky, dropping the monsters down, but there were three separate cracks that were closer to the floor. He could see what he assumed to be the wave boss floating around one of them, shooting small, blue bolts at any knight that was unfortunate enough to get close to it.

Matthias wasn't sure if those hit by the blue bolts were severely injured, but he knew that the knights always managed to move out of the way, so it did ease him slightly. No doubt he would get some report after the wave was done and everyone was gathered up. He shook his head, deciding to focus on the two other wave cracks. Nothing was around them, but that wasn't to say that a hero couldn't just come through.

He shifted his attention as he caught sight of Kurose, nodding his head as he watched him making his way towards the central crack, where the wave boss was, but he didn't seem to have Eorna with him. He quickly found her, noticing how she seemed to be moving with… He wanted to say Osvien? He wasn't sure of the names yet, but he was going to go with Osvien for now.

The pair were moving to where Kurose last was, so it was likely they would be pointed in the same direction as they were. That was good. He moved his vision back over to the other cracks, noticing something come through the portal. He blinked as he focused in on the area, narrowing his eyes slightly, but he couldn't see anything.

Had it been a mistake? Had he been imagining things? Matthias debated it with himself for a moment before deciding. It would be better to go check it out, rather than run the risk of it having been another hero. With his mind made up, he began to move.

Behind him, Clamp Bind had finally timed out, enabling the Chevalier to run at him, but Matthias simply chucked a small, blue glowing stone behind him.

"Glimmer"

The skill went off, and Matthias continued on his way, ignoring the now-dead Chevalier.

—

Kurose took a moment to breathe as he looked at the wave crack. The boss was supposedly around here, and yet… he just couldn't see it.

He decided to let his mind wander for a moment, thinking of his skills. He had used Erst thread a lot more than any of his other Erst skills, but there really wasn't any reason to use them. He didn't know how Erst Ring or Erst Bracelet worked, and considering he could only use one Erst skill at a time, it seemed like a bit of a waste to use any other one when he had some decent scarves to change Erst thread into. He let out a sigh before perking up.

He could hear footsteps behind him, and turned, seeing Lea and Sigun with their weapons at the ready.

"Any idea where the boss is?" he asked Lea

"The only thing that the squad leader said was that it was near the wave crack." She responded simply.

"Is it hiding or something?" Sigun suggested, looking around.

Kurose looked over to another crack that was close to the ground before speaking. "Maybe? Or we could have just gone to the wrong one."

"That's True. I guess its probably better to lo-"

Kuroses words were cut off by an ear-piercing screech, causing him to cover his ears. "The hell was that!?" Kurose shouted out in shock.

Sigun shook his head before swearing. "Probably that." He spoke, pointing behind behind Kurose.

He quickly turned around, seeing the wave boss, or what he presumed to be the wave boss, in the distance.

Interdimensional Occultist

Kurose hadn't even looked it fully over, but his eyes were instantly filled with the bright, glowing eyes on its face. It seemed to have a chitinious mask, similar to the Chevalier's body armor, with two horns growing from the top of it.

Its arms held four separate rings, two on each arm which seemed to be stabbed into its body at even intervals. Going further down its body, it looked like it was wearing a robe made of its own skin, with mismatched bones covering the bottom half of the crumbling robe it wore.

It let out another screech before its hands lit up in a similar blue glow to its eyes, and blue bolts shot out of them.

"Protecting Scarf!" Kurose shouted quickly. The bolts began to hit the barrier, and whilst it didn't seem to do any sort of damage to the barrier initially, Kurose could feel himself being pushed back slightly.

He dug his feet into the ground, holding onto the barrier tightly. So when Lea threw one of her Chakrams, ignited in flames at the Occultist, Kurose released the skill, shouting another immediately.

"Scale Shot!"

Kurose had been expecting the Occultist to stop firing once it realized that something was coming towards it. What he did not expect, however, was for it to keep firing, and simply raise a black barrier in front of it, letting the Chakram slam into it uselessly.

The blue bolt hit Kurose in the chest, and he let out a gasp. The Scale that was aimed at the Occultist's head was sent away from its target, instead smashing into one of the bones in its Robe. Whilst it wasn't enough to break it, it was enough to leave a small dent in it.

The Occultist let out another screech, with Kurose putting one hand to his ear even as he continued to point at the boss. "Feather Volley! Flame Shot!" Both skills were sent flying towards the boss, with the flames harmlessly splashing against it, whilst the Feathers left small tears in its robe.

The Occultist brought its hands together, letting out screeches as something began to form in its hands.

"Whatever it's doing, stop it!" Sigun shouted, already running forward, sword in hand to attack the boss.

"Firnen! Stay here with Lea!"

Firnen seemed to obey, quickly moving from his shoulder before floating to Lea, positioning himself so that he could fire off small bolts of wind at the Occultist.

Lea didn't hesitate either, chucking another Chakram at the Occultist, this one coated inflames as well. Kurose dashed forward behind Sigun, shouting yet another skill as he did.

"Erst Thread! Change Accessory!" The thread flew to the Occultist's hand, attaching to it. Kurose tugged on it once again, hoping that the same tactic he used on the Chevalier would work on the Occultist, but it didn't seem to react to his tugging other than to let out an annoyed noise.

As Sigun finally reached the Occultist, it let out a final screech before throwing what it had been conjuring onto the floor between both Sigun and Kurose. The moment it made contact with the floor, it seemed to shatter, and Kurose could only see darkness.

A minute earlier

Eorna and Osvien made their way to where they had last seen Kurose, instead finding Izlandi standing there, aiming a bow toward the thinning horde of monsters in the distance.

"Squad leader Izlandi!" Osvien called out. Almost immediately, she lowered her bow, looking towards the duo. "Dagger Hero, Osvien, it is good to see you. How fares the wave for you?"

"Pretty good. Got hit a little bit, but that's my job." Osvien spoke with a small smile.

"Yeah, like Osvien said. It's going well. Do you know where Kurose and the others are?"

"The Accessory hero and the rest? I believe they are now heading over to the wave boss. It should be over there, towards the wave crack."

Eorna nodded at that. "Thanks for the help. We will be back as soon as possible!" She spoke quickly.

"Of course. I pray that your fight against the boss goes well. The knights are currently clearing a proper path, so you should hopefully have no issues getting there."

Eorna and Osvien nodded at that, both quickly making their way to where Kurose and the rest of the group were.

It wasn't long until they got there, and once they did. Eorna spoke up.

"Hey, Osvien… that's not natural, right?" Eorna asked slowly.

"I… No, it's not." Osvien confirmed after a moment.

Before them was a large half-sphere with an inky cloud of darkness. Standing outside of it was Lea, who was shifting around it slightly, a pained look on her face. Firnen was floating, letting small bolts of wind hit against the half sphere.

Every time a bolt of wind hit, it would clear up the area for a moment before filling back up almost immediately after.

"Lea!" Eorna called out, quickly running to her side. "What's going on?"

"Kurose and Sigun are in there, but I can't see anything when I'm in there."

"Can't see anything?" She asked in confusion,

"Yeah, just stick your head in, you'll see," Lea spoke with a nod.

Hesitantly, Eorna stuck her head in and was greeted by darkness. Almost immediately, she pulled her head back, blinking rapidly as she tried to adjust back to the light.

"Yeah, I can see what you mean. Wait, you said Kurose and Sigun were in there?"

"They are. I don't know how to help them!"

Eorna let out a breath before shaking her head. "We… we will figure something out. I hope…" She spoke quickly.

Kurose was currently confused as to where he was. He could feel himself moving, he could feel like he was making progress, but it felt like he wasn't actually going anywhere. Every so often, he could hear the Occultist screeching, but it wasn't doing anything to him. Was it with Sigun or something?

He grit his teeth. How the hell was he meant to do anything!? In frustration, he let out a shout before using a skill. "Flame Shot!"

The skill gave a little bit of light, for a moment before it shot off, being enveloped by the darkness again. Kurose let out a shout again before sighing. There had to be a way out of this. He just had to think it through. That was all.

Was there anything that could help him? If he could find Sigun somewhere in here, then it would be a good start. But to do that, he would actually need to see. Did he even have any weapon form that could help with that? His first thought was to swap to the Farkas Scarf, but would the Night vision equip effect even work? And even if it did, it was a small boost, so it might not be of much use.

His mind wandered, before recalling the ore that they had sold off to Bosco. His eyes widened, and he quickly changed to the Illuminore ring. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to help the surrounding area. Kurose could see a bit better now. He slowly raised his hand, using the light to look at his surroundings, as well as follow the Occultists screeching.

"Sigun! Sigun, where are you?" He called out, hoping that Sigun could hear him.

"..rose? Over here!" came the response. It made him think why didn't he decide to call out for him earlier? Despite that, he made his way over to the voice.

"Go to the light! Wait, not like that way, but I'm at the light!" Kurose called out.

A few moments later, Sigun appeared at the edge of the light, looking the same as when he had come in. What had the Occultist been screeching at then?

"Are you alright?" He asked quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Boss didn't attack me at all. What the hell is it doing in here? Is it blinded by its own spell or something?" he asked quickly.

"No idea. But I think we can still salvage this. maybe."

"Yeah, we definitely can," Sigun spoke with a nod.

Before Kurose could say anything in response, the Occultist let out another screech, and Kurose could see a few blue bolts coming toward them.

"Protecting Scarf!" The blue bolts struck against the scarf, but he held his position, digging his feet into the floor.

"Right, I might have an idea, but it's going to need you to take it down again, not unless the others come in here and do their own thing."

"Yeah, I think I'll be able to do that. I hope. What is the plan?"

"First let me just…Erst Ring, Change Accessory" The ring formed on Sigun's finger, which Kurose didn't know was going to happen, but he wasn't going to complain. A moment later, he was wearing the same ring that Kurose was.

"Really? I like you, but not in that way." Sigun responded with a smirk.

"Oh shut it. I'm not sure how long it's going to last, so you are going to need to act quickly. If you can reveal where the boss is, I can try to restrain it for you to land a finishing blow, or just get rid of this thing."

"Alright. Let's do this then I suppose." Sigun spoke. "Hopefully it stays focused on you so I can actually reveal it…"

"Yeah, I hope so too."

With that, Sigun set off towards where the blasts were coming, and Kurose held tighter onto his barrier.

"...Is that a light in there?" Osvien asked, squinting his eyes as he looked from outside the half-sphere.

"Huh? Wait, that is!" Lea spoke in surprise.

No sooner than it had been pointed out, Eorna dived in, ignoring the shouts that were cut off from outside the dome. Almost immediately, her vision was obscured, save for the small prick of light in the distance. Now that she was actually inside though, she could see two sources of light, but she opted to go for the one that was moving.

As she continued to traverse the darkness, moving towards the light, her body felt slower, as if the darkness was weighing her down, but she brushed it aside for a moment, simply focused on getting to the light.

A few moments went by before the light seemed to illuminate something, and she could hear a shout, as well as a screech, come from the light. She immediately sped up, pushing herself to move closer to the noises.

"Erst… Damnit! I can't do it Sigun!" She heard Kurose shout.

She heard Sigun grunt and the sound of his sword hitting against something before Kurose shouted another skill.

Without wasting a moment, she shouted her own skill. "Split Dagger X!"

As the daggers flew forward, she heard it impact with something, with that thing letting out another screech.

"Eorna!?" Kurose called out in shock, shouting another skill. "Feather Volley! Hairpin! Take it down!"

She heard Sigun's sword swing again, and as she got closer to the light, she could see the wave boss, bleeding from her and Sigun's attacks. It let out a screech, more focused on Sigun as its back was turned to her, and she immediately knew what to do.

With a cry, she ran and jumped, clinging to its back before using another skill. "Backstab IV!" The boss let out a screech, swinging wildly, but Osvien stabbed his sword into its chest, causing it to freeze.

As it finally stopped moving and the blue glowing eyes dimmed, the darkness around the area receded, and Eorna took a breath.

Kurose let out a sigh of relief as the darkness disappeared before shielding his eyes. It wasn't so bad, considering the sky was still red, but it was fine. They had killed the boss! Sure, it had taken them a bit longer than it should have, but it was done now!

He let his gaze wander over to where Eorna and Sigun were, smiling at that as he waved his hand. He couldn't wait to get all those weapon forms, and then just go back to the castle and relax, if he was being honest.

"Great job you two!" Kurose called out happily.

He expected a similar response from both of them, but they seemed to look at him in shock. Was there something wrong? Had he done something wrong? He didn't think he had, so why were they looking at him like that?

Eorna took a single step forward, and the world paused for a moment.

Why is it all frozen? Kurose thought to himself. It was all fine. The wave would close soon. They had defeated the boss. But it felt like he was missing something. What was he missing?

The wave his mind supplied. What was the difference? The last wave had ended when the mace hero had left, but there were no otherworld heroes here. So why hadn't it ended?

The world unfroze and Eorna ran forward, but she wasn't fast enough.

Kurose let out a small noise as he felt something slice him, through his armor and skin. He could barely form a thought after that moment, the pain forcing him to his knees as he swayed. He reached out a desperate arm, hoping that anyone would come to him, but all he had was his thoughts.

Why was this happening? What was going on? Was… was it going to end like this? Him, being struck down by a nameless person?

He couldn't find any answer to his own questions, and through his ringing ears, he heard a shout.

As it turns out, he was in fact on the front lines. for the entire wave even.

I always did think Kurose has had it far too good for far too long. I mean, compare him to a few other MWP heroes, and you will find he has been through barely anything compared to them! So a little bit of suffering may be deserved for him.

Anyway, I hope this chapter was good. I think it might actually be my longest chapter to date, which I'm proud of.

I would like to think the fights were good and showcased both Eorna and Kurose's growth from the first wave they participated in, with the both of them being able to do stuff, as well as having more options available to them.

The next chapter should be on time unless something goes wrong. Until next time I suppose. Also, if there is any mistakes/something that doesnt seem to make sense, please do tell me. This was all edited at like, 2 in the morning.

Also, join the server discord.g g/x2C6 fsb G