The day had not yet dawned when I was awoken, and immediately leapt to my feet. Groggy, my status menu telling me I had the 'half-asleep' debuff, the traitor, I quickly went about a morning ritual, cleaning myself, oiling my jerkin, and beating my cape, making sure each had a 'well cared for' buff on them, increasing the bonuses they gave to my stats, before placing them on, and proceeding outside.
We assembled out on the square, and I saw people gathering at the edges. Citizens, guards, and other adventurers were all present in the crowd, watching us, waiting to see if we would vanish, which meant the Wave had struck somewhere else in the world. It would be nearby, or so I'd been led to understand, somewhere in the borders of Melromarc, but whether that was somewhere in walking distance, or on the other side of the nation they had no idea.
Regardless, we were ready, and Motoyasu was even joking with his…I don't want to use the word Harem, as there was no indication of them being in that sort of relationship, not even him and Myne, but still, cheer squad sounded bad too, given I'd seen that some of the ladies following him could fight. Regardless, you could tell he wasn't taking this seriously at all, and was anticipating an easy victory.
Ren, meanwhile, was standing with his squad, his weapon held at attention, while they looked like runners, ready to charge the moment the battle started. It was obvious his plan was to beeline it straight for the boss of the Wave, and end the fight as soon as possible. Not a bad strategy, but I had to wonder if they had anything beyond that, as the others seemed to be arrayed haphazardly around him, not in any kind of formation.
Shi-Naofumi and Raphtalia were here too, though on the edges of the groups. You could see he was nervous, constantly moving, not really standing still, as he paced a little, saying nothing. His slave woman was obviously looking at him in concern. For herself, or for him, it was hard to tell, given I was unsure of how much he made use of the slave seal on her body, which at least said it wasn't constant, if at all.
The moments began to tick down, the clock in my vision moving to the bottom of my 'screen' overlaying a few windows I'd been surfing through, telling me we were seconds away. I gathered the others close to me, into their positions for what was about to come, and then began to count down, taking a deep breath, and sighing it back out, as the timer finally rolled over to zero, and the world changed.
The dawn sky, blue streaked with golden rays of the sun, and splotches of white clouds, took on a terrible, blood red hue, one that actually would have amused me, and asked if there were a 'crisis' happening, or maybe, who'd breached the 'Bleed Wall'. Even if no one else got it, it would have defused some of my tension, but the weight of it, looking up into a sky changing like that, it stilled my snark, and made me go silent.
Suddenly, golden light began to spill out of the ground, and upwards. Fountains of it, moving into the sky around me, and causing me to turn, to find the same was true for everyone in the parties, all of us looking at each other in concern, before the fountains flashed, the light turning blinding, and forcing us to cover our eyes. When it was over, the four groups were standing on a bluff, in a small forest region, and I looked up to see the end of the world.
"By the gods of old," I swore, staring up into the heavens. What I saw there was…beyond my ability to do it justice. A vortex of energy, swirling and moving about, twisting the clouds around it into the facsimile of a storm, and yet, not a single drop of rain would fall from it. No, what was coming from this angry sky was not water, it was monsters, and they were falling in numbers enough to darken the heavens.
I had…I thought I had been prepared for this. I thought I'd understood what the others were going through when they spoke of the previous wave, of holes in the sky spilling out the very legions of hell itself. Insects, giant wasps of some kind drifted downward, as did bodies that looked human, until they came closer, and you could see they were, in fact, skeletal creatures wielding wicked looking blades. Many others too, including beasts and other humanoids, were mixed in.
These were…the numbers of them were beyond counting. I tried to do so, using the ring that increased my accuracy, letting my vision zoom in and out. I tried to count them all, to make up some strategy that would help. But what use was strategy against THIS?! This was a torrent of death and destruction, and worse as the vortex began to 'divide' smaller holes coming from the center one, moving out like storms that would sweep the land clean.
I stood there, my mind refusing to move, until suddenly, a hand touched my shoulder, and I panicked. I felt my heart leap into much throat, expecting to find one of the skeleton like monsters behind me, brandishing its horrid blade, my imagination supplying the feeling of injury, and making me surge forward, spinning around, only to find my party, their eyes staring at me…not in shock or horror…but in the worst way possible. In understanding of what I was going through.
"We do not have time for panic, Master. The other parties are already on the move," said Strong, pointing, and I found he was right. The Sword and Spear parties were already moving forward, already meeting the horde head on, a few faster than average enemies coming towards them. And what's more, they were carving through them, like a hot knife through butter, even the casters of the group, simply smashing their foes with blows. I (Sense)ed at the battle, and saw…the HP of the monsters were extremely low for their level, but rising.
"They're still acclimating. Like deep sea divers having to take time to adjust to pressure," I said, my mind already correlating the information with what I'd learned of the Waves before. These enemies were weaker now, than they would be at the end. That was why it was best to kill the boss, the anchor of the Wave, before the process could finish, and these beings would become even greater threats.
"Wait, why is Shield Hero running that way?" asked Lucia, and she pointed, and I saw she was right, the Shield Hero and his 'sword' were not rushing towards the central vortex, from which all the others spawned, which had to be where the boss was, but instead was moving off into the hills. My mind went through many ideas of why he might not be engaging directly, including both that he might be trying to flank the enemy, or perhaps was being cowardly and fleeing.
Luckily for him, it was not the latter. Unluckily for the people, it was also not the former. No, instead, my vision was just good enough to see around the trees and spot a village on the path Naofumi was taking. He must have spotted it from his higher vantage point when we'd arrived, and was rushing to defend it, probably having seen the few forms rushing about the edges, even with his normal vision.
"There's a town in that direction, a small village, and there are people still there. We have to…" I was about to say we had to save them…but saving them would take time, and the better option might be to instead go after the boss, end the threat now, and circle around to save them. Surely Naofumi's power would be enough to protect them, right? He was the Shield, and defending others was his whole deal.
But no, he had a single blade to help him. Even if he could rescue them, one of the holes in the sky was moving deliberately towards the village, I could see it, and that meant they would soon find their homes buried in the horrors spilling out of it. Naofumi wouldn't be able to protect them with a single helper…luckily for him, I had more than one, and as I did the quick math, I held up my arm.
The Bow on my wrist shifted, the (Double Shot) transformation taking over, and I aimed my weapon at my party, soon giving them all a taste of (Attack Boosts), both types and (Defense Boost) for Lucia and Fast, as I took a moment to look them over, making sure the stat buffs where what I wanted. Another attack boost(Magic), for Lucia was all I could spare, as my Stamina was nearly half depleted as I turned towards them.
"A sergeant in motion outranks a Lieutenant who doesn't know what's going on," I quoted, Maxim 2 of the Maxims of Maximally Efficient Mercenaries at them, something I'd been teaching my party in a few spare moments, if only for the fun of it.
"Naofumi is already on site, and his abilities make him a commander. Fast and Lucia, the two of you need to assist him. He has an attacker, but he could probably use a caster and speedster as backup," I said, and the two looked at each other, before turning back to me.
"What about you, Bard? Won't you have need of a speedster and caster?" asked Lucia, and I nodded.
"Totally, but the needs of the many are a factor in this case. You two are the only ones able to get there fast enough to be of any help. Now go, Strong, Shadow, and I will assist Spear and Sword's parties in defeating the boss," I ordered, and then shot Fast with a (Speed Boost) and Lucia with a mana one. Mixed with his footwear, the fox was suddenly very much living up to his name, rushing behind Lucia, and then placing his hand behind her head, before looking towards me with some concern in his eyes, and vanishing into the distance. It wouldn't last long, sadly, but long enough to get him to the village I hoped.
"You two, fall in. We need to end this, before anyone in that village, or anywhere else for that matter, gets hurt," I said, and without a word, they nodded, and followed after, the battle of the Second Wave being joined now by all the Legendary Heroes and their parties. I hoped we'd be enough.
