Sword and Shield
Turning Point
"Shirou... Christ," Naofumi said.
They were still at the beach, the same beach where they had ended up after chasing L'arc and Therese through the woods. Up above, the moon was full, and the stars were still twinkling away. Down below, the beach was pockmarked by craters and the errant spot of flames and embers, remnants of the harrowing battle that had just taken place there.
The battle in question had made quite the cacophony of noise, a cacophony that had drawn in quite a number of people, including the Shield Hero, the Sword Hero, their parties, and a fair number of soldiers and sailors. Too bad that they only arrived just after the end of the battle.
Shirou himself was seated on an errant rock on the beach. Atla was beside him, carefully wiping away the blood caking his head and face with a piece of cloth. The Shield Hero stared with an ashen face at Shirou's left raccoon ear, the top half of which was completely gone, sliced off in the heat of battle. Standing beside him, Raphtalia had much the same expression on her face. She was perfectly aware of how sensitive one of those ears was, and she could barely fathom how painful it would be to have a part of it cut off.
"I know. The pain is almost gone, though," Shirou responded to the looks being directed at him.
The rest of the Heroes' parties—sans Elrasla, Sadeena, Filo, Mia, and Isaac—were around them, while the soldiers and sailors were searching the beach for L'arc and Therese. Most of them had similar expressions on their faces. Only Ren, Rishia, and Fohl stood out. The Sword Hero looked a little green at the gills at the sight of Shirou's injury, while Rishia looked far more alarmed than the others. Fohl, for his part, seemed to be working himself up into a fury.
"What kind of dangerous situation did you drag my sister into?" the Hakuko growled, baring his fangs.
"No other situation than what she chose to participate in, Onii-sama," Atla reproached. Though that response didn't come anywhere close to assuaging Fohl's anger, it did cause him to hold his tongue any further. He settled for glaring at Shirou.
After the two otherworlders had been swallowed up by the explosion produced by the sacrifice of the Wandering Cross Guard Gladiuses, Shirou had made to storm over and confirm their state on his own. However, it was exactly at that moment that reinforcements arrived. Naofumi had taken one look at Shirou's blood-drenched head and face and had more or less ordered him to stay put while Elrasla, Sadeena, Filo, Mia, and Isaac had gone off to aid the soldiers and sailors in ascertaining what had become of their enemies.
"The bleeding seems to have stopped, Shirou-sama," Atla said, removing the cloth. The blood that had been streaming down Shirou's face was mostly gone. It did little to take away the disconcerting feeling elicited by the lack of a certain body part, no matter how minor said body part was. However, the green glow centering on his left raccoon ear and the fact that the bleeding had stopped did lighten everyone's alarm. If one looked closely enough, one could even see that the ear in question seemed to be ever so slowly regenerating.
"What happened?" Naofumi asked as he approached. Even as he did that, he reached out with his left hand towards the injury, the green glow of healing magic filling the appendage. "Dritte Heal X." A third-tier healing magic spell, mastered during their training at Cal Mira and upgraded to the max with the Magic Rank Strengthening Method. Its green glow settled on Shirou's ear, its regeneration visibly increasing.
"It happened when we ran into Therese at the market…" Shirou began to explain. The tale in question was straightforward and not at all that long. Still, it was long enough that by the time the explanation was over, Shirou's ear had fully regenerated. Said ear flicked to and fro, Shirou idly testing if it had indeed grown back even as he continued to talk.
"So that's what happened," Ren's face became pinched.
"More enemies from another world, huh?" Naofumi frowned.
"Miss Therese, I can't believe it," Rishia shook her head. She and Shirou had teamed up with the woman the day before, and she had been nothing but kind and capable, a person you couldn't help but put your trust in. It was exactly for that reason they had wanted to recruit her, only for Therese to end up being an enemy all along. To Rishia, it all sounded like some sort of sick joke. It was just that neither side had realized that they were enemies. Until now, that is.
"What a shitty situation," Garett muttered.
"This turn of events might turn out to be a boon, though," Ivan added. "Chances are that this L'arc and Therese would have attacked us during the coming Wave. It would have been the perfect moment to strike, to put it mildly. But now that all this has happened…"
"They might be dead," Garett was blunt about it.
"I wouldn't put my money on it," Naofumi muttered. Very little since coming to this world had turned out to be that clear-cut and/or easy to resolve.
A little while later…
"Hey, everyone! We're back!" Filo, in her queen form, announced their return, coming to a thundering stop beside them. Elrasla, Sadeena, Isaac, and Mia clambered down the Filolial's back, and Filo was quick to assume her human form again as soon as her passengers had disembarked.
"How are you doing, Onii-chan!" Filo ran up to him.
"Thanks to Naofumi, my wound is already completely gone," Shirou gave her a reassuring smile.
"Good! Thank you, Master!" Filo seemed to be almost dancing in her relief. Idly, the Shield Hero reached out to pat Filo on the head, an action that made the Filolial Queen lean into his touch.
"And…" Naofumi asked leadingly.
"They escaped," was Elrasla's blunt answer.
"We did find quite a bit of blood and some scraps of clothes and armor at the location where Shirou managed to catch them in an explosion, but…" Isaac trailed off.
"But no bodies," Sadeena finished, crossing her arms.
"We searched the entire area, in the sky, under the beach, and even in the sea, but we didn't find them," Mia finished. With her impressive jumping range, Filo had searched the sky, while Isaac had made liberal use of his earth-based magic to investigate underneath the beach. Sadeena had made full use of her therianthrope form – a form that she hadn't been making use of much ever since teaming up with the Shield Hero – in order to dive underneath the sea and search for their enemy. None of it had been enough to find either hide nor hair of L'arc or Therese. In other words, they were probably still alive. Injured, but alive.
"Typical," Naofumi pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Now what?" Ren asked.
"…There's little we can do, I'm afraid," Elrasla eventually said with a sigh. "I'm sure no one has forgotten, but a Wave is just a little over a day away. The Earl of Hapenburg will naturally have a few of his soldiers search the island for these enemies of ours, but I don't expect them to find much in just a day's worth of time. Nor can much manpower be spared, on account of the oncoming Wave. The same applies to us."
"Are…are you saying that we will simply have to go ahead with our preparations for the Wave, even knowing that we have these assassins that are after Naofumi-sama's and all the other Heroes' lives walking around?" Raphtalia exclaimed.
"As I said, we have no other choice," Elrasla replied with a shrug. "Well, that's not entirely true. We could simply do nothing and hole up in our hotel until the Wave arrives. I'm sure that with all our forces present that this L'arc and Therese will think twice about attacking such a stronghold. And then when the Wave does indeed arrive, we can simply split and leave Cal Mira to its fate."
"No chance in hell," was Shirou's flat response, a sentiment no one disagreed with.
"There you have it," Elrasla said with another shrug.
"…In other words, we'll be holing up in our hotel as you said but also continuing our preparations in the meantime," Naofumi said. "Then, when the Wave arrives…"
"We will guard you, little Naofumi and little Ren, with all we have!" Sadeena made it nice and simple.
"…Better inform Motoyasu and his party of this situation, too. Maybe even get them to stay at the same hotel as us until the Wave arrives," Ren added. Even though Glass hadn't recognized Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki as Heroes the last time they met, the three of them together with Naofumi were still targets of her and her group. Itsuki, for his part, was left out of mention, being imprisoned and believed dead by the wider world and all.
"…What a pain this is turning out to be," Naofumi let out an explosive breath.
"My apologies. If only I could have taken them down…" Shirou trailed off and lowered his head a tad.
At that, Elrasla harrumphed. "That's nonsense what you are saying, lad, and you know it. Like Ivan said, the fact that your actions led to the premature discovery of these enemies is a massive boon in its own right. And let's be honest here: as you described it, this L'arc you spoke of is a Hero from another world. Taking down such an individual, except for another more powerful Hero, is a very tall order. That you and Atla more or less broke even with him and his ally speaks volumes of how strong you both have become. There is no reason to be disappointed with yourself."
"Teacher is right, Shirou-sama. I think we made a really great team in that fight just now," Atla said. Going a step further, she jumped onto the rock Shirou was sitting on, reached up, and began petting his head not unlike Naofumi had done to Filo earlier.
Said action made Fohl growl again and caused a twitch in the corner of Rishia's eye.
"…Heh," a small chuckle escaped Shirou. All of a sudden, he both looked and felt a little better.
And with that, a harrowing night came to an end.
The next day, preparations for the oncoming Wave were once again in full swing. An alert about the otherworlder threat had been sent out across Cal Mira, and security had significantly tightened. The Shield Hero, the Sword Hero, their parties, and their general forces had more or less barricaded themselves in their hotel. They were still preparing but not allowing anyone in or out of the complex.
Motoyasu, the Spear Hero, had also been informed about the enemies in their midst. He declined staying at the same location as the other Heroes but was forced to accept a small retinue of knights and Shadows guarding him at all times.
As Elrasla had predicted, the Earl of Habenburg had sent out soldiers to search the island. However, manpower and time were both in exceedingly short supply due to the oncoming Wave. They didn't turn up anything, and L'arc and Therese remained scarce.
"Might their injuries prevent them from making a move during the Wave?" Ren suggested at one point.
"In a world like this? With healing magic, potions, and what have you?" Naofumi countered sarcastically. "No chance in hell."
Ever mindful that the otherworlder threat would probably strike again during the oncoming battle, they continued to prepare for the Wave. The Heroes were no exception. Like Naofumi and Ren had discussed earlier during their training trip on Cal Mira, they managed to convince Itsuki and Motoyasu to share materials with them that neither the Shield Hero nor Sword Hero possessed.
Itsuki, an automaton at the moment, did not hesitate to comply when they visited him in his cell. Motoyasu took a little longer to convince, but with the queen promising that this would somewhat lower the debt to Melromarc hanging over Bitch's head, he quickly changed his tune. The fact that he would receive materials from Naofumi, Ren, and Itsuki in return, unlocking a bevy of new Weapon Forms and giving him a sizable boost in Stats just like the others, made the choice even easier.
All the Heroes were also supplied by the state of Melromarc with a lot of other materials—a warehouse full, really—to use for both unlocking new Weapon Forms and upgrading existing ones. Naofumi, for his part, made sure to enhance his most powerful and useful Weapon Forms as much as he could.
[Two Headed Black Dog Shield (Awakened) A – Base Defence: 40 – Equip Bonus: [Alert Shield] (Mastered)]
[Level Link] (Lv: 82): + 41 Defence
[Weapon Familiarity] (19/19): + 38 Defence
[Item Enchantment] Lv 23: + 46 Agility
[Weapon Enchantment] Lv 36: + 72% Damage-Increase-Against-Beastlike
[Status Enchantment] Lv 32: + 62 Attack
[Weapon Tempering] Lv 28: + 28 Defence
[Rarity Power] D: + 20 Defence
[Reinforce Weapon] (28/28): + 56 Defence
[Weapon Proficiency]: 100
Special Ability: Dog Bite (Large)
One of the shields gained from defeating the Two-Headed Black Dog, a beast they had encountered by happenstance early on, was one of the first truly powerful opponents they had faced. Its defeat allowed Raphtalia to overcome the trauma of losing her parents.
[Light Metal Shield (Awakened) A – Base Defence: 70 – Equip Bonus: + 16 Defence (Mastered)]
[Level Link] (Lv: 82): + 41 Defence
[Weapon Familiarity] (19/19): + 38 Defence
[Item Enchantment] Lv 30: + 60 Vitality
[Weapon Enchantment] Lv 46: + 92% Damage-Reduction-From-Magic
[Status Enchantment] Lv 32: + 62 HP
[Weapon Tempering] Lv 33: + 33 Defence
[Rarity Power] E: + 10 Defence
[Reinforce Weapon] (16/16): + 32 Defence
[Weapon Proficiency]: 100
Special Ability: Magic Nullification (High)
A simplistic shield, obtained by feeding a certain ore to the Legendary Shield. Its special ability, [Magic Nullification (High)], was the very definition of straightforward but highly useful. He had lost count of how many times the Light Metal Shield had come in clutch when powerful magics had been thrown their way.
[Otherworld Chimera Viper Shield (Awakened) A – Base Defence 90 – Equip Bonus: Change Shield / Compounding + 18 / Poison Resistance (Large) (Mastered)]
[Level Link] (Lv: 82): + 41 Defence
[Weapon Familiarity] (17/17): + 34 Defence
[Item Enchantment] Lv 46: + 92 Magic
[Weapon Enchantment] Lv 48: + 96% Damage-Reduction-From-Humanlike
[Status Enchantment] Lv 39: + 78 Poison Damage
[Weapon Tempering] Lv 42: + 42 Defence
[Rarity Power] D: + 20 Defence
[Reinforce Weapon] (15/15): + 15 Defence
[Weapon Proficiency]: 100
Special Ability: Snake Venom Fang (Large) / Long Hook
The first shield he had obtained from a slain Boss Monster. Also, the first shield in his arsenal to be truly powerful and useful in a head-on one-on-one fight.
[Ghisarma Heart Shield (Awakened) A – Base Defence: 70 – Equip Bonus: Defence + 24 / [Cover Move] (Mastered)]
[Level Link] (Lv: 82): + 41 Defence
[Weapon Familiarity] (16/16): + 32 Defence
[Item Enchantment] Lv 27: + 54 Agility
[Weapon Enchantment] Lv 39: + 78% Damage-Reduction-From-Beastlike
[Status Enchantment] Lv 42: + 84 Knock Back
[Weapon Tempering] Lv 22: + 22 Defence
[Rarity Power] B: + 40 Defence
[Reinforce Weapon] (32/32): + 32 Defence
[Weapon Proficiency]: 100
Special Ability: Knock Back (Maximum)
A shield obtained at the end of a monster hunt, in aid of a proud huntress of S'warkii. The Shield Hero adored this shield because it allowed him to consistently deal damage, even if it was through the indirect method of knocking opponents away with awesome force into whatever objects were behind them. The fact that it came along with a unique and highly useful translocation Skill for the defense of his allies cemented this shield as one of his favorites.
[Otherworld Dread Wolf Lightning Crystal Shield (Awakened) A – Base Defence: 86 – Equip Bonus: Defence + 16 / Agility + 24 [Second Shield] / [Electric Terrain] (Mastered)]
[Level Link] (Lv: 82): + 41 Defence
[Weapon Familiarity] (12/12): + 24 Defence
[Item Enchantment] Lv 18: + 36 Agility
[Weapon Enchantment] Lv 32: + 64% Damage-Increase-Against-Beastlike
[Status Enchantment] Lv 29: + 58 Attack
[Weapon Tempering] Lv 41: + 82 Defence
[Rarity Power] B: + 40 Defence
[Reinforce Weapon] (18/18): + 18 Defence
[Weapon Proficiency]: 100
Special Ability: Surge (Large)
A powerful and proud lightning-clad wolf, another Boss Monster brought into their world thanks to a sudden Wave, had perished for this shield to come into existence. It provided him with another useful counterattack and a highly nifty area denial Skill. Along with the Ghisarma Heart Shield, this one became one of his favorites.
[Otherworld Soul Eater Shield (Awakened) A – Base Defence 120 – Equip Bonus: [Dritte Shield] / Spirit Resistance (Large) / Spirit Attack Resistance (Large), SP UP (Medium), SP Recovery (Large) (Mastered)]
[Level Link] (Lv: 82): + 41 Defence
[Weapon Familiarity] (25/25): + 50 Defence
[Item Enchantment] Lv 21: + 61 Agility
[Weapon Enchantment] Lv 40: + 80% Damage-Reduction-From-Ghostlike
[Status Enchantment] Lv 24: + 48 SP/Magic Drain
[Weapon Tempering] Lv 39: + 78 Defence
[Rarity Power] C: + 30 Defence
[Reinforce Weapon] (25/25): + 25 Defence
[Weapon Proficiency]: 100
Special Ability: Soul Eat (Large) / Wall Escape / Undead Control
The Soul Eater Shield, acquired from materials harvested from the Boss Monster of the third Wave he had participated in, stood out as the most powerful 'ordinary' shield he possessed at that point. It came with a host of useful Stat Ups and handy abilities.
However, it wasn't the only shield he had upgraded. The Blotted Viper Venom Glands Shield, obtained from defeating the Blotted Viper, a beast they had hunted down to save the life of an innocent girl, was another. It was the first opponent that had made him feel trepidation to fight, but they had nonetheless overcome it.
There were also three shields forged by Shirou: The Shield of the Wanderer, The Boundless Chain Shield, and The Hidden Blade Shield. These were created using the Legendary Weapon Replica and the many replication Skills incorporated therein as inspiration. These shields served as tools to impart highly useful and practical Skills, expanding his toolkit and making him far more flexible in combat—something guaranteed to give many future opponents no end of grief.
To maximize power and advantages, all of these shields were upgraded as much as possible. Finally, the same held true for the Shield of Rage II.
[Shield of Rage II (Awakened) A – Base Defence: 520 – Equip Bonus: Change Shield (attack) / Iron Maiden (Mastered)]
[Level Link] (Lv: 82): + 41 Defence
[Weapon Familiarity] (2/50): + 1 Defence
[Item Enchantment] Lv 23: + 46 Attack
[Weapon Enchantment] Lv 41: + 82% Damage-Increase-Against-Humanlike
[Status Enchantment] Lv 28: + 56 Fire/Curse Damage
[Weapon Tempering] LV 34: + 68 Defence
[Rarity Power] S: + 60 Defence
[Reinforce Weapon] (35/35) + 35 Defence
[Weapon Proficiency]: 5
Special Ability: Self Curse Burning, Strength Up, Howl, Frenzy of Companions, Robe of Rage (Medium)]
The darkest and most difficult-to-employ shield in his arsenal, one whose use he avoided with all he had, was still upgraded even further on the off chance he might need its terrible power. Naofumi just hoped that he wouldn't have to resort to the power of his rage for the coming battle…
The following morning, as the timer on the next Wave's arrival slowly but surely reached its end, a small fleet assembled in the bay of the main island of Cal Mira. Said fleet consisted of about a dozen galleons, huge multi-decked sailing ships. As galleons were meant to be used as armed cargo carriers, they were the perfect ship type to take their forces into battle if the oncoming Wave was indeed to be fought out on the open water.
On the deck of the lead galleon, the Shield Hero, the Sword Hero, and their parties had assembled. The Spear Hero and his party were on another ship.
"A grand sight," Elrasla commented.
"Haven't you participated in many fleet battles?" Isaac asked with a raised brow.
"Nope," Elrasla admitted without shame. "Experienced though I am, many battles on the open ocean aren't something I can boast about."
"Not to worry, because I am here to help out," Sadeena enthused. As a Sakamata, a therianthrope that is widely regarded to be unmatched in the water, said assurance did hold some significant weight.
"If I fall into the water, please be sure to fish me out as quickly as possible," Ren muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear.
The fact of the matter was that the Sword Hero couldn't swim. Moreover, he was deadly afraid of falling into the ocean and water in general, which was why he couldn't swim in the first place. He had received a crash course on swimming in the last few days, courtesy of Sadeena, an activity he had to grit his teeth to get through. It had been sufficient enough that he was sure that he would at least be able to float on the water's surface. Instead of, you know, sinking like a stone like he used to do. It wasn't much of an improvement, but it was better than nothing.
"If it comes to that, we won't hesitate to jump into the water after you, Ren-sama," Mia assured him.
As they continued to talk, many more boats, both big and small, were drifting out of the bay and into the open ocean. These boats weren't for combat; however, they were simply a part of the endless procession of vessels evacuating people from Cal Mira. Said procession had been ongoing ever since the news of the oncoming Wave had become public knowledge. These were simply the last few stragglers getting the hell out of dodge while they still could.
"Shield Hero-sama. Sword Hero-sama. Everyone," Mirellia, the queen of Melromarc, approached them. Decked out in full armor as she was, it was painfully obvious that she would be participating in the Wave as well.
That morning, Naofumi and Ren had teleported to and back from Castle Town in Melromarc proper in order to collect the queen and a few other people. Though she would have been summoned to the field of battle – together with the other fleet gathered near the coastline of her nation – anyhow as soon as the Wave hit, Mirellia had preferred being grouped up with the Heroes from the outset. It would allow them to plan and coordinate more easily.
"Queen," Naofumi inclined his head. "How are the preparations coming along?"
"Every ship is ready for combat, and all our men and supplies are standing by. We can head out to battle whenever."
At that response, the Shield Hero cast his gaze over the fleet. The forces that Melromarc had gathered could be split between conscripted soldiers/sailors and adventurers that had been enticed to join the suppression of the Wave with the suitable temptation of a handsome monetary reward. Said men and women were scattered evenly over every ship, ready for combat.
The same held true for his own forces: the demi-humans and Gladiator Slaves. They had similarly been scattered out over every ship, still in the same squads that they had operated in during their training at Cal Mira. Because of their extraordinary Stats, thanks to the Stat growth adjustment ability of the Legendary Weapons, all of them had been given a very specific task during the coming battle.
"How long until the Wave hits?"
Naofumi checked the timer in the corner of his vision. "In a little over twelve minutes."
"…We will soon be put to the test yet again," at that moment, Mirellia was the very picture of stone cold seriousness. "Just like when we fought the Bow Hero and the Church of the Three Heroes, I'll be the overall commander of our forces. Knight Éclair and knight Olberic will have nominal control of our battle plan on the frontlines. The same holds true for Aultcray."
Ah, yes. More than a few eyes darted to the ship sailing abreast of their own. At the stern of the ship, they could see the king of Melromarc in deep discussion with the towering Olberic and the comparatively petite Éclair. Those three they had also gone and picked up when they had collected the queen.
The only one not present was Melty. Just like last time, the crown princess of a nation had no place on an active battlefield, a fact that visibly bothered her. Filo had done her best to cheer Melty up when they had come to pick up the queen and everyone else at the castle, but had only partially succeeded.
"Mel-chan was really sad that she couldn't join us," Filo bemoaned, suddenly speaking up.
In the center of the deck of the ship sailing abreast to them, they could also see the Spear Hero and his party. As soon as Naofumi saw the fiery red hair of Myne – now Bitch – he averted his gaze. Now that she had been disgraced and punished as a direct consequence of her atrocious actions, he no longer wanted anything to do with her. So long as he knew that she was suffering for what she did, he could live with never having to see that Bitch ever again.
Dealing with her would only result in a stomach ulcer, he was sure.
"In light of the threat from the other worlders and for the sake of safety, the Heroes will have to remain close to the majority of their parties at all times," the queen continued. "Our combined forces will cut our way through the Wave as fast as possible. As soon as the Boss Monster appears, the Heroes and their parties will focus all their attention and firepower on it while our regular forces will deal with all the other monsters. Our aim is to kill the Boss Monster and end the Wave as soon as possible."
In other words, it was their usual battle plan concerning the Waves. Except for the fact that they would probably be fighting out on the open sea, that their forces were far larger and more varied than ever before, and the very real possibility that a third element would try and swoop in and kill the Heroes.
"…Atla. Elrasla. Rishia. Do you feel anything…untoward?" Shirou spoke up, intentionally remaining just a little vague with his words on the off chance that they were being spied on.
The three of them narrowed their eyes, focusing their Life Force attuned senses. After a moment, all three shook their heads.
"I don't, Shirou-sama," Rishia started.
"Me neither," Atla added.
"The same here. However, considering the circumstances, that's no guarantee," Elrasla finished, every bit as serious as the queen. "With the sheer size of our forces and how strong quite a few of them have become…as long as someone keeps a respectable amount of distance, they'll be little more than a needle in a haystack even to our senses. I can't guarantee someone with less than stellar intentions for the Heroes hasn't infiltrated our forces. The only way we could do that is if we could read the minds of literally everyone all at once."
"I can read minds, but I definitely couldn't read more than a thousand, nor all at once," Ivan muttered.
In other words, they would have to remain vigilant. As they were about to head into a Wave, that was no different than normal, but the otherworlder threat did add another layer of danger that they could have really done without.
00:00:04
"It's almost time…" Ren drew the Legendary Sword. Everyone else, from the Holy Heroes all the way down to their regular forces, was similarly readying themselves. The sounds of weapons being drawn and armor being checked over one final time was for a brief moment ubiquitous.
And as they waited, the tension continued to rise, until- A shattering sound rang out, as if the fabric of reality had suddenly broken apart. Energy blanketed the galleons and the people on said ships. In a flash, the galleons and their passengers disappeared, spirited away to the scene of battle.
From the perspective of those on the galleons, the world had disappeared in white energy. When the energy dispersed, they found themselves out on the open ocean, just as predicted. Like always, the sky was a red, cracked mess. The world, the ocean water included, was dyed a vivid crimson. Monsters in their hundreds were falling from the cracks in the sky into the turbulent waters down below.
There was a sound, like the crack of a whip.
"Form up!" the queen's voice thundered, obviously amplified with magic. It was so loud that her words easily reached all the ships around them. "Form up! Remember the battleplan and head for the biggest crack in the sky! Cut a way forwards! Protect the ships! Leave the Boss Monster to the Heroes!"
Over two dozen galleons, half of which came from Cal Mira and the other half from Melromarc proper, lowered their sails and caught the howling wind. As one, they cut through the water and moved starboard, forming up as they did so. The two lead ships carried the Heroes, their parties, and the various commanders of Melromarc.
"Bows and arrows! Bows and arrows!"
Olberic's voice echoed out over the sea, amplified by magic as well. Across every ship, as the sailors steered the galleons straight towards the largest crack in the sky, knights and adventurers armed with bows and arrows formed up right on the edges of the ships, looking out over the stormy sea down below.
Behind them, at further prompting of Eclair, mages formed up, their hands already glowing with various colors of pre-prepared spells to be used as improvised artillery. Down below on the hulls of the galleons, the gunports all opened one after the other. Instead of cannons poking out as one would have expected, tightly sealed barrels were placed on the very edge, the only thing keeping said barrels from falling into the sea being the sailors holding onto them from behind.
"Shield Hero-sama! Your enhancement magic!"
At the queen's prompting, Naofumi took a deep breath as the Legendary Shield spawned a bottle of Magic Water.
"I am the Hero of the Shield that commands the origin of power! I have read, deciphered and overcome a law of nature! May the power of nature reinforce my target!"
"Dritte Aura X!"
A Hero exclusive spell, the first third tier spell he had ever mastered during their training at Cal Mira and upgraded as high as possible by the Magic Rank Strengthening Method. Its power spread across the entire fleet, deep green magical energy flaring up around all of those who had stepped forward to protect Cal Mira. More than a thousand warriors saw all their Stats, their combat power, increase across the board and rise exponentially.
As Naofumi chugged the Magic Water potion in order to relief the strain on his Circuits, a war cry resounded out over the crimson sea. For those who had fought under the Shield Hero before during Melromarc's civil war, the touch of his uniquely powerful enhancement magic was reassuring beyond words. And now, said enhancement magic felt and truly was even more powerful than ever before.
"Let's go shoot us some fish!" Keel cried, fear and trepidation washed away. It almost felt like Naofumi was behind her, the Shield Hero's hand on her shoulder as his power bolstered her strength.
She, together with Wyndia, H'aanit, and many other demi-humans and Gladiator Slaves, rushed towards the weapons installed on the very edges of the ships: ballistae. In simple terms, massive bows that required much more strength to draw back the loading mechanism and that fired outsized arrows.
Every galleon boasted half a dozen of these powerful weapons, and the demi-humans and Gladiator Slaves had been selected to man them. Like everything else in this world, ballistae worked off of Stats. The more powerful the user, the more powerful the weapon. With the demi-humans and Gladiator Slaves possessing Stats an order of magnitude greater than the rank and file, and as such saw a proportionally greater increase in strength because of the Shield Hero's enhancement magic, it made perfect sense to have them man the ballistae. Those demi-humans and Gladiator Slaves not manning the ballistae were tasked with protecting those that were and the ships in general.
This would maximize their offensive firepower, while freeing up the Heroes and their parties to act as they saw fit without tying them down to the ballistae.
Shirou's sharp eyes focused on the monsters falling down from the cracks in the sky.
[Otherworld Sahuagin Shadow Lv: 54]
The most numerous monsters by far were the Sahuagin: a half fish, half-man like creature that had deep blue, almost black skin/scales. They were every bit as tall as a man and were anatomically structured the same as a human, but also sported wicked claws on their webbed hands and feet, while their jaws were huge and equipped with menacing, outsized fangs. In their red, beady eyes, one could see nothing more than animalistic bloodlust.
[Otherworld Electro Hammerhead Shark Lv: 61]
Far less numerous but also far larger and clearly more powerful were the Electro Hammerhead Sharks. These sharks were considerably bigger than the ones Shirou was familiar with back in his own world, almost matching a whale in sheer size. Their undersides were white, but the rest of their bodies were a garish yellow. Sparks traveled up and down their bodies in a constant rhythm. Besides that, their maws came equipped with far larger and wicked fangs than any shark back in his own world could boast, while their oddly shaped heads that were the hammerhead shark's namesake also sported an additional crown-like crest.
That was it. Shirou could pick out no other monster type except for those two, which amounted to a less varied enemy host than in previous Waves. He wondered why that was. Because they were fighting in the ocean this time, maybe? Some other reason?
"…" Shirou pursed his lips. Not like it really mattered. The monsters were every bit as numerous as in all the other Waves, so this battle would be no easier than any other before it.
"Ballistae!" Aultcray's voice suddenly snapped out over the churning waves, sounding every bit like the battle hardened commander he was. "Target the sharks! Archers and magic users! Keep those Sahuagin away from the ships for as long as possible!"
"Verily, this venture doth differ greatly from the hunts of we aren used to, doth it not, Linde?"
H'aanit had taken control of the lead ballistae of the ship she was on. The massive bow made a loud creaking noise as the huntress maneuvered it ponderously into position. Linde, the proud Snow Leopard, for her part merely growled and turned her head away haughtily. Neither the question, nor the rocking ship underneath her paws gave her any moment of pause.
"Thou speaketh true, as thou art wont to do, Linde," H'aanit grinned as she took aim, her sharp green eyes allowing her to easily pick out one of the large moving shadows in the center of a huge group of smaller shadows underneath the waves: an Electro Hammerhead Shark. "The circumstance be of no consequence, and the ilk of weapon holds no sway. Solely doth the measure of space betwixt the hunter and their quarry bear weight."
TWANG!-SWOOSH!-PLUNGE!
With the squeeze of her fingers, the firing mechanism of the ballistae was released, and the humongous arrow was launched. The speed at which the outsized arrow flew surpassed normal arrows fired by an ordinary bow, giving it much more piercing power. This fact was underscored by the arrow's impact on the water, barely slowing down upon striking.
However, that wasn't the only thing that made these arrows different.
BOOM!
The sea erupted, frothing water exploding upwards. Though it was difficult to see in the red world brought on by the Wave, copious amounts of blood and guts filled and littered the sea. Arrows fired by the ballistae were huge and had been equipped with an explosive payload of equal size. In the hands of H'aanit, who had participated in the Activation Event and profited from the Stat Growth adjustment ability of the Legendary Weapons, the ballistae was absolutely deadly.
The Electro Hammerhead Shark she had targeted had been killed almost on impact, ripped to shreds by the explosion. The shoal of Sahuagin that had been all around the shark had similarly been devastated, with only a few very lucky, but injured and stunned survivors.
As H'aanit moved to reload the ballistae, a ponderous affair, all the other ballistae in the fleet opened up one after the other in a ripple of fire. Though no one in the fleet except for Shirou could boast the same kind of accuracy as the huntress, they didn't need to. As the outsized arrows disappeared into the sea, chasing the large shadows moving towards them, the explosives they carried just needed to go off in the vicinity of the Electro Hammerhead Sharks to kill them more often than not.
BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!
Explosion after explosion rocked the sea, pillars of water erupting upwards again and again. Evermore blood and viscera filled the water as the Wave-spawned monsters were slaughtered in their dozens with every ballistae shot fired.
However, no matter how many explosions rocked the sea, it was inevitable that the inexhaustible army of monsters would eventually close the distance by sheer weight of numbers. Thankfully, the much more dangerous Electro Hammerhead Sharks were kept at bay, as they were far fewer in number than the Sahuagin and as Aultcray had ordered, the ballistae had prioritized said sharks for elimination.
The Sahuagins, a seeming cross between a man and a beast that just felt wrong to even behold, closed in as what seemed to be thousands upon thousands of shadows beneath the ocean surface converged around the ships of the fleet.
TWANG!
Only to be warded away as arrows in their hundreds punched into the water, the rules of this world and the power of Stats allowing the projectiles to penetrate far deeper than would have been possible in other, non-game-like worlds.
As the Sahuagin in the vanguard were struck, the second volley was already raining down onto the waves while a third volley of arrows was being nocked to their bows. With the clear goal to keep the sea monsters away from the ships, the knights and adventurers of Melromarc intended to do so with sheer weight of fire and bloody-minded stubbornness.
FWOOSH!
Magic users added their not inconsiderable power to the cause, sticking to the age-old adage that the best offense is the best defence. Spells rained down around the ships, striking the water. A majority of the spells were lightning-based, concentrated spheres, bolts, and even diffuse fields of electricity surging into the water seemingly at random. And of course, as water conducted electricity, aiming in this case was not strictly necessary. Sahuagins in their hundreds were subjected to lightning that lit up the sea all around the ships, frying them to a blackened crisp.
Other spells were similarly lobbed into the sea. Exploding stones that could have been mistaken for depth charges, cutting icicles that sliced through the water as if it were mere air, and much more were used as a bulwark against the encroaching monsters.
BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!
Of course, even as this was going on, the people manning the ballistae had not been idle. Yet another massive series of arrows were loaded to the ballistae, and fired as soon as possible. Keel, for her part, let out a whoop of exhilaration as she squeezed the firing mechanism and the satisfying recoil of the weapon firing its payload rushed through her body. In the distance, the sea rose up once again in pillars of frothing water, monsters slain once more in uncountable numbers.
To see what had been brought to bear against this Wave of Calamity, it made for an awe-inspiring sight. However, for the Heroes, their parties, and the commanders of Melromarc's forces, another sight, or to be more accurate, the lack of said sighting took precedence.
"Does anyone see the Boss Monster!?" Naofumi kept the whipping wind and spray of seawater that came with it out of his eyes with his shield-bearing arm.
"No!" Shirou responded, the Elite Power Bow already drawn and an Amethyst arrow long since nocked to the bowstring. His sharp eyes hadn't strayed from the biggest fissure in reality since the battle began. "I don't think it has emerged yet!"
"It doesn't matter! The Boss Monster has to emerge sooner or later!" Ren shouted, even though the rocking of the ship was making him visibly queasy. He wasn't about to allow his penchant for seasickness to get the better of him now.
"Full speed ahead! To the largest rift!" the queen made her orders loud and clear.
"We need a moment to breathe! Release the Rucolu fruit barrel bombs!"
The order was quickly conveyed across the very length and breadth of the fleet. In response, the barrels that had been placed on the very edges of the gunports were unceremoniously shoved out, tumbling into the sea. The wooden barrels disappeared into the waves around all the ships, detonating moments later, making the water even more choppy.
Rucolu fruit, it was a grape-sized fruit native to Melromarc and its surrounding nations. Just a single Rucolu fruit had the ability to turn an entire barrel full of water into extremely strong alcohol. The barrels chucked into the sea all were chockfull of Rucolu fruit. As soon as the barrels were destroyed, the surrounding seawaters became highly alcoholic, to a degree it might even be fatal to imbibe just a small amount of it.
The Sahuagins in their dozens floated to the surface, either drunk to the point of being catatonic or maybe even outright dead.
Arrows were fired down on those unmoving monsters to confirm their deaths. As this was going on and the Sahuagins were temporarily warded away from getting any closer, the mages let up on their barrage of magic. Using the opportunity, bottles containing Magic Water were uncorked en masse and unceremoniously consumed.
With this, the mages would be able to fight all the longer. Down below, the gunports were once again filled with Rucolu fruit barrel bombs, ready to be released if and when the order was given.
"Wait," Shirou's eyes narrowed.
In the distance and up high in the sky, something was emerging from the biggest fissure in reality. It started slowly as what seemed to be a huge, drill-like horn began poking through the rift. All of a sudden, the emergence accelerated, and the Boss Monster – a truly gargantuan whale-like creature – suddenly dropped down out of the rift and announced its arrival on the field of battle with a terrifying, earsplitting roar.
The beast, as stated, was huge, easily over 150 meters long from head to tail. Its width was nothing to sneeze at either, being comprised of thick blubber and packed muscle. The skin of the Boss Monster was a pale white, unnaturally so even. A drill-like horn jutted out from its head, half again as long as its entire body. Above said drill, on what charitable could be called its forehead, the whale-like monster bore a giant yellow jewel. More, smaller yellows ran the length of its body. Flippers the size of several houses spread wide, ready to propel the Boss Monster into battle.
[Interdimensional Whale Lv: 72]
"The Boss Monster!" Shirou announced. The Elite Power Bow, long since held at the ready, was leveled at the Interdimensional Whale.
TWANG!
The Boss Monster had yet to hit the water and was still announcing its arrival when the Amethyst arrow intercepted it.
SQUELCH!-BOOM!
Said arrow buried itself in the Boss Monster's ginormous head, just off to the side of the huge yellow jewel embedded into it. The following explosion blew off a massive chunk of blubber and flesh, cracks visibly spreading throughout the jewel as the precious stone flickered almost pitifully. Though the roar of the whale had been triumphant, moments before the Boss Monster struck the water, it had changed distinctly into one of abject pain.
"Sadeena! You're up!" Naofumi called.
"I'm on it, little Naofumi!"
With a confident swagger, Sadeena strutted forwards towards the edge of the ship. In one step to next, she transformed, shedding her human appearance in favor of her therianthrope one: a bipedal cross of a human and an orca, a killer whale. She was considerably larger in this form in both stature and girth, with the skin of her front and lower jaw becoming bone white while everything else became deep black.
More importantly, this form that came equipped with small flippers on her elbows, a dorsal fin on her back, and a large tail perfect for propelling oneself through water. In other words, this form was far more hydrodynamic and perfect for battles out at sea. Not to mention that it came with a sizable all-around increase in her Stats.
"Hup!" not showing an ounce of trepidation, Sadeena jumped on the wooden handrail on the edge of the ship that separated the deck from open air. Said wood groaned loudly under her increased weight.
"Sadeena-Onee-san! Please be careful!" Raphtalia shouted after her.
"Don't worry about me, little Raphtalia! I'll be back in a jiffy!"
With that, Sadeena leaped, shooting upwards and forwards like a thrown spear, her well-used harpoon held at the ready. They watched her go with mixed feelings. Naofumi, especially, had the distinct sense that he should have gone with her. With her given task, Sadeena could have made excellent use of his defensive abilities. However, with the potential threat of the otherworlders, it simply wasn't an option to separate himself from the majority of his party. For now, he had to stay put underneath the relative safety that he was.
WHISTLE!
The wind whistled in Sadeena's ears as she flew. Even she herself was surprised at how much airtime she got. The increase to her Stats and physical ability that Naofumi's Dritte Aura X had provided was something that was difficult to get used to, even as she had fought under its influence before during her own training at Cal Mira. Even now, the increased power she now wielded was hard to conceptually grasp.
No matter. None of that waylaid her from using that power to end this Wave as quickly as possible.
After a long while, her momentum dropped, and Sadeena came back down in an arc. It was important to note that she had flown far enough that she hadn't landed in the water around the ships transformed into strong alcohol by the Rucolu fruit barrel bombs. And In spite of her large size, she slipped into the rough waters of the sea with barely a sound nor any splash worth mentioning, almost as if she was a penguin instead of an orca.
In the red world of the Wave, the waters she dove into were a sickening crimson. This was not helped by the eviscerated remains of monsters polluting the sea. Most people would have gone queasy at the sight, but not Sadeena. She had experienced far worse things in her life and she was made out far sterner stuff than most.
She shot forwards, far faster than a being of her size should have been able to, especially in the water. But there was a reason Sakamata were considered unrivaled in the water, and Sadeena was demonstrating that now. Even without the Shield Hero's enhancement magic, there were very few beings in this world who could match her speed in open waters.
Sadeena made a beeline for the Boss Monster, the huge misshapen shadow, in the distance, but it was not long before she was waylaid.
Sahuagins and Electro Hammerhead Sharks. An army of the former and quite a few of the latter were converging on her from every direction. If this was a 'normal' battle, it wouldn't have been wrong to assume that the 'soldiers' had been sent out in order to protect the 'commander', the Interdimensional Whale.
For Sadeena, though, they were just an annoyance.
You're in my way! the Sakamata mentally barked. Electricity began to generate all around her large, killer whale-like form.
In the distance, the people on the ships saw a massive flash of light, even visible from underneath the veil of the sea, as a huge section of water abruptly lit up.
Dritte Chain Lightning! the third-tier lightning spell, one of the oldest and most commonly used in her arsenal, came easy to Sadeena, as she blasted the surrounding waters indiscriminately.
The lightning spread out in every direction, conducted by the water and chaining from monster to monster in order to attain a truly absurd range and kill count. Even the Electro Hammerhead Sharks, who themselves wielded the power of electricity, couldn't survive a lightning spell unleashed by the companion of a Hero under the influence of Dritte Aura X.
A single spell, and well over a thousand monsters died instantly. Without pause, Sadeena surged ahead, seeking her quarry.
It didn't take long for the massive form of the Interdimensional Whale to become clear to her eyes. She had to fight off – i.e. fry to a crisp – another two waves of Sahuagins and Electro Hammerhead Sharks in order to close in on the Boss Monster, but when she did, she was surprised by what she found.
The Interdimensional Whale was mostly stationary, twisting and almost thrashing in the sea. The reason why was obvious: the massive, bloody crater that Shirou's explosive arrow had left behind, something that had also cracked the jewel on its forehead, which itself was also releasing some kind of fluid that clearly wasn't blood. Clearly, the pain from such a wound was not something that even a Boss Monster could ignore.
"…" for a moment, Sadeena wondered if she could finish the beast right now herself, but she quickly discarded that idea. There was no reason to get reckless when there was an almost as easy, but even more surefire way to kill the Boss Monster.
With that thought on her mind, she dove straight for the stricken Interdimensional Whale.
Yah! Sadeena mentally exclaimed as she reached optimal distance. She swung her harpoon just once through the water, releasing a concentrated blast of Life Force. This wasn't a proper technique, a real 'bullet' that the others were fond of using. No, this was just a slapdash attack in order to arouse the rage, and more importantly, the attention of the Boss Monster.
And when the Life Force struck the Interdimensional Whale's already cracked jewel, outright caving it in and eliciting a muffled, underwater roar of rage and pain, Sadeena knew she had succeeded in doing exactly that. Said belief was underscored when the maddened eyes of the Boss Monster locked onto Sadeena, and it bum rushed towards her, its massive, twisted drill for a horn aimed straight at her.
The Sakamata twisted around in the water and shot off back the way she came. She rose quickly to the surface, too fast for the Interdimensional Whale to have any hope of catching up.
Of course, the Boss Monsters had more up its sleeve than just its gargantuan size. The jewels that studded its length on both sides lit up, releasing spells, deep red heat and energy beams, that curved around its own body and upwards towards Sadeena. Naturally, these spells were an order of magnitude faster than the Interdimensional Whale itself. The several dozen beams were quickly closing the distance with the Sakamata.
Not only that, but once again, Sahuagins and Electro Hammerhead Sharks were converging on her. They did not seem to care that, by waylaying her rise to the surface, that they were putting themselves in the way of the path of the Interdimensional Whale's beams. It was as if they were saying: 'we don't care if we die, so long as we can take you down with us.'
For her part, all of this merely made Sadeena roll her eyes in exasperation.
Dritte Chain Lightning!
Lightning reached out greedily in every direction. The Sahuagins and Electro Hammerhead Sharks stopped being impediments and became dead, blackened weights in the sea. More importantly, the several dozen beams that had been chasing her down transformed into underwater explosions as soon as they ran into the electricity filling the water, making the sea even more murky and filled with chaotic currents.
None of that stopped Sadeena from going up towards the ocean surface as fast as she could. The Boss Monster, the Interdimensional Whale, was still hot on her heels, shooting ever more beams at Sadeena in an attempt to make her pay for doubling down on the harm that Shirou had already done to it.
Too little, too late, Sadeena mentally crowed. Up above, the light of day – well, the light of the broken sky brought on by the Wave, really – could already be seen. Increasing her speed even further, Sadeena broke through the surface of the sea.
"There's Sadeena!" Shirou was the first to spot the Sakamata. "Here it comes!"
"Sword Hero-sama! Spear Hero-sama! Their parties! Prepare yourselves!" the queen's magically amplified voice snapped.
When Sadeena erupted out of the water, she had been going so fast that she attained quite a bit of air, almost as if she had been outright ejected out of the sea. Beneath her, said sea erupted as the beams released by the Interdimensional Whale rose up out of the water.
The burning heat and energy tried to twist and turn in its path in order to catch the Sakamata, but Sadeena had chosen her flight path well. Though the energy tried to make the course correction, in the end, it didn't get anywhere close to hitting her. It merely framed her ascent into the sky.
SPLASH!
However, that wasn't the end of it, naturally.
The sea was still sizzling from the passing heat of the beams. Said sizzling water exploded upwards in the form of a pillar. The pillar of water fell away in one moment to the next, revealing the gargantuan form of the Interdimensional Whale, leaping out from the sea in order to give chase to Sadeena.
Out from the sea. Out in the open. With no barrier, natural or otherwise, to protect it.
"Now!"
Mirellia didn't hesitate one second to give the order.
"Meteor Sword!"
"Meteor Spear!"
The Sword Hero and the Spear Hero were the first to act. Two narrow silvery beams were launched from two separate ships in the lead of the fleet. In one breath to the next, the two beams converged on the midair Boss Monster that foolishly only had eyes for Sadeena.
BOOM!-CRUNCH-SQUELCH!
An explosion, followed by the awful sound of meat ripping and blood gushing.
An Amethyst Arrow, already nocked to the Elite Power Bow and aimed at the Interdimensional Whale, stilled. Slowly, Shirou lowered his bow.
He was the first to realize this: attacking the Boss Monster was no longer necessary.
ROAR!
The Interdimensional Whale vocalized yet again. But it wasn't a sound of rage or even pain. No, it was just the sound of a pitiful creature in its death throes.
The horrid sound tapered off quickly, as did the smoke of the dual Meteor Skills striking the Boss Monster at virtually the same time. The Interdimensional Whale fell back into the water, the beams of the Meteor Sword and Meteor Spear Skills having almost ripped the Boss Monster in half on impact. It had only survived long enough to give voice to its defeat. By the time Interdimensional Whale fell back into the water, it had already expired.
"We got it!" Motoyasu whooped, the sound of his exultation loud enough that even the Shield Hero, the Sword Hero, and their parties on the next ship in the line heard it clearly.
Naofumi, for his part, stared long and hard at the apparent corpse of the Interdimensional Whale that was floating on the surface. He was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but the longer that he waited, the more clear it became to him that the Interdimensional Whale had indeed been killed by a single coordinated attack by his fellow Heroes.
"…That was way easier than I had thought it would be," the Shield Hero eventually let slip.
Hell, except for the use of his enhancement magic, Naofumi hadn't actually done anything yet in this battle!
Beside him, Ren felt his cheek twitch at those words. "Do you really need to tempt fate like that, Naofumi?" the Sword Hero's narrowed eyes searched around, suddenly weary.
Everyone there, from the other Heroes, their parties to the common foot soldiers were similarly looking around, waiting for yet another threat to materialize. They waited several minutes, in fact, but nothing of note happened in that time. It really did seem that the Boss Monster had been unceremoniously cut down and that was that.
However…
"…The Wave doesn't seem to be ending," Isaac said with a frown, looking up at the cracked mess of a sky.
"…Does anyone have any doubts that what we just killed really was the Boss Monster?" Elrasla found herself asking.
SPLASH!
Sadeena launched herself out of the water, easily getting enough air to get back onto the deck, landing with a flourish on the wooden planks that made up said deck.
"Nope," the Sakamata said, loudly popping the p in said word as she approached them, turning back into her human form as she did so. "I can say without a doubt that what we just killed was the Boss Monster. No ordinary monster could hope to be that strong…even if we did walk all over it, in the end."
By this point, Shirou had already put away the Elite Power Bow and had drawn the Magic Amethyst Longsword. "The exact same thing happened during the Wave in which we encountered Glass, remember? Because she was there…"
"…The Wave didn't end immediately as soon as the Boss Monster was killed," Naofumi finished, both annoyed and grim at the same time.
Tension thick enough to cut with a dull knife filled the air. Everyone was looking around suspiciously. Meanwhile, the queen and the other Melromarc commanders ordered the regular forces, including the demi-humans, Gladiator Slaves, and H'aanit, to continue battling the monsters that were still being spawned by the ongoing Wave.
"I don't like this," Ren hissed, Legendary Sword held at the ready.
"Don't let it get to you, Ren-sama," Garett said. "That's exactly what the enemy wants."
"Easier said than done…."
Atla, Rishia, and Elrasla were focusing fully on their Life Force based senses. Naofumi looked at them in the corner of his eyes, only to receive several shakes of the head. The three of them hadn't detected anything untoward, yet.
"…Might they be trying to stretch out the duration of the Wave for as long as possible? In order to exhaust our forces?" Raphtalia asked.
"Considering what happened last time, not likely," Shirou said. "When we fought Glass, though the Wave didn't end immediately as soon as the Boss Monster was killed, it did seem to trigger a timer of sorts. The presence of these otherworlders seems to lengthen the duration of a Wave, but not indefinitely so. The longer they wait, the smaller their window of opportunity becomes."
As they talked, everyone remained vigilant, forming a circle around the Shield Hero and Sword Hero. On the next ship over, a similar scene was taking place with the Spear Hero. In the meantime, the Wave raged on. Arrows and spells were still being fired into the sea, with the heavy firepower of the ballistae joining in to keep the monsters at bay.
Still, nothing seemed to happen, until-
"I have to wonder what you guys are taking so long for."
-a voice, distant and ethereal, but definitely recognizable echoed. It was a voice that made Naofumi clench his fist.
BOOM!
In front of the Shield Hero, the Sword Hero, and their parties, the deck of the ship they were on was all of a sudden enveloped in smoke as something fell down from up high from the very fissures in reality the monsters were still being spawned from. Said smoke was quick to disperse, even as everyone jumped back and bared their weapons at the figure that emerged.
"Glass," Shirou said.
"Greetings, warrior. I see that your side has more or less taken care of the first part of the Wave. Much better than last time, at any rate," Glass, the Fan Hero, decked out in the same kimono they saw last time, took a single step forwards in sandal-clad feet. Her ruby eyes roved over everyone, eventually settling on Naofumi. "Shield Hero. We meet once again. Are you ready to continue our battle?"
"…You do recognize the situation you are in, do you not?" Naofumi found himself asking. "We're much, much stronger than last time. And we have you outnumbered well over a thousand to one. Do you really think you have any ghost of a chance at beating us?"
At that, the Fan Hero's eyes darted around for a second time. Something in her expression tightened, but if that was because she saw what the Shield Hero was alluding to or for some other reason was anyone's guess. Naofumi, for his part, was about to order literally everyone to jump her all at once, but Glass acted more quickly. With no warning whatsoever, the Fan Vassal Weapon was pointed straight at the Shield Hero.
"Circle Dance Rupture Formation: Tortoise Shell Cra-!"
"Meteor Shi-!" Naofumi moved to counter, only for the unforeseen to happen.
CRACK!-SCHING!
The deck just in front of the Shield Hero's feet split open, wood parting like soft cheese being cut by a sharp knife. Out emerged a sickle of cutting energy, deep crimson in color and going so fast it was little more than a washed-out blur. The sneak attack emerged at an angle and struck the Hero of the Shield diagonally, hitting him straight underneath the chin.
Reap. A Skill from the Scythe Vassal Weapon. A Skill that combined extraordinary high attack power, unmatched speed, and – more importantly – the properties of a Defense-ignoring attack, in order to make for a deadly, efficient method meant to kill whoever it struck without exception.
A Skill that that could have been the death of Shirou, had things had gone differently back then.
The world slowed down to a crawl.
Naofumi's eyes dilated. He had been training together with Elrasla for months now. Unlike the others, his training concerning Life Force was mostly geared to countering Defense-ignoring and Defense rating attacks, to use Life Force to guide the energy those attacks injected into you and harmlessly expel it.
All of a sudden, all that training was being put to the test.
To the Shield Hero's magically enhanced senses, something augmented even further by the sudden spike of adrenaline in his veins, he could perfectly feel what was happening. Just like his training sessions with Elrasla, he could feel the energy of the Reap Skill bypassing his Defense and entering his body.
Unlike during his training, however, this was subtly different in that Elrasla's attacks with her fists would deal damage in a much more direct but not as a destructive way if he failed to properly guide the foreign energy. It was hard to describe, but Naofumi instinctively knew that, if he failed in this moment, than instead of foreign energy wreaking havoc to his insides, that the crimson sickle of cutting energy that was the Reap Skill would continue on its path unobstructed.
In other words, it would take the front of his head clean off.
This realization took place in less than the fraction of a second. Even as said realization was taking place, Naofumi had already instinctually begun to use the training that Elrasla had mercilessly pounded into both his mind and his body.
SCREEEEEECH!
A terrible grinding noise could be heard, sparks raining down around the Shield Hero's feet as both a seen and unseen struggle took place. Everyone could see that Naofumi's head had snapped back, the crimson energy sickle of the Reap Skill raging up underneath his jaw. The spectacle was so sudden and so alarming that everyone seemed to freeze. Even Glass faltered, she herself just as caught off guard by this turn of events as everyone else.
The unseen struggle taking place, however, was much more important. Said struggle was happening on and inside of the thin sliver of skin of Naofumi's jaw that the Reap Skill as raging up against, seeking to use its inherent Defense-ignoring properties to bypass the Hero of the Shield's otherwise insurmountable Defense Stat and kill its target outright.
Naofumi's own Life Force, under the Shield Hero's very own will, countered in an attempt to guide the foreign energy away from the point of contact so that his Defense wouldn't all of a sudden become irrelevant.
And he succeeded, for the very shortest of moments. The energy being used to bypass his Defense being directed away and not being used for its intended purpose. Of course, the speed at which everything was happening, the speed at which foreign energy was being injected into him, would eventually overwhelm the Shield Hero's ability to direct it away.
Luckily, Naofumi didn't need to keep it up for long. Just for the second necessary to-
"HAAAH!" CLANG!
-scream in abject rage and determination, raise up his arm and use the Legendary Shield smash the crimson sickle of cutting energy away in yet another eye-watering display of sparks. If it wasn't for the awkward position of everything, one could have likened it to a baseball player using his bat to send a baseball flying off into the distance.
The Reap Skill disappeared, flying into the wide yonder out over the sea.
"Naofumi! Crap!" Ren nearly tripped at what had just happened.
"Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia cried in horror.
"Don't falter! I'm f-fine!" Naofumi barked, and physically indeed he was. But the hitch in his voice and the way he stumbled in that moment, almost as if drunk – a first for him – gave away how much the close call with death had affected him mentally.
Unfortunately, none of them, not even Glass, got a chance to properly process what had just happened.
SCHING!-SCHING!-SCHING!-CREAK!-BOOM!
A tornado of cutting wind suddenly punched through the deck, the sharpened air easily slicing through the wood and doing terrible damage to the galleon they were on. And as the tornado suddenly expanded in size, it became blindingly obvious that the ship in question wasn't going to last much longer. Everyone jumped away from the devastation, the ship itself starting to noticeably tilt. Elrasla – by far the most battle-hardened of them all – was quick to drag the still mentally out-of-it Naofumi with her as they made some distance. Glass was no different, still wide-eyed as she came down from her own leap to safety on the ship that was quickly deteriorating.
All of a sudden, the deck not too far from her ruptured yet again. Instead of an attack, this time, two people emerged.
"Did we get him!?" L'arc shouted as he landed on the deck, Therese emerging beside him.
"L'arc! Therese!" Glass cried.
"Glassy!? Man, you're a sight for sore eyes!" L'arc greeted, giving her a genuine but strained smile. "Did you see!? Did we get the Shield Hero or not!?"
"No! He managed to defend himself against that execution attack of yours somehow!"
"Crap!" L'arc's face twisted at that news.
"L'arc, what the hell is go-!"
"No time to explain, Glassy! We need to retreat!"
At those words leaving the Scythe Hero's mouth, the Fan Hero's own snapped shut.
"You have noticed, right!? We are far too outgunned here! That's why I and Therese – as much as it pains me to say it – decided we'd try a sneak attack instead!"
"As it stands, even with the Levels and Stats me and L'arc gained in this world combined with those of our own world, we have no hope of taking down the Holy Heroes of this world!" Therese added.
CREAK! PLUNGE! CRUNCH!
Even as that high-speed conversation was going on, the ship they were on was quickly collapsing in on itself. This wasn't happenstance: while L'arc had attempted to kill the Shield Hero, both he and Therese had intentionally done enough damage belowdecks and to the ship in general that it would quickly sink. It was something they had done on the correct assumption that they would need a distraction and/or an impediment to get away after they had sprung their sneak attack.
"I-we can't just-!" for the first time in a long while, both L'arc and Therese heard Glass stutter.
"We don't have time for this, Glassy! We need to retreat!" L'arc reiterated, rushing toward her and taking ahold of the sleeve of her kimono. Therese was behind him, her worried eyes clearly indicating that she agreed with this course of action.
"I-fine!" Glass spat, accepting the situation for what it was.
The three otherworlders jumped, their feet leaving the deck of the doomed ship. Gravity seemed to lose its hold on them, all three of them rapidly floating upwards towards the fissures, back to their own world.
However, their escape wasn't going to be that easy. No way in hell.
"YAH!"
Barely a few feet off from the deck, a small figure closed the distance with the otherworlders even as the very ground underneath their feet started to give way.
"Tiger Bite!" Atla announced, her Life Force encased fist rushing straight towards L'arc.
For the otherworlders, everything froze. Atla, leaping towards them. Themselves, caught off-guard and looking alarmed. Underneath them, the ship's keel splintering, causing the entire vessel to give up the ghost and collapse into the sea.
…The moment passed, and time continued its inevitable march forwards.
"Barrier!" Therese gasped. A blue glowing barrier manifested in between them and Atla, but-
CRUNCH!
-her Life Force encased fist punched through it, shattering it into oblivion, the speed of Atla's attack barely even slowed.
"URK!" L'arc doubled over as Atla's blow found his stomach, spitting up blood as the Defense-ignoring attack went straight through his armor and, more importantly, his body.
L'arc and Therese had fought Atla before. Both themselves and their spells and/or techniques were momentarily an order of magnitude stronger thanks to the peculiar conditions brought on by the Wave of Calamity. However, that was not enough to protect them against Atla's Defense-ignoring attack, especially not considering the fact that Atla was still under the effects of Dritte Aura X.
"L'arc!" Glass' eyes widened, going from alarm to something dangerously close to abject terror. Atla was quick to bring her other arm to bear, readying another devastating haymaker. Therese was in the midst of preparing another spell, but she knew that she wouldn't make it in time.
Luckily for her, someone else acted more quickly.
"Fan Chains!" Glass barked. From the central jewel of the Fan Vassal Weapon, several iron chains sprouted. Said chains moved as if they had a will of their own, snapping forwards to wrap around Atla, pinning her arms to her sides.
"As if-!" Atla strained to break free, cracks rapidly starting to spread throughout the iron chain. "That's going to stop me!"
Meanwhile, everyone else – quite a few of whom were soaking wet after having fallen into the water – had quickly made their way to the next boat over.
"Atla!? Where are you!?" Fohl was frantically looking around. He had lost sight of his sister in the chaos.
"Over there!" Elrasla pointed into the distance.
Nearly every head on the deck snapped towards where she was pointing, and all their eyes widened as they saw Atla tangling with the otherworlders in midair. L'arc, bent over and completely out of it. Therese, panic written all over her face. Glass, both grim and determined at the same time. Chains sprouting from the Fan Vassal Weapon, which were wrapped tight around Atla's body, who herself was straining to break free. And all four said individuals were rising in the air towards the main fissure in the sky.
"Little Atla went to attack them on her own?" Sadeena exclaimed. For once, even the usually unflappable Sakamata looked alarmed.
Shirou, for his part, felt something truly dark and terrible take ahold of his heart as his sharp eyes immediately picked up one incontrovertible fact: though Atla was wrapped up in chains, she wasn't being dragged by said chains into the air. No, whatever otherworldly force was pulling Therese, L'arc, and Glass towards the fissure in the sky, it had similarly taken ahold of Atla.
So, even if Atla broke free as it appeared she was about to..!
"Atla!" Fohl rushed towards the handrail on the edge of the ship, gripping the wood with a such strength that it splintered in his grip. There was little else that he could do.
However, the same didn't hold true for everyone.
Shirou jumped, landing in a crouch on the wooden handrailing right beside Fohl. His eyes, just like all the others, snapped towards Shirou just as he kicked off, launching himself in the air straight towards Atla and the otherworlders.
There was no way, however, that simply jumping would get him anywhere near where he needed to go. He did have something he could try, something that he had been contemplating attempting in the few days leading up to the Wave, something that he simply hadn't yet had the time to practice with. But that something was the only thing he, in that faithful moment, believed might get him to Atla.
As Shirou soared upwards, his momentum eventually tapered off. And just as he was about to start dropping back down, he acted.
His Magic Circuits became visible on his skin, and he Projected a single blade into existence. Not in his hands or floating around him, but instead underneath him.
TOC!
Was the sound as he landed on the broadside of the Wandering Cross Guard Gladius, a blade that he had immediately taken control of with Living Sword Poltergeist. Shirou fought to keep his balance on the short but relatively broad blade, even as the gladius rapidly rose skywards, taking its 'passenger' along into the sky at a rapid pace.
CRACK!-CRUNCH!
The iron chain binding Atla shattered, and she was about to continue her attack, but-
"Shining Stone: Whipping Wind!"
-Therese managed to cast a spell. It was a wide area of effect spell that filled the entire space in front of her with a harsh blast of wind, something that Atla couldn't dodge in midair. She was pushed away, only remaining upright with supreme effort.
"…!"
It was then that Atla realized something important: she wasn't falling back down. For some unknown reason, she was still floating upwards, right towards the huge rift in the sky that presumably led to another world.
Atla 'looked' up, her face the very definition of alarm.
"Atla!"
"Shirou-sama!?" Atla's face snapped back down, hearing and sensing Shirou's rapid ascent towards her.
Shirou raced towards Atla like a rocket, using the downward wind pressure of his flight upwards to help stabilize him on the Wandering Cross Guard Gladius.
"Ohf," Atla exclaimed as Shirou reached her and snagged her, hugging the much shorter demi-human to himself as tight as he could. He planned to accelerate forwards as hard as he could in an attempt to break free of whatever force was pulling Atla upwards, as he was afraid that simply 'catching' her and falling back down would simply result with them both getting dragged in.
"Circle Dance of Nothingness: Moon Break!"
However, fate had other plans that day. At this distance, the well over a dozen golden energy spikes fired by Glass bore down on them both in one breath to the next.
There was no time to think. Shirou merely acted.
"Hah!" he exclaimed, Projecting as many swords as he could in that brief instant and unceremoniously firing them. Followed by, "Exploding Sword!"
Just as the swords and the energy spikes intersected, the swords in question exploded violently, setting off an even more violent chain of explosions as the energy spikes joined them in oblivion. Said explosions sent the otherworlders flying and knocked Shirou and Atla off the Wandering Cross Guard Gladius. They tumbled through the air, holding onto each other with all they had.
However, in their disorientation, they couldn't act on one very important fact: both the otherworlders and themselves were still rising towards the rift. Like Shirou had feared, the force pulling Atla now also had ahold of him.
"Cover Move!"
Someone else stepped in, a final gambit to prevent what was about to happen. Naofumi appeared in the air besides Shirou and Atla. He unceremoniously slung one of his arms around the pair, arresting their tumble through the air.
"Naofumi!"
"Naofumi-sama!"
"Hold on, you two!" Naofumi barked. "Air Strike Shield!"
The ethereal shield appeared, snapping into existence between the three of them and the rift. This was it. A barrier deployed by the Shield Hero. Something that should keep them from being stolen away to another world, something that should keep them here.
Unfortunately, what should be and what actually happens can be miles apart.
CRUNCH!
The Air Strike Shield shattered, the mere proximity to the otherworldly energies of the rift causing the Skill to break down almost immediately. Naofumi, Shirou, and Atla were pulled in.
CRACKLE!
Only for a violent force coupled with what felt like an electric shock to push Naofumi away. In the corner of the Shield Hero's vision, this notice appeared:
Holy Heroes are prohibited from leaving their own world.
He barely noticed the pop-up, however. All of his focus was on the fact that, whatever had just happened, it had caused his limbs to go a little numb and made him release Shirou and Atla.
Shirou and Atla, who were still rising while he had begun to fall back down. Naofumi could do little more than watch with horror as Shirou and Atla crossed the threshold, disappearing into the rift just as, in the distance, the same happened to Glass, L'arc, and Therese.
Another world awaited them all.
…Yeah, what can I say. I do like my cliffhangers. I'm fairly certain most of you have long since noticed that fact.
There's a reason why I called this chapter 'Turning Point.' This plot twist has been long in the making, and I'm excited to finally get to this point. Hopefully, coupled with the fact that this chapter didn't take me all that long to write, that means that future updates will be coming faster and faster. One can hope, right? :)
Anyway, I am eagerly awaiting all your responses to this chapter. As usual, a pure combat-oriented chapter like this is a joy to write. And I hope everyone got a ton of enjoyment out of it.
Stay tuned for the next chapter!