Chapter 15: Wave of Foo
Flores sat on top of a roof, watching the conjugation of the battle force. With five minutes left until the inevitable battle, Flores blew out a puff of smoke and tossed the cigarette to the ground.
Commando I
Slashing resistance (small), piercing resistance (small), fire resistance (small), automatic blood cleaning,
"Thank God Cadenza is fast on the repairs. That fox is crazy." Flores grumbled. When he got his newly repaired armor back, Cadenza went on a half-hour tirade for getting it damaged so quickly. For some reason, she also decided to name it Commando One, a name that Flores had no say in and was stuck with until he got another.
Lizen Flores
Level 40
Weapon: Litsune Flag (L)
(Legendary Weapon)
Equipment: Commando I
Magic: Support/Light
Let's hope I can get levels for Sacrifice Boost.
Flores looked at himself through his weapons gem, thinking over all the prep he had done.
His main party was set, albeit very incomplete. With his party from the sanctuary off to prepare for their own waves, all Flores had were Lizen and Shun for his main squad. Not that it mattered anyway; he already had all of Foo's soldiers divided into sub-parties, a task that took him hours to complete. So he was not short of fighters one bit.
Aside from that, he had already gone to the storage for some weapon forms, most of them useless or too high-level for use. Even if a weapon had good stats, he didn't have the time to unlock them anyway, so the trip just ended up being a waste of time.
Everything was done, but he felt like he needed more. As he sat there and pondered his future battle, a familiar voice from behind snapped him out of it.
"What's got you so worked up?"
"Jesus." Flores stumbled a bit but balanced himself before he could fall. "Geez, thanks for the scare, Yomiko."
"That's your fault for sitting on a roof. Then again, it is pretty fun." Yomiko sat next to Flores, with a platform of paper constructed beneath their feet. Once Yomiko finished, she dropped off a bag with the scent of rotten pork seeping through, a scent that almost made Flores hurl at the slightest smell of it.
"Sweet mother of Jesus, what is that smell?"
"One last unlock. I just finished the dissection today." Dumping its contents on the floor, Flores saw that it was the chopped-up remains of the giant he fought back at the star temple.
"Ew. Why is it in pieces?"
"Experiments and whatnot. It seems this creature isn't recognized as a barbarian or beserker pig. So it's an entirely new class of monster. Discovery of the lifetime if it wasn't killed immediately." Yomiko chuckled.
"Joy. I'll add genocide to my list of war crimes."
"You did crimes?"
"The law requires I answer no."
Orc Colossus Meat Flag (B)
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Atk +5, Str +3
Orc Colossus Bone Flag (B)
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Atk +5, Spearmanship 3
Orc Colossus Banner
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Atk + 12, Str + 6, "Strength Order"
"Holy. Why didn't I absorb this after my fight?"
"I know. Some big equip bonuses."
"Guess they're going to waste. I'm not gonna have enough time to unlock them." Flores sighed as he swapped back to his Litsune Flag. At the moment, it was still his strongest flag. He even got it to a legendary rank after spending an hour and thousands of points to get it. Was it worth the time? Absolutely not. But until he got a replacement, maxing out his current strongest weapon was his greatest option.
"So, you didn't answer me earlier. What's got you so worked up?"
Pulling out a brown bag, Yomiko reached inside and offered Flores a red apple. Accepting the gift, a loud crunch was heard as Flores took a bite into it.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Not really. You seem to go into every fight headstrong."
"Well, after getting my shit kicked in again, guess you can say I'm not very thrilled at what's to come."
"Scared?"
"Not really. Just don't get your hopes." Flores stood up, carefully treading towards a pile of used crates that served as his stairway. Once he finally got down, he turned his head to find Yomiko floating down.
"Even if you're not confident in your abilities, you shouldn't see yourself as a failure. Besides, you have me to help you out."
That's the issue. Flores thought before realizing what Yomiko just said. Before he could ask, a screen appeared in front of him.
Yomiko would like to join your party
Accept, Decline
After looking at the screen for a bit, Flores turned his head to Yomiko. "You're going to fight? I thought you were just the grandmaster."
"Indeed. Master of all nine magical attributes, leader of Foo, and a hero as well. It's my obligation to fight these waves as much as you do. and I won't pass up the chance to show it who's boss for stepping within my borders." Despite being a witch, Yomiko cracked her knuckles as if she were ready to brawl.
Flores had no words. He did, however, just notice that Yomiko was armored out. It was a golden and blue pauldron and bracers that protected her arms and shoulders. She even swapped out her usual blue skirt for a leather-armored skirt.
Flores couldn't help but smile, and he pulled out his pack of cigarettes. Only then was he finally able to give a response.
"For a paper girl, For a paper girl, you sure are fired up." Flores handed Yomiko a blunt, one that she hesitantly took and lit on fire.
"What does that mean?"
"It means I respect you. Someone who has a drive to protect is a keeper in my book."
Yomiko blushed, but it was hidden by the smoke from the cigarette. Throwing her thoughts and feelings aside, she nudged Flores to accept her into the party and walked with him toward the armed forces.
0h.00m.40s
"Oh, last bit of advice before we leave."
"Hmm?" Flores questioned.
"Try not to get caught up in your losses. Those should be a point of review, not anguish. If you can get past those, then nothing can stop you."
"Great, you're starting to sound like Tim." Flores scoffed.
"I don't know who Tim is. But he sounds like a good friend."
"He really was." Flores's mind drifted off, thinking of what his best friend was doing now. Then, the clock hit 0.
The world around Flores began to distort, with the soldiers around him disappearing. And as soon as the final one disappeared, Flores himself vanished as well.
/~/
The armed forces of Foo landed, all appearing within a field. It was a large open plain, with woods blocking their path forward. Behind them was a farmhouse, and even further beyond was a village, one of the largest in the country. The village is called Yuu.
Mumbling from the crowd, ranging from frightened to enthusiastic, filled the air. And there was Flores at the front, his eyes widening at the hellscape in front of him. The sky turned blood-red and started to crack. It soon burst open as monsters started to fall through the crack and into the woods.
"You know, maybe I did get sent to hell."
"Oh yeah, I forgot you died. How'd it feel?"
"Darkness. It's hard to remember, but—" Flores canceled his explanation and narrowly dodged out of the way of an incoming brown blur.
The soldier behind him was knocked to the ground with a bird on top of him, specifically a goose. It was brown, with talons instead of webbed feet and wings that bawled up into a fist.
Everyone at the front was shocked and only reacted when the bird raised its talons towards the soldier's neck. Flores was the first to move, grabbing the goose by the neck and throwing it away.
The bird wasn't finished, though. It recovered mid-air and leaped at Flores the second it touched the ground. Closing the distance, the bird kicked and slashed at the hero. But Flores dodged it all and delivered two punches to the goose, knocking it to the ground.
That was... easier than expected. Are all the wave monsters going to be like this?
"The hero took it down with no issue at all."
"He didn't even have to use his weapon. Captain Flores is amazing!"
"Shut up and get a move on!" Lizen ordered.
"Yes, sir, sorry, sir!" The crowd of knights dispersed, many of them retreating towards the village. The plan was to hold off the incoming monsters until the village was fortified by the earth mages. Then, they'll defend the village until the scouts find the boss, and then the heroes will take care of it.
A simple plan that had little room for improvement. But being put on the defensive by an unknown enemy limited their options.
"Indentify, please," Flores asked while he handed the bird to Lizen.
"These are monsters from the wave; they aren't from Arcadia."
"Seriously?
"Yes."
"Of course. It wouldn't be an unknown threat if it were that simple." Flores grabbed the goose and pulled out his knife. But as he was preparing to cut it open, he instead opted to just shove the entire bird into his gem.
"Thanks for sharing." Yomiko pouted.
"Calm your ass; I'll get you another bird." Shifting to his weapon menu, Flores swapped to the newest unlocked flag.
Interdimensional Goose Brawler Flag (B) Unlocked
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Atk 6, Agility Up (Small), Blunt Damage Up (Small)
"This thing is called a goose brawler. Weapons unlocked are assumed to be lower than level 40. Possible increase to blunt damage as well." Flores explained.
"Assuming it went down quickly, these things are probably the grunts."
"Lizen. Go tell Shun and the others. I'll handle things with Flores here.''
"On it, your orders will be achieved. Lightning strikes, so that I may leave." [Star teleport]
Lizen disappeared in a flash of lightning as Yomiko turned around.
"Everyone else! We buy them time!"
"Yes, ma'am!" The soldiers stepped forward in formation, their bows and spears ready.
"[Tempo]" Yomiko held out her metronome, and it started to tick. A wave of sound expanded across the area, covering the armed forces in a white glow. Flores himself was also covered, and he felt his head become clear. Even more, he felt his mind come up with rhymes faster. He was given the correct words to follow up on a potential spell.
Before he got the chance to test it out, Flores fell to the ground as the earth beneath him began to rumble.
"Earth, rise into the skies, block the path, and increase your size. Form yourself into a wall and strengthen yourself for the oncoming brawl. [Galaxy Rise!]"
Slamming her hands on the ground, the ground beneath them began to rise into a castle wall. On top, the archers and mages stood ready, and on the bottom, the melee fighters stood guard as the makeshift gate closed behind them.
Holy. It took Freya and Neila to do a small reconstruction of the bar. How much power does it have? Flores got up off the ground and dusted himself off. Looking at the woods in front of them, an oncoming cloud of dust approached their fortification. It was the geese, along with another type of bird that looked like penguins with blades on their flippers.
Seeing the approaching murder, Flores activated his [Attack Order]. He then tossed out the cigarette he was smoking and stood at the front of the crowd.
"Are you ready for this?" Yomiko asked. Her metronome was now in the form of some sort of watch. It was steampunk-ish, with glass covering the pendulum as it swung back and forth without a noise.
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."
"Perfect. [Planet Split]"
Slamming her hands on the ground once again, the earth in front of them began to open up, catching many of the birds off guard as they fell in.
"[Planet Ray!]"
The approaching murder stopped, and before the ones in the hole could even attempt an escape, a beam of light descended from the sky and blasted everything inside.
"A bit overkill, but a nice one."
"Compliment later; here they come!" Yomiko warned.
As I said, the birds didn't see that gesture very kindly. While the majority of them started to go around the hole. A few decided to jump over the gap and engage them.
Flores was the first to move, cutting the first geese he saw mid-air. As the other birds landed, the two nearest to him attacked. Turning to the side, he blocked one of the geese trying to punch him, and narrowly dodged one of the blades from the penguin. Rolling back, Flores stabbed the goose and quickly brought his flag back out to parry a hit from the penguin.
"[Blazing Flourish]"
Kicking the penguin back, Flores began to spin his flag as it burst into flames. Rushing forward, he knocked the penguin off balance with a hit before slashing clean through it.
Not wanting to waste SP, Flores continued his assault and commanded the other soldiers to join in. Under his skill and the assistance of mages and archers. The first rush of birds stood no chance, and they were quickly dispatched.
"Ha. That was easy."
"Yeah, this wave stuff isn't so scathing."
"Don't jinx yourself now!" Flores hit both of them on the head, directing both of their attention to the oncoming onslaught. When they finally finished the first wave, the second finished circling the crevice and attacked them on both sides. And unlike the first force, these ones had the numbers to give them all a hard time.
"Split the group and block both sides!" Flores turned to Yomiko.
"Can we even hold off something like this?"
"Depends, are you good at dancing?"
"That depends. Cupid shuffle, macarena, or Fandango?"
"I do... whatever. Cadence: Moderato"
Similar to Tempo, another field came from Yomiko's metronome. Instead of the clarity given by the first, however, the sound of a metronome ticked around every second (.7 seconds), and everything that was inside came to a complete halt.
Both the birds and Flores tried to move but found that they couldn't. Even attempts to throw the weapons failed. This struggle led the entire battle to pause as every creature in the area looked over to Yomiko.
Sigh. "The metronome dictates movement. Move on the beat, attack on the beat. That's how Dance of Cadence works."
"Oooh!" The soldiers muttered. Yomiko demonstrated, hopping forward with every tick. She continued the demonstration by conjuring up a fireball that grew as the ticks went on and tossing it at the group of birds.
Many of the penguins and a few of the geese caught on and were able to move out of the way. But a mass majority didn't, and they were engulfed by the fire.
"I see." With newly found instructions, Flores channeled every game of Tomb of the Life Prancer he'd ever played. Walking was almost impossible, requiring two timed steps to get anywhere, so he began to jump, alternating legs with every jump to gain distance.
When he finally encountered the enemy, many of the geese were helpless as they were unable to move on beat consistently. Even the ones that could move had trouble attacking as well, making it easier for Flores to take them down. He can't say the same for the other soldiers, though.
He couldn't help but chuckle at the soldier's failure to move; a few of them were even getting pummed by geese. Sure, it was wrong to laugh at someone else's pain. But he couldn't help but find it hilarious as he saved them.
Needless to say, the second encounter with the birds was less chaotic and more just a bunch of creatures with no rhythm trying to dance. But once everyone started to catch on and properly get a hang of the tempo, the chaos started once again.
Lunging to the beat, Flores was having fun in a fight for the first time in a while. Every encounter was a dance battle, and whoever messed up first would be the loser, or in Flores's case, a small bruise that a bandage could heal later.
The geese in this wave were too weak to wound him. One actually gave him a bruise on his cheek when it got a lucky hit, but once he killed it, he used an erst banner to place down a defense order to further nix the threat the geese had on him. To the other soldiers, however, they're still prone to getting punched.
The only threat to him was the penguins, whose blades were quite dangerous. A few of the lower-level knights got taken down by them and were evacuated behind the stone gate. With this in mind, Flores took it upon himself to deal with the penguins, while the other soldiers took on the never-ending hoard of bird martial artists.
They held out for about an hour, with Yomiko's skill going on and off to mess with the enemy. When it was off, the soldiers would temporarily fall back so that the mages could blast them with their magic. Once it's back on, they'll fall back in for another round of dance revolution and let more blood paint the town.
On the sixth round of the strategy, however, Flores's pocket began to vibrate. Getting to safety and taking out his reflector, the glass fused back together to reveal Lizen's face."
"Finally, I thought you blocked me."
"I wish I could block you. So what? Are we free to fall back now?"
"Yes, I have a special task for you, though."
"Give me the details." He saw something out of the corner of his eye. Flores reached back and caught an oncoming goose by the neck.
"Nice one. Anyway, there's no time to waste. A mother from the village claimed her son went out by the lake with a few other kids, and they haven't returned yet. We need to find them and get them to safety."
"Noted. Any word on the boss?"
"Nothing from the scouting party."
"Did the monsters get to them?"
"Hopefully no. I've sent Nox to find them, but he hasn't gotten a visual yet."
"Of course, that complicates things. I'll call Yomiko and relay the details to her." Flores closed the mirror and held down the goose as he could stab it.
Alright, I need words for a teleport spell. As Flores thought of some words, hundreds of possible spell combinations came to his head, followed by a familiar ticking sound from a metronome.
"Man, the metronome is busted. For chantless magic, and now this." Flores grumbled. "Speed of Light, no time to break. Teleport me quickly to Taat Lake! [Star Transfer!]"
/~/
"[Beginners Flourish!]" Flores shouted.
Cutting through three geese in the area, Flores sidestepped an oncoming penguin and stabbed it in the back.
Looking around him, Flores eyed the slaughter that just took place. 20 birds in total: 4 penguins and 16 geese, all of whom failed to kill him. Not to say they didn't leave any damage, however. He suffered a pretty deep gash on the thigh from a penguin, but it wasn't enough to take him down for long.
Sitting down and taking out his medical kit. Flores felt another vibration in his pocket.
"Flores! Where the hell are you!?" Yomiko yelled.
"Yeah, I should have called earlier, but I got caught up in something else. A few kids haven't returned, so I'm searching for them by the lake."
"And you went by yourself? I swear you're so reckless!"
"I'll be fine; these birds have nothing on me." Flores chuckled nervously as he slid the medical kit behind his back. Yomiko's eyes, however, were too sharp for it.
"Is that a healing bandage?"
"... nooo."
"You reckless idiot. That's it; I'm sending a squad to your position now." The screen on Flores's reflector cracked as Yomiko hung up. After letting out a sigh, Flores continued to bandage his leg before continuing his search.
Heeding Yomiko's words, Flores decided to go full guerilla warfare. Sneaking through the bushes and attacking from the shadows with drum notes, Flores slowly picked off the birds surrounding the lake.
When he finally encountered the last group, he spared no time and rushed them immediately. Without the birds noticing, he stabbed the penguin first as he pinched one of the geese down by its wing.
"[Solar Ballad.]"
Swapping to his new trumpet, Flores blew and fired a beam of light that pierced one of them. The second lept back and tried to punch him, but a simple dodge followed by an elbow brought it down long enough to get pierced as well. Finally, he swapped back to his flag and stabbed the last one through the head, finishing off the final group of birds.
"Alright, how do I find them?" Flores thought for a moment before coming up with an idea.
"IF YOU'RE HUMAN, SAY I!" Flores yelled.
His question was followed by a long bout of silence. As he was about to facepalm, thinking the idea would work, he heard a splash coming from the water.
Turning around, he saw a kid peeking his head out of the water before coming out. It was a boy no younger than ten, and he wore a soaked blue shirt and brown pants. He had a bruise on his face; he was holding his shoulder as an obvious wound showed itself.
Pulling out the last of his bandages, Flores laid the kid against the rock and started to wrap his injuries.
"Are you here to help us, mister?" The kid asked.
"Indeed, you can call me Captain Flores." Flores smiled as she cleaned the wound.
"I'm Romeo." The kid replied. He flinched at the pain but pulled through to the very end.
"You told us, right? What happened to the others?"
"I was showing a few friends of mine my secret base. It's a cave under the water. But the sky turned red, and a bird attacked us when we got here. I learned some magic from Mah—just a simple rhyme to create a flash of light. I used it to blind the bird chasing us so we could escape, but I did end up getting cut."
"I see, you're a brave kid for doing that." Flores ruffled the hair of the kid as he finished his wrap. "I'm going to get you all out of here. You think you can swim one more time?"
"Yep, I'm a great swimmer!"
"Good. If you can do it, I need you to get your friends. I'll keep watching so no other birds get the drop on us."
"Yes, captain!" Still holding onto his shoulder, the kid leaped into the water and swam out of view. Flores was still nervous about the kid's injury, but he wasn't planning on leaving him outside by himself.
While he waited for the kids to return, Flores scanned the lakeside. There were plenty of tracks on the ground to piece together the kid's actions, but he noticed something else that piqued his interest. A blue razor-sharp feather covered in blood.
"That's odd. The penguins don't have feathers, and the geese feathers are smaller, aren't sharp, and are blue. What the hell did this?"
Pulling out his reflector, the glass reconstructed itself as Flores pushed mana into it. Speaking of Yomiko's name, the phone began to rumble before it finally got an image.
"Flores, what went wrong? Are you-"
"Calm down, Miko. I'm fine."
"Miko?"
"Nickname, but that's not the issue. Found the kids; one's injured. The current amount is unknown, but I'll assume three or four."
"So many. How far out are you?"
Flores scratched his head at the question. "I'm not sure; I've never been out here before."
"Of course you haven't." Yomiko sighed. "It may be a bit risky, but I'll send out a beacon."
"Why's it risky?"
"Everything in existence would see it and attack the village. But it's a risk I can take."
"And what of the soldiers?"
"I'll get back to you on that."
"No. I'll just ask the kids. Main question though." Flores held up the feather in front of Yomiko.
"Is this from a monster in this region?"
"None that I've seen before. It's most likely from a wave creature." Yomiko declared.
"So if this is the thing that injured the kid, and it wasn't the penguins or geese, then it could only be: "
"The boss, mini-boss at best."
"And if the kid pissed it off, then it could only mean... fuck."
"What, what is it?"
"I gotta go, see you!" Flores's reflector cracked as he put it away.
Searching the air, Flores spotted the dove just as it dove at him. Rolling out of the way, the creature crashed into the ground, scattering dirt and dust everywhere.
Shaking the dirt off its beak, the bird prepared for another attack. Flapping its wing, it flew at Flores as a golden energy surrounded it.
Flores held out his flag and faced the tackle head-on. Blocking the hit, Flores sidestepped and used the bird's already fast speed to toss the bird away. When the bird stopped itself and turned around, Flores used the moment to size up the enemy and gauge what he was going to face.
It was a large blue bird with white tips on the ends of its wings. Speaking of said wings, they had a faint golden glow that constantly radiated on them. The bird returned the gesture, taking a moment to look at Flores before making a mighty screech.
Through all his anime and novel knowledge, Flores had made a mental list of creatures he might encounter when he entered this world. At the top was the usual dragon, and at the bottom, an elf. This creature stayed in the lower half of the list. But since it was a bird, he didn't have to think hard to determine what it was.
"A roc; that'll explain the bird theme of this wave."
Spinning his flag, it came back around for another rush. Rolling out the way, Flores let it pass through and started to run after it. The bird, however, flew into the air to avoid any attacks he was going to make.
"[Solar Ballad!]"
Pulling out his trumpet, Flores began to play, shooting out many beams of light. The roc was hit by the first few hits, and it did some very decent damage. But it wasn't down, and it pulled off crazy maneuvers in the air to avoid the attacks.
Once it saw an opening, it fired back with a volley of arrows. Thinking fast, Flores expanded his arm into a wall and defended against the oncoming.
Damn, I need a way to get up there. If only I had a way to get it to plunge down here.
As Flores prepared for another attack, Romeo came out of the water with his three friends. The rocs eyes widened at the sight, and it let out a deafening screech.
Damn it, fate; that's not what I meant.
Spreading out its wings, it closed them and unleashed another volley of feathers, this time at Romeo. Without even thinking, Flores felt the ki in his foot build up and unleash a violent burst of energy. Launching him across the ground, he landed right in front of the boy, who covered his face as the feathers rained upon him.
Several of them had lodged themselves into Flores arms, and a few across his cheek. The rest of his body was fine, though, thanks to the defensive power of command one.
"Captain Flores, are you okay!?" The kid asked, cringing at the sight.
"Who cares? Dive back down now!"
"But you're hurt. I can take you to the bas-"
"GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"
"Y-yes sir!"
SQUAWK! The bird let out another shriek as its wings glowed with familiar energy.
"DAMN IT! [Drill Run!]" Activating his skill, Flores jabbed his spear into the dashing bird's head. The energy from its wings faded as the bird screeched out in pain, immediately followed up with an attack from its wings that knocked Flores to the side.
Flores recovered mid-air and slid himself to a halt. Rushing at the bird again, he unleashed a barrage of thrust that forced the bird further back, injuring it more and more. He was about to use a drill run on its chest, but it avoided the hit by flying in the air and using its talons to grab Flores by the arm.
Taking flight, the bird circled around at high speeds before releasing Flores into a nearby tree.
The hero took a bit to recover from the throwing, but once he did, he quickly ran towards the lake. But as he arrived, the roc had just flown out of the water, its target in its talons. Romeo had been caught and was now being flown high into the air. He was in visible pain as the monster's talons dug deep into his side. And they showed no sign of letting him go.
"Daughter of a bastard. This thing grudge is stupid. Light guide me; take flight like Cupid! [Star Light Teleport!]"
Forming himself into a ball of light, Flores shot up into the air, catching up to the flying roc. As the spell reached its limit, Flores turned back to normal and folded his paper into a rope that latched onto the roc's tail.
"I didn't expect that to work. Noted for later." Flores began to climb and slowly ascended towards the tail and later the back. Looking down towards the ground. The lake was long gone by that point. There was only the ground, and the bird continued to fly away from the village they were defending.
With the few options he had left and a life to save, he threw all caution to the wind and raised his flag.
"This is a stupid idea; fate won't let me die. [DRILL RUN!]
/~/
"[Crisis Spread!]" Yomiko shouted. From her hands, the power of every attribute rained down on the battlefield, destroying hundreds of birds surrounding the wall of earth. [Burning Land!]
Landing on the ground, an orange field expanded from her feet. Everything that was assaulted by a flame from the ground burned to a crisp.
"Lizen! Any word from Flores?"
"No. And nothing from our scouting parties, either. The boss and them are missing! [Planet Lightning!]" Lizen muttered a rhyme, calling down three bolts of lightning that struck a group of oncoming birds.
"That's it; I'm going out to kill it myself. This has gone on for way too long."
Squaaawk!
"It looks like the boss had a similar thought." Taking out his telescope, Lizen focused on the boss. "Oh wow, and it looks like Flores has as well."
"HE WHAT!"
Snatching the scope from Lizen. Yomiko watched on as Flores fell towards the earth after stabbing the giant bird."
"GET PEOPLE OUT THERE NOW!"
"They're too far away. By the time he crashes, the boss will already be on his ass. Not to mention this hoard in our path. Flores is on his own until then."
"Can't you teleport?"
"Not that far, Yomiko, and not with multiple people. I can start moving now, but we'll have to pray Flores can hold his own until we get there."
"Fuck. Hang in there, Flores."
/~/
"I SAY THIS AGAIN, STUPIDEST IDEA YET!" Flores dove through the sky, a kid in one hand and a murderous superbird behind him. Right now, the first half of the plan has succeeded in getting the kid away. The only issue now is coming up with seven other plans and living to tell the tale.
Can this bird get off my ass for one moment? This kid couldn't have pissed it off that badly. Wait, the bird hates the kid! That's it—for one-half at least. "Flash of light, burn his sight! [Star Flash!]"
Reaching out his hand, a bright flash projected from it. The roc behind him screeched in pain as it stopped midair, leaving the two alone for now.
"Alright, first plan down. Now what." Flores looked down; he estimated he was about 3000 feet from the ground. A usual sight. He jumped from way higher many times before, but that was with a parachute and not while carrying an unconscious child. He had to think fast, or the kid's lives weren't the only thing he'd have to worry about.
Okay, hopefully, this would work.
Flores opened his bag, unleashing all the leftover paper he had in it. With his arm joining the bundle, all the paper folded into a cushion and positioned itself behind Flores.
"Still not enough. [Erst Banner!] [Order Change: Berserker Pig Banner!] Fortification, shield my fall. Protect me and the kid I haul."
Oh wow, I'm getting better at this.
"Descending towards the earth below. Strengthen my vitality and help me tank this blow. [Planet Defense Up!]"
Forcing his ki into the spell, Flores successfully cast and boosted the defense-boosting spell. Not stopping there, he flowed ki into the first flag he sent down, the paper he was about to land on, as well as himself, in order to maximize everything's efficacy. And as he was only 300 feet from the ground, the only thing he could do was brace for the impact, properly smothering the kid so he's not hurt from the fall.
And as he did, he crashed into the ground. Dust exploded everywhere as he tumbled across the ground. The paper took the brunt of the fall, but he kept rolling after it. Leaving the area of his defense order, Flores continued to roll until he ran into a tree, which finally stopped his violent crash.
His body was in pain; scrapes and bruises appeared everywhere he looked. His head was ringing, and his shoulder screamed in agony the most. All the paper he'd used to form the cushion fell apart, and he couldn't call it back. Overall, not his greatest landing, but at least he was alive.
"Ughhh, Fuck. I'm gonna need an hour."
Squawwwk!"
"But this damn bird won't give it! [STRENGTH ORDER!] Placing the kid down, Flores swapped to his colossus banner and activated the skill. Taking the roc head-on, Flores used the blunt end of the banner to smash the roc into the ground. While it was still down, Flores grabbed it by the beak and lifted it into the air before slamming it back down over and over again.
Flapping its wings, it turned blue as it broke out of Flores's grip. Shooting a volley of feathers at the hero, Flores casually deflected them with his flag and ran forward, his body limping with every other step he took. [Beginners Flourish!] "
The bird slashed at Flores with its wing, and the hero countered with his skill, effortlessly cutting through it. He then continued his combo with a kick in the chest, followed by a slash to its eyes, hitting it into the ground once more. Ripping off the bird's other wing, Flores grabbed the bird by his leg and tossed him across the ground.
"[Drill Run!] Putting the last bits of ki into his leg, Flores leaped through the air, closing the distance. Twirling his flag, the tip began to spin as he drove it into the head of the roc. It let out a final screech as its violent shaking slowly came to a stop. And with its death, the blue skies finally returned to the world.
"Finally!" Flore huffed. "It's over."
Resisting the urge to pass out, Flores struggled to stay standing. Using his flag as a walking stick, the hero went back over to Romeo, as he was still lying on the ground.
"Romeo, it's over. You can wake up now." Flores huffed out of breath. The kid didn't wake up, but he was breathing. Flores was relieved that he was but took note of how slight it was.
Flores checked for any injuries before attempting to move him. There were the two he sustained from the bird, and he had no more bandages to stop it. There were a few scrapes and cuts from the fall, but he had no way to determine if the kid had a concussion or not; that's something the healers can figure out later.
With all the notable injuries in mind, Flores reached into his inventory and pulled out a cloak. It was the orange and white shawl he got from the Lit'sune fur. Flores, in all of his wisdom, forgot that monster drops were a thing and only remembered them a few days ago when he was scavenging his inventory for some materials.
"It's a waste of material, but it's worth it for now." Ripping up the shawl, Flores tied it around the kid's wounds and then picked him up over his shoulder.
Ca-captain. Are we home yet?" The kid coughed weakly.
"In a bit, kid. We'll get your friends home too." Flores reassured.
"I can't feel my arm. And I'm tired."
"You'll be fine. We have healers back at the village."
"Ca-captain. Am I going to die?"
"You're not. Just hold on a bit longer, and I'll get you the help you need!" Flores stumbled, suddenly feeling a sharp pain in his arm and legs.
"Damn adrenaline," Flores mumbled as he limped forward.
"Ca-captain?"
"You're not going to die." Flores whispered.
"Ca-captain?"
"I said you're not going to die!"
"Ca-captain?"
"..." sigh "Yeah kid?" Flores asked.
"T-tell mom i', s-s-sorry, for s-s-sneaking off. And Lisa, that's sorry for saying I hate her." Romeo asked in tears.
"Sure thing, Romeo. You can rest easy now." Flores reassured.
"T-thank you, Captannnnn." The kid drifted off into another slumber, and Flores felt no breath from the kid but marched on to get him home.
/~/
"He really did it. Our little hero is growing up into a man."
"That's cool and all, but are we any closer to breaking through? He could be hurt for all we know." Yomiko panicked.
"Don't worry, he's a hero. A fall won't take him out that easily." Lizen reassured.
"CAPTAIN, GRANDMASTER! LORD FLORES HAS RETURNED!" A soldier shouted.
"Well, speak of the devil. Clear a path and get healers to the sight immediately." Lizen order.
"Ignore that first order and evacuate the front gates. I'll drive them off!"
"Understood. You heard the grandmaster; get a move on!" Lizen ordered.
Floating above the stone gates on her platform, a familiar tick played in her head. Seeing Flores slowly approach the gate, she knew she only had a moment to take them all out before they started to attack him.
"[Tempo] [Melodia: Prestissimo] [Weakening Chime!] [Galaxy Magic up!] [Galaxy fire attack up!]"
Yomiko cast buff after buff for a minute straight, not letting up until she reached the max buffing limit. Pointing her hand towards the murder of birds, Yomiko cleared her head as she flowed ki to her hand.
"Mana first, to power the spell; life force next, to make it dwell. Fire forms, burn, and spread, engulfing the birds until they are dead. Burn and smolder till nothing is there; scatter their ashes throughout the air. Magic of the hero and the world as one, answer my call, and with the power to engulf the sun! [Universe! DAWN OF FLAME!] "
Raising her finger to the sky, a massive ball of flame appeared over her. Tossing it down, the ball collided with the ground and exploded. The explosion reached the skies and shook the ground. Every bird in the center was quickly incinerated, with the one on the outer edge of the spell being burned beyond recognition.
The wall, even though it was barely in the spell's range, still took a blow, and it soon began to crumble at the sheer power of the spell.
"Ooh, I think I went a bit too far." Yomiko overlooked the damage. There was a massive hole in the ground, with all the grass in a 90-foot radius being turned black. Some birds lay on the ground, black and charred from the attack. A few people hoped that they could take it home and cook it. But those hopes were shattered once they saw the damage.
Sigh "We'll talk about this later." Lizen groaned.
Running out the gate, they found Flores slowly limping forward. A kid over his left should, the dead boss dragging behind him. He was bloodied, and all the soldiers got out of his way as he made it to the front gate.
"I'm back." Flores declared as he dropped off the rope.
Flores continued to walk forward, only to be stopped by Yomiko. "What are you doing? You're hurt. We can handle things from just"
"Not now. I need to find his."
"ROMEO, ARE YOU THERE?" A woman yelled.
"Speak of the devil." Flores walked over to the mother, Romeo, over his arm. She looked overjoyed once she saw him and ran up to the hero to retrieve her son.
"Lord Morale, what happened to my baby? Is he okay!?"
"Sorry. He said he apologized for sneaking out. He also apologized for saying he hated Lisa." Flores gently put the kid on the ground, the mom repulsing at the sight. That repulsiveness turned to sadness as a stream of tears started to stream down her face. And then sadness turned to anger as she looked toward the delivery of her child.
"HOW COULD YOU!" The woman whined as she hit Flores on the chest. A metal clang sounded, but everyone looked on in shock and horror.
"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE OUR HERO. WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE HIM! WHY!" The girl continued to hit Flores, soon breaking down near her son.
"Shut up, woman. Look at him now; he clearly did his best."
"Quiet soldier!" Flores ordered. The soldier that came to his defense shut up and looked over to the hero.
"The mother is right. I did fail to defend him, and it's my fault. My best clearly wasn't enough."
Flores consoled the woman for a bit before getting up. Drawing his flag, he started to walk towards the gate and out of the village once again.
"Where are you going now?"
"There's still... more people stuck. We need to save them, or they'll" Flores started to fall, quickly being caught by a distressed Yomiko. She quickly checked his pulse, sighing in relief once she felt a heartbeat.
"I want a healer here now and a squad to find those kids!"
"Yes ma'am!" The soldier replied in unison.
"Flores, you self-conscious idiot."
