Disclaimer
The following is a fan-based Fiction.
Rising of the Shield Hero belongs to Aneko Yusagi
Please support the official release.
Strength
Ace races up the mountain, pulling the Gun Hero's Party uphill, running towards Mirso Village.
"The Sword Hero is under attack by the Cult!" Dawn yells.
"Already!?" Keel yells, then she yelps when Ace hits a bump.
"Did this happen in your vision?" Rifana asks Misato.
Misato shakes his head. "No, this never happened, but I should have expected something like this much sooner though. I thought we had a little more time…"
"Considering recent events this does make sense." Sadeena comments. "Especially after receiving confirmation from Naofumi that Motoyasu has changed for the better yesterday.
"It's possible Ren discovered the truth and refused. This might be the last straw for the Church, because now each hero is not acting like the Heroes the Church expected them to be. All thanks to years of listening to the Pope's mouth or reading their 'sacred' books." Misato says, clenching his hand onto the wooden wall of the carriage. "Some followers are perhaps now feeling betrayed and outraged. Already declaring them as fakes because they can't handle the truth…
We need to get Ren, anyone trustworthy in his team, the dragon and his daughter OUT of there." Misato declares.
"Big Bro, why are we saving a dragon?" Ace questions. "Especially a dragon with a bad crystal inside it?" He remembered the warnings and tales of Queen Fitoria's fights against Dragons collecting these Emperor Shards. Shards that make Dragons worse than they normally are.
Misato sighs at this. "Ace, this dragon, despite having a shard, unlike the ones Fitoria had to kill before, had the compassion, the kindness, to raise a child like his own. How would you feel if your parents were killed by bad people?"
"Really bad and maybe angry…"
"Then think about how the girl would feel if her adopted dragon father died to bad people?"
"..."
"Ace understands." He says, seemingly increasing speed.
They see the entrance of the village in their view.
"HEY STOP!" A man yells from the entrance.
Misato groans, they have no time for this. "Keel, Rifana, hold me!" he leans up to face the front of the carriage with Rifana and Keel holding him, he aims and fires a mana bullet.
The bullet lands near his feet, and the villager yelps, leaping back.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Misato yells. "Ace, see if you can avoid people and get us through quickly!"
"Alright!"
They enter the village, Ace slows down a bit, roughly turning and avoiding various obstacles like benches, barrels and tables, thankfully it seems the man from earlier yelled at everyone to clear the path. Making it easier for Ace to maneuver through the village.
"Look up ahead!" Ace yells and everyone looks up to see a large puff of smoke plume.
Misato clenches his fist, and the sight of his friends lying on the floor with blood pouring out of their bodies flashes in his mind.
It can't be too late…
The Gun Hero's party finally arrives, seeing Ren's teammates huddled together next to the dragon, including a demi-human dog girl. All of them are surrounded by corpses, most of which are burnt.
Ace glares at the dragon.
"Easy there Ace…" Misato warns, hopping out of the carriage.
The Dragon lifts its head up, stomping one foot forward and leans to them. "You! What is your intent…"
The Dragon pauses, staring at Misato. While a green haired young woman takes a stance similar to Chinese martial arts, and the dirty blonde haired man raises two knives.
Misato raises his hand in a placating manner. "I'm here to speak and help the Sword Hero, recent events have made the Church of the Three Heroes… Anxious, I imagine you got a glimpse of that." Misato says, turning his head towards the burnt corpse and a blackened Rosary of the Three Heroes Church. He looks at Ren's party who is still wary but the Dragon is still silent.
The Gun Hero groans at the paranoia, taking a breath, ready to explain-
"Calm yourselves." The Dragon orders and Ren's teammates reluctantly lower their weapons.
"Papa, do you know this guy?" The demi-human dog girl asks, curious about the black haired stranger. It's like her father has seen a ghost.
The dragon nods. "I do not know exactly who he is, but I do know what he is…"
Misato's eyes widen, Rifana's mouth is agape, Keel's eyes narrow, scrutinizing the dragon. Ace glares due to his kind's dislike for Dragons. Sadeena is the only one who appears calm at the dragon's statement, merely raising her eyebrow.
"What do you think I am?" Misato asks cautiously.
The Dragon tilts its eye at Misato "You are the G-
"WAIT! Don't say it out loud!" Misato yells, stopping the dragon.
"... Ah, apologies." The Dragon tilts its head, like its bowing.
Misato sighs in relief. "Well… My name is Misato, what's yours? And how do you know my identity? We have never met before."
"I am Gaelion, as for how I know what you are, my ancestor met your predecessor."
"Do you know his name?"
Gaelion pauses, thinking carefully how to answer.
"Forrest."
Misato's eyes widened.
"My ancestor made a promise to him, a promise I am honored to fulfill, now that you are here at last."
Misato blacks out.
Misato sees a similar but much smaller dragon than Gaelion but three times the size of Ace in his Royal filolial form. Its head was leaning down like its bowing. Misato turns to find Forrest in a Sci Fi-like, but scratched up and muddied, dark armor, standing before the dragon, like a ruler facing their servant, who bowed in respect.
"Otherworldly Hero… I swear upon my Emperor Shard, I shall-
"Misato!" Keel says shaking the Gun Hero.
Misato blinks "Ah, what did I miss?" He turns his head only to find Ace in his human form arguing with the dog girl.
"Not much but that dog girl, Wyndia, she called you a weirdo for blanking out and Ace called her a weirdo for calling Gaelion her father and now it's a petty child argument…" Rifana answers.
Sadeena walks over to the two children intending to end the fight.
Misato faces Gaelion. "We'll discuss later but right now I need to know what happened here and where the Sword Hero is."
Gaelion, Wyndia and Ren's teammates explained. When Gaelion first appeared, Ren spoke, asking what Gaelion intended to do with Mirso Village, Gaelion simply said nothing and wondered if Ren was here to take Wyndia. Like Misato predicted, the conversation led to Ren realizing the truth and refusing to kill it, Ren was walking back to confront the Villagers. Suddenly they saw a man in robes yelling for Ren to slay the dragon. Ren told the man he wouldn't. The robed man insisted, telling Ren about the demi-human girl that controls the dragon and that her kind will destroy Melomarc but Ren didn't believe him.
Next thing the Sword Party knew, arrows started flying, one of their teammates, or rather the traitor, the Mage with gray hair named Farrie, ran away, none of the arrows flew close to him. The robed man runs as well, clear of the line of fire.
Suddenly a group of mages and archers came out of the trees and rocks, they loudly declared Ren as the Fake Sword Hero, and several soldiers and assassins charged at the Sword Hero's party. Ren took most of them out, while the party took out the stragglers. One cloaked assassin slipped by, going towards Ren. The green haired fighter, Tersia yells a warning to the Sword Hero. Ren faces the knife wielding assassin, ready to swing but…
He froze.
Their teammate, Bakta, a heavy axe wielder, got in between him and the assassin. The knife slips past the armor, piercing Bakta's neck. While the assassin's neck and collarbone was cut by the axe.
Ren caught Bakta before he fell, tried to heal him with a potion but Bakta was already dead by then.
Ren panicked at the sight of the blood, he tried to wipe it off but it only stained his clothing. The sight of their dead comrade made the other two companions demoralized. The soldiers regrouped and charged at the Party, intending to finish them off.
Then Gaelion appeared, burning the soldiers and assassins. Saving Ren and his team, Tersia and Welt tried to comfort Ren but the Sword Hero…
"Leave me alone!" Ren yelled and ran into the forest alone.
Tersia and Welt were uncertain how to approach the Sword Hero, he was always somewhat reclusive to them. Only Bakta dared to approach Ren, getting Ren to speak and socialize with some success but he was gone…
Misato frowns at the news, he faces the covered body and silently prays for Bakta's peace. He then faces Tersia and Welt. "I need to speak to the Sword Hero and get everyone here to safety. This place isn't safe, the Church is wary of that girl, Wyndia, and now they are clearly hostile to the Sword Hero. I understand you might have been blackmailed or pressured to remain silent on certain things, but it's clear they are not honoring their deal if they killed your friend…" Dawn and Dusk did inform Misato about this. It would also explain why most of Ren's teammates didn't seem to be the manipulative sort unlike Itsuki's and Motoyasu's parties.
Tersia and Welt frown, conflicted but after a few seconds they both firmly nod in agreement. Tersia points towards west, Misato sees some dried blood on the rocky path in the same direction. "He went that way."
"Dawn, Sadeena, speak to Welt and Tersia. Rifana, Keel, Ace watch the area." Misato commands and faces the dragon. "Watch the group for me."
Gaelion nods "I will."
Misato opens his message board. Using the Letter Gun to type a message to Fitoria, Naofumi and Itsuki, warning them about the Church making their move. Hopefully Naofumi can tell Motoyasu and get to safety.
Huh, a message from Fitoria. He'll read it later.
Misato runs into the forest, using his Gun Compass to track Ren.
The Gun Hero pushes through the tree branch and bushes, finding the Sword Hero next to the river. He sees blue and black clothing hung on the tree branch, likely air drying the clothing. He sees Ren in a plain dark tunic, different from the hung clothing, looking at the edge of the cliff, looking at the mountains and land down below.
Misato takes a step. "Hey Ren." He says.
The Sword Hero turns his head, his eyes widening and blinking in surprise. "Misato, what are you doing here?"
"Just checking up on you, I heard about the church."
"So you know they attacked me and my party?"
"Yep." Misato frowns in concern. "You want to talk about it?
"No" Ren says, eyes narrowing.
"..."
Misato frowns, he could ask Ren to join his party and leave to talk somewhere else safe but… Ren might clamp up and close him off. There's no Matilda to help comfort Ren, forcing him to leave after a traumatic event would probably make things worse. Besides the Church has been pushed back, they got time.
Misato silently walks forward and sits next to Ren, facing the view, looking at a beautiful view of the trees and mountains in the sunlight.
However, Misato doubts Ren is seeing the same thing.
"Looks dull doesn't it?"
"What is?"
"Everything…" Misato says, gesturing his hands towards the view.
Ren scoffs, "That's the game designer's fault."
Misato stares at Ren. "So you think its the game designer's fault?"
Ren nods "I know you're a player too. After the Princess interfered in the duel, you used some sort of skill to stop Motoyasu. I saw you mutter the word in English. You said 'Deadeye'." The skill name reminded Ren of an old popular Western Cowboy style game that historically had four remasters and two remakes his friend loved playing. "There's also the fact that your name is clearly Japanese, along with your appearance."
"'Player' huh… Ya, I'm not from this world." Misato confirms.
It seems Ren caught on, it was sort of expected. Ren did have more awareness but likely due to social anxiety, he is afraid of speaking up sometimes.
"I guess you're some sort of Gun Hero?" Ren inquires, he asked people but no one has heard of a Gun Hero, there was one of the Seven Stars, the Projectile Hero, he heard about but that's a weirdly vague title.
"Ya, but do me a favor and please keep it quiet, Gun Heroes historically didn't exist and that can disrupt many cultures and religions in this world."
"I won't tell." After walking down the streets and getting worshiped a bunch of times. Combined with the fact that he is an introvert, Ren can understand the headache the hero worship can be. Especially that big armored guy with the loud voice on the first day of adventuring, he wouldn't shut up with the praise… That NPC was annoying. Thankfully the NPC moved to Itsuki-san's party.
"Although Ren… You are wrong about one thing, the reason why everything looks dull is not the game designer's fault."
"Then what is it?" Ren asks, confused. Brave Star Online was much brighter and colorful before, what the hell happened? Some sort of mistake 'patch' update?
Misato sighs. "It's because you saw someone you knew die in front of you…" He says, ripping off the band aid.
Ren clenches his fist and grits his teeth.
"Ren on your left!" Tersia yells.
Ren turns his head to see a cloaked hooded figure dashing towards him. He raises his sword, prepared to do a back hand swing. The assassin draws out a knife and Ren froze.
He remembered the day he died.
Ren was trailing behind his friend, Makoto-san, who was talking to her friend. He leans his head up to see a masked man with a hoodie, holding a knife.
Ren leaped in front of Makoto, the knife wielder was near, he tried to catch the knife, just like he did back in Brave Star Online in PVP.
Next thing Ren knew, the knife was in his gut. Ren stared at the maniac directly in their eyes. He remembers those eyes so vividly, those eyes filled with insanity.
Ren blinks, now seeing Bakta in front of him, taking the hit, while slamming their axe on the assassin's body.
With righteous rage, Ren sliced the assassin in half. He turns quickly, catching Bakta, uncorking the health potion.
"Hang on!" He yelled, pouring the potion in his mouth.
A notification appears in Ren's vision.
Bakta has died.
What?
Ren turns to look at the NPC's face, staring at the sickening sight of Bakta's dead eyes, staring back at him.
Ren drops Bakta, startled and disturbed. He gasps seeing his hand covered in blood. In Bakta's blood.
Ren then remembers the smile of a child, staring at him, eyes filled with complete and utter faith.
Ren breathes heavily, clenching his chest.
Why…
Why does his chest hurt so much?
"Thats…"
"Guilt…" Misato interrupts.
"What?"
"That pain you feel… It's guilt. Misato says, staring at Ren with a haze over his eyes. "I know that feeling all too well."
"But… He was just an N… NPC…" Ren stutters.
Why did saying that feel so wrong?
"Ren, in the game you played, did you have NPC's die?
"Ya but they came back…" In Brave Star Online, the NPC companions would respawn later.
"And when they died in the story, how did it feel?"
"Sad but…"
"Nothing like what you are feeling huh?" Misato comments.
Ren reluctantly nods.
"Perhaps the reason why you feel like this is because you know deep down… He isn't some NPC. People can be attached to characters in a book or game but it's nothing compared to a real person dying…" Misato says, clenching his fist, remembering his last day at home. "Ren… This isn't a game."
"But this is a game!" Ren denies.
It has to be! Where else could he BE?!
"And yet you feel pain… Ren honestly, take a good look and smell the air. Feel the ground, the heat of the sunset…Was technology advanced enough to replicate such a feeling into your mind with those VR devices?"
"..."
Misato continues. "Can you really look and think that those people who joined you were an intelligent AI to act like a real person? A fake human being?"
Ren looks down to his feet.
"Lord Ren, you, okay? That was a long fight." Tersia said, clearly concerned.
"Thanks for the assist." Ren said to Welt.
Although it was strange that Welt interfered despite the fact that Ren ordered the NPC to not engage.
"Why are you talking to me?" Ren asked Bakta.
"I just want to get to know you more. Hero or not, you're still a kid."
"Um…" Ren was uncertain what to say, why is there no dialogue wheel?!
"Got a family back where you're from? I'll start, I have an adorable nephew and niece, a brother and an incredible sister-in-law."
Ren recalled how he met Bakta's family, how excited and also exhausting the children were, asking questions he didn't know how to answer. The look of admiration, for having a metal sword on his back.
"Um… Mister Ren… Will Uncle Bakta see us again?" The boy asked with his sister hugging him
"Of course." Ren answered confidently.
What is he going to tell those children now...?
Tears stream down Ren's face.
Bakta is… Gone.
"This isn't a game…" Ren whimpers, finally seeing the truth.
Misato pats Ren's back, nodding. "It's not."
Ren cries for a few minutes before taking slow deep breaths, recomposing himself.
"What am I going to do?" Ren asks, he feels overwhelmed, the world is suddenly so much bigger and more dangerous than he realized.
Misato interjects, grabbing Ren's shoulder. "Hey, as far as I am aware there are three more other worlders here, lost as you are. We can figure it out together, for now let's get out of here and go somewhere else safer." Misato says comforting Ren.
A pop-up message appears over Ren's vision.
Misato invites your party to join!
Accept
Decline
"Ya…" Ren mutters with a small smile. Pressing 'Accept'. He's not alone.
The gemstone on the Legendary Sword starts to glow.
Misato smiles. He did it…
All the heroes are no longer delusional.
Now they need to regroup and fight the Church.
Warning! Teleportation is being jammed!
Unable to break through!
"Ren, try teleporting!" Misato yells.
Ren's eyes widen at Misato's sudden urgency, and he transforms his sword.
"I'm being blocked!" Ren growls. "What's going on?"
"The Church is back."
Misato and Ren turn their heads hearing a whistle-like sound and a bright red object flying into the air, exploding. It's a firework, for it to be used, means their parties are under attack!
"We need to get back to the others!" Misato declares.
Keel, slams her axe into a soldier's torso and jabs her buckler into head, breaking the helmet and their skull, killing them. Rifana stabs a down soldier, facing her friend with a nod. They turn to see three more swordsmen and spear men charging towards them.
"Dark Fire Palette!" Wyndia yells from behind Keel.
The spell hits one of the soldiers, covering them in dark purple fire. And a bright blue lightning blur appears through them, electrocuting them and slashing them. In a blink of an eye, Sadeena appears near Keel, with her hands on her knees.
"You okay?" Keel asks
"Ha… Yes, I'm just a little out of breath that's all…" Sadeena reassures with a smile. Using Drifa Lightning-speed two times in a row can take its toll.
"How dare you break Ace's carriage!" Ace screeches, It was a gift from Queen Fitoria! Enraged by the carriage's destruction, Ace brutally launches several soldiers off the mountain by kicking them between the legs. Were it not for the current situation, Keel would have laughed hard at the sight.
"Ace regroup with us!" Rifana calls out and the Filolial complies.
Welt and Tersia appear near the three, taking a knee.
The two parties turn to face their enemy, a large group of soldiers bearing rosaries.
"Purge the filth, slay those who defy our God!" A fanatical man yells as all the soldiers charge, spears first.
"Ugh, they just won't quit!" Keel whines, voicing everyone's fatigued irritation to their enemy.
The Sword and Gun Party all take their stances, ready to fend off the next wave.
A roar echoes in the mountains, but instead of fear, the sound fills the group with hope.
"Get them Papa!" Wyndia cheers as Gaelion flies over the soldiers, breathing fire down.
"GAHHH!"
"Where are the other mages providing cover?!" One soldier yells.
"I don't know!"
The two parties relax, some taking a seat to watch the dragon fight.
"Took him long enough…" Welt grumbles and Wyndia punches Welt's shoulder. The rogue winces from the hit since he got hurt on the shoulder earlier.
"Hey! It's thanks to Papa that we didn't have to deal with those mages earlier!" Wyndia says, pouting. Gaelion took flight earlier to take care of the far away Mages, preventing them from bombarding the two parties with magic.
"We should probably check on Misato and the Sword Hero." Keel says, walking towards the direction where Misato ran off to.
Rifana, Sadeena and Ace nod, following. But Ace stops in front of Sadeena.
"What's wrong?" Sadeena asks.
Ace gasps. "Get to cover-
"GRAHH!" Gaelion roars in pain.
They all turn their heads seeing Gaelion falling from the sky, bright golden arrows made of mana stuck all over his body like a pincushion, his left wing ripped clean off of his body.
"PAPA!" Wyndia screams.
Gaelion falls into the trees and rocks at the side of the mountain. Falling over a short cliff.
"KILL THE DRAGON!" The remaining soldiers yell leaping off the cliff.
Wyndia runs, followed by everyone else. They reach the end of the cliff only to see the soldiers leap over the dragon with their weapons. While several archers and some mages line up to fire.
"NO!" Wyndia screams, she leaps but Sadeena grabs the girl, pulling her back. Perhaps due to adrenaline and fear for her father, she sees the soldiers descend on her father in slow motion.
Wyndia stomach plummets, seeing her father's eye stare back at her as the soldiers leap over his body.
"Deadeye"
Bangbangbangbangbang!
Multiple gunshots echo, piercing and killing the soldiers. Their bodies flop harmlessly against Gaelion's body.
"Misato!" Rifana gasps with a smile while Ace and Keel cheer.
"A Hundred Swords!"
A hundred small blue blades appear, piercing the archers and mages.
"Ren!" Tersia yells as she and Welt smiles.
"Take cover!" Misato commands and the group complies.
Misato and Ren land next to their teammates, ducking behind some rocks.
"Alright, teleport us out of here!" Keel says with a smile, which dies immediately seeing Misato and Ren both shaking their heads.
"They have a magic spell that can block our ability to teleport." Ren explains.
Misato peers over the rock, observing Gaelion's missing wing. "I was hoping Gaelion could grab us all and fly out of here outside of the Mage's range. I can't contact anyone, they are blocking our long range communication."
"It looks like we have to fight our way out." Ren concludes. "Find and take out the mages so we can leave."
Misato turns his head at a large rock, and two certain Shadows appear. "Dawn, Dusk, find the mages, take them out or if you can't, signal a flare and let me snipe them."
"Understood." Dusk says as he and Dawn nod.
"Stay alive." Dawn says before she and Dusk disappear.
"Already on it…" Misato says, quoting a certain black and yellow sci-fi armored character. He observes the area, it seems quiet, too quiet, but it might be what he needs. He turns to Ren. "Ren there's something you need to know about the Heroes and the weapons."
It was easy to convince Ren of these methods, and to have him unlock the Gun Sword Hybrid series. For a moment, Ren and Misato were a little excited, because the possibility of creating real life Gun Swords is AWESOME.
You have a total of 18 Strengthening Methods!
Gun-Sword Hybrid Series Unlocked!
+20 Agility Stats!
You can now use materials to craft Guns combined with swords!
You have gained a permanent rate boost of +15% in Agility Stats!
Crafting new Gun-Swords will increase the percentage of your permanent boost up to 50%. To increase the percentage… Read more to find out.
New Skill: Sword Pair Up unlocked!
▇▇▇▇ S3rI3s5: 70% C0m913te
"Here they come!" Ace yells. Misato leans over a rock with his rifle, a gun modeled after the AK-47, seeing several soldiers and some strange armored knights running towards them at the side.
"Perfect Aim." Misato mutters.
The Gun Hero fires his rifle, taking down the soldiers, not a single bullet wasted, all hitting their target but the knights are still alive. The bullets clang against their armor, they stumble around, diving behind trees and rocks for cover.
Something whistles and Misato glances, seeing a small beam of golden light flying towards them. Misato gasps "Get behind me!" and raises his gun, transforming it.
The Gun takes the form of an armored carriage with a crank machine gun in the back of it. This is a Gun-Carriage Hybrid, something he unlocked a long time ago thanks to Fitoria, while it was mainly designed to work in conjunction with an animal pulling it with a massive boost in speed, defense and strength, Misato can still use this form as a big shield since the Legendary Weapons are likely indestructible.
They can't be broken by conventional means. Unless it was a special skill like Glass's 'Tortoise Shell Cracker'. Not only that but to Misato, the carriage is light as a feather, Heroes can't actually feel the weight of their weapon.
However, the beam of light hits far below than Misato predicted, hitting the cliff. The two parties stumble and trip as the cliff falls apart and they all go down, screaming.
Gaelion barely catches them with his claws, gently placing them on the ground. Several church knights charge with soldiers right behind them. Gaelion takes a breath and spits fire but it only crashes into a magic barrier.
Gaelion then steps forward, high above the soldiers, raising his claw to crush them. A small beam of light hits his claw, he cries in pain from the attack.
"Papa!"
"It's just a flesh wound…" Gaelion growls, leaning down to take cover behind the trees.
"You have too MANY flesh wounds!" Wyndia argues, pointing at all the cuts on the dragon's body.
Misato sprays the health potion on Gaelion, closing some of the wounds, but most are too deep.
"Keep your head under the trees and rocks!" Misato yells. "Gaelion, you think you could handle that drop with all of us in your grasp?" He asks, pointing at their left, a big drop down to the trees.
"Without my wing I don't think I can handle the fall from that height. I might even impale myself."
The Gun Hero clicks his tongue, their backs are against a stone wall that has an arch over them, and on each side are edges of the cliff they stand on now are too high. One side is down to solid flat rocks, exposed for the Pope to wipe them out, and the other is large trees hidden out of the Pope's view but with a much bigger drop. Neither are good options to take. In theory, everyone could cram themselves inside the Gun Carriage, fall into the rocks safely and roll away but Gaelion is hurt badly he might not be able to keep up. And letting him die…
Misato looks at Wyndia, hugging Gaelion's arm in concern.
Misato's mind flashes, seeing himself and his parents…
He needs to take out the sniper. Misato turns to his team "Where did that shot come from?"
"Northeast!" Sadeena says while Ren leaps in front of the group with the others, facing downhill, ready to take on the knights climbing up to them.
Misato props his sniper rifle in the general direction, he adjusts the zoom, finding a group of priests behind a figure with their bow drawn on a nearby mountain, Misato then zooms on their head, seeing Pope Balmus surprisingly wearing armor but fortunately without a helmet.
Misato grins, finally, a chance to end this. He transforms the gun into the Siderite Rifle.
When Misato unlocked this gun, he discovered that the Siderite gave him a large Anti-Material Rifle. Its model and form is similar to the Halo Sniper Rifle, the gemstone spins, charging up the skill.
The perfect gun for the Pope and his annoying barriers. Depending on the target's defense stats, even if their defense was a little higher than Misato's attack stat, it can be ignored. Firing it normally has about a 60% chance to pierce past a single layer of armor and or a magic barrier, the higher the target's defense, the less chance it has to pierce. Thankfully even if it doesn't pierce, then it can still weaken the armor or break it completely.
The only reason why Misato has not used it against the likes of Rikert and Mald is because the ammo costs Siderite bullets. He only has 12 Siderite Bullets, no alternative bullet could be fired with this gun. Unless he unlocked the Infinite Essential ammo, which is something he has not done yet.
There's also the skill, where Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu had a Meteor attack skill that seems to be optimized for just pure damage in some form, Misato's had something different.
Skill: Meteor Pierce
A blue star-like bullet that ignores defense, even if the defense is extra layered.
It can temporarily cripple the target's defense for 30 minutes.
With this skill combined with "Perfect Aim" Misato can ideally take out the Pope or at least leave him incapacitated.
"Meteor P-"
Misato stops seeing golden light in view of his scope.
He freezes.
Clang!
A golden arrow smashes against the Gun in its shielded rifle form instead of the Siderite Rifle, saving Misato. However, unlike Naofumi, who's shield can negate some of the force of most attacks. Misato feels the ENTIRE FORCE of the hit vibrate throughout his body and sends him flying backwards, rolling into Gaelion.
Wyndia gasps and helps Misato stand up. "You okay? What happened?"
"That damn old bastard is one hell of a shot, I nearly got sniped…" Misato answers with a groan at the back pain. He looks at his shielded rifle in confusion.
"Did I make it transform?" Misato frowns and shakes his head. "No time to think about that!" He peaks over the rock.
"The Pope can't waste more mana blindly firing, he can't use big AOE attacks either. While he is likely selfish and insane, he's not stupid to do big attacks on us with this many loyal soldiers attacking us, lots of them could die in the crossfire. He needs these soldiers." Misato theorized.
He looks at the others fighting.
Welt and Tersia struggled against a knight, their opponent was strong. The armor is different from anything they have seen. Their armor is made of gold and silver, with strange yellow light in the gaps on some parts of the armor. Their body is covered in such heavy looking metal and yet the knight is moving like he is wearing little.
Rifana grunts with exertion, her spear clangs against the armor ineffectively. They are different from Rikert's personal guards, they are so much faster, stronger and more skillful but she and the others have the benefit of Heroes helping them level up and training as well! What is it that these knights have over them?
Ren rushes in, the knight swings but he dodges it and hits the crystal orb on the Knight's chest, pushing the knight back a few steps with a cry.
The knight is durable, but their level is 70.
"I'm level 69, he shouldn't be that tough, something is wrong." Ren ponders.
"Damn you!" The knight growls, clenching the crystal orb on his chestplate.
Ren's eyes narrow at the chestplate. The knight fires a small crossbow and Ren ducks it but it cuts some of his hair.
"Flashing Sword!" Ren yells, blinding the knight. "Crimson blade!" Ren then slices the knight in a flurry of fire. Hitting the crystal orb on the knight's armor.
The orb shatters to pieces. The knight swings their sword, but they are noticeably slower than before. Ren smacks the blade aside before decapitating the knight.
"Aim for the crystal orbs, it will make them weaker!" Ren yells.
Keel slams her axe against the crystal orb but it doesn't shatter. The Knight pushes her back and thrusts their spear.
"Easier said than done!" She remarks, narrowly dodging a stab to the gut, an arrow flies to her and she blocks the shot, her arm shaking from the impact.
Bullets smash on the knight's shoulder and leg, the knight falls on their knee. Keel grins and hits the crystal again, smashing it. Keel smacks aside their helmet with her buckler and finishes them off with her axe.
An arrow hits Keel's arm. "AGH!" She screams, and turns to see a few more knights, all of them holding crossbows. The three knights fire at Keel.
Bangbangbang!
The arrows snap and drop from the bullets intercepting them.
Misato appears, shooting the knights with his Chimera Viper Pistol, some stumble completely stunned from the shots while one falls on their knees. He transforms the gun into the Chimera Goat Revolver.
"Ramming shot!" He yells, blasting two of the knights back. The last one slowly stands up.
Misato then fires the shotgun revolver into their head point blank, cracking a huge hole on the helmet.
Despite the point blank shot the knight is still alive, screaming in agony until a final shot finishes them off. The corpse falls onto their back.
Misato looks at the crystal orb on the chest plate. The Church really went all out on this... Armor seems to let the wearer move like they have nothing.
Ren places his hands on his knees, taking a breath. There are so many of these knights.
He hears a metallic footstep hitting grass and stone. "Face me false Sword Hero!" A feminine voice commands.
Ren turns his head, now facing a female knight. This one is different, her armor has more details, there are markings in the shape of a sword on her shoulder plates and chest plate. She draws out a gold and silver colored straight sword with some hints of gold light peeking out from within the cross guard, and she points it at him.
Standing behind her is a group of at least ten or more priests and priestesses praying.
The other knights nearby step back. Her level is 90, her armor is different, she must be the leader, if he takes her down quickly the others might get demoralized and confused on what to do.
"Who are you?" Ren says, buying time for him to charge up his skill behind his back, sliding his left hand over the sword, charging up Meteor Sword.
"I am Adele Feuer, the Sword Vanguard of our one and only God-
"Meteor Slash!" The slash of blue light with stars flies towards the knight. Ren then leaps forward, behind the skill, ready to follow up the first attack. He has to move quickly!
The strange sword glows and she swings, deflecting Meteor Slash. Ren, while surprised, still goes for the follow up, thrusting his sword, hoping he can reach the crystal on her chest before she counters.
Adele's straight sword transforms into a rapier, the thin silver blade moves in a clockwise motion around Ren's sword, hitting the side of it. The Legendary Sword hits the gold-colored circular arm guard of the rapier and slides to the side. Her rapier returns to its original position, now perfectly lined up to Ren's stomach.
Unable to stop himself, a familiar sharp hot pain erupts in Ren's body as he runs into the thin blade and coughs out blood.
"While you are a False Hero, I expected more from you, to think you are just an amateur who knows nothing about sword fighting." Adele remarks with a huff, pulling out her sword.
Blood spills out of his torso, Ren collapses on his back, his health is in the red and slowly dropping. Adele raises her rapier intending to finish Ren off.
Boom!
A bullet with a tinge of blue light flies to the Sword Vanguard, she moves out of its way but the bullet curves towards her head.
"GAH!" The woman grunts at the shot, the bullet shatters her helmet, fire colored hair spills out of the broken helmet, she grabs her face in pain.
Misato growls, damn stat gaps! It was already bad enough to learn that there is MORE THAN ONE Replica but now they have armor that can raise their stat levels! What the HELL!?
Misato then fires his sniper rifle at the entourage of knights and soldiers surrounding Ren.
"High quick!" Ace yells, leaping forward with a kick at the Sword Vanguard, Adele raises her rapier, transforming it into a great sword tall as her and as wide as her torso. She points it at Ace, turning the Filolial's attack to her advantage.
Ace transforms to his human form, barely avoiding the stab, his body flies right next to the blade but Adele punches Ace in the face, her magic enhanced gauntlet hits his cheek, sending the boy into the ground, his body lands, cracking the stone.
The Filolial lies on the small crater, unconscious.
"ACE!" Sadeena screams.
"Quickly heal her!" A priest yells, golden light reaches out to Adele and her wound heals. She uses her left hand to move her hair to the side. She glares at Misato, knowing he was the one who shot her. Revealing herself to be a woman in her early thirties, around Matilda's age.
Rifana raises her hand. "Zweite Air Shot!"
Adele raises the great sword, the wind disperses against the weapon. Sadeena appears in a lightning blur, but Adele changes to the rapier, deflecting Sadeena's trident, unaffected by the lightning. Sadeena continues her attack, moving at different angles to strike but the swordsman is fast, parrying each move with ease.
"How wasteful." Adele comments as Sadeena stops near Rifana, her lightning spell has ended.
"Zweite Aqua Shot!" Keel yells her spell, splashing water on the swordswoman, blocking Adele's view of Misato charging up his attack.
"Meteor Pierce." Misato mutters, firing and a bullet flies out of the barrel, leaving a streak of small blue stars behind it.
A barrier appears before the bullet, but it breaks right through it like glass.
The shattered barrier gives the Vanguard time to move to the side, her weapon changes and she raises the great sword over her body as a shield.
The last move was unnecessary, the bullet misses Adele but hits the mages supporting her. Killing three people in a row and keeps going, flying through all the trees and rocks behind the Vanguard knight.
Misato clicks his tongue, the skill, Perfect Aim, was already over before he fired.
Adele observes the battlefield, seeing the weasel girl carry the false hero and the whale woman carry the filolial boy, returning to their blasphemous comrades.
"Focus on charging up my attacks. Utilize only a quarter amount of mana to the barriers." Adele commands.
"Understood!" The mages comply.
She transforms to the straight sword, stabbing the ground, a ring of golden transparent swords appears, flying above.
"Raining Swords"
The ring of swords split into multiple swords, descending on Ace, Rifana, Sadeena and Ren.
"Firing line!" Misato yells and a row of golden transparent musket rifles appear, firing at the rain of swords. Taking out half of the blades. "Second Volley!" the Gun Hero yells, and another row of muskets quickly appears, taking out the remaining blades.
"Fire breath" Gaelion fires at Adele but she transforms her weapon to the greatsword and swings.
"Thunder Slash!" Adele yells and a slash made of thunder slices through the fire, sailing towards Gaelion.
"Fire arrow!" Wyndia yells and a flaming arrow cancels out the slash.
Adele raises her sword at the two parties. "Push them back! Corner them!" She orders and the knights charge, the sight of their leader pushing back their foes has increased their morale.
Misato tosses Tersia and Welt several health potions for Ren to recover. He then pops a cork drinking an SP potion. Sadeena places Ace gently down next to Wyndia.
"Watch him." Sadeena says.
"Okay." Wyndia nods.
"Convert three fourths of the mana to barriers!" Adele commands as several armored spear men line up marching forward with a few rows of soldiers behind them bearing swords.
Misato fires a pistol bullet, and it crashes into a barrier, confirming that the barriers are protecting the infantry. "Wind Armor pierce!" The wind drill bullet breaks through the barrier and continues taking out a knight and some soldiers behind but the others continue, undeterred.
"Don't let them recover!" Misato yells.
"Zweite Lightning Bolt!"
"Zweite Air Shot!"
"Zweite Aqua Shot!"
Sadeena, Rifana and Keel together all fire their spells, smashing into the barriers. Distracting them from Misato's next attack.
"Shrapnel!" Misato fires into the hole of the barrier, landing directly behind the marching platoons, the bullets explode into multiple pieces hitting anyone nearby. The soldiers get ripped apart while the knights only stumble from the hit.
Misato transforms to a cannon and fires a canister shot, a spread of iron shrapnel crashes into the barrier hard, some breaking through and hitting the soldiers and knights.
Adele's eyes narrow at Misato, she turns to the mages behind her.
"Send the Shadows to use the suppressor on that boy."
"But that's for the False Sword He-"
"He is no mere marksman!" Adele argues. "Do as I say!"
"Yes, milady."
She pops a cork off a blue potion and drinks it. She sighs and tosses the potion, raising her straight sword. "Phoenix Blade!" A bird made of fire appears, flying towards Misato. The Gun hero fires a blue flare.
The Phoenix changes its course and hits the flare.
"Fire breath!" Gaelion roars, not allowing them to rest, breaking most of the barriers.
Misato raises his charcoal shotgun to use Fire Shrapnel.
"On your left Misato!" Sadeena warns.
A Shadow leap towards Misato, he fires a shotgun spread of fire at them igniting them in flames, they drop down but another Shadow from behind the first, charges forward, throwing two knives. Misato transforms to the shielded rifle, blocking the knives.
Rifana throws her spear, stabbing the Shadow. Misato then finishes them off with a gunshot.
But then suddenly something electric spreads from the front of the shield attachment, zapping Misato.
The Gun Hero winces at the pain and a pop-up appears in his vision.
WARNING!
Legendary Gun is suppressed!
You have been forcefully disconnected from Ren's party!
Transformation and Inventory function have been blocked!
SP is slowly being drained by 3 points per second!
Duration: 3 Minutes.
WHAT!?
Misato turns his gun to see a metal disc, latched onto the Shield attachment, suppressing the Legendary Gun.
"Now!" Adele yells and a soldier runs up to the party.
"Faust Thunderbolt!" Sadeena yells.
"Thunder Slash!" Ren yells.
Both the skill and magic spell disperse against the barriers covering the soldier.
The soldier pulls out an object covered in blue light, and he throws it right above the Gun and Sword Party.
The orb enlarges, and fences made of lightning appear around the Party, the fence reaches well above over Gaelion's head, covering the top.
"Shit it's Lightning Cage! But unlike the anime, this covers the top part too!" Misato mentally screams.
The male soldier, who threw it, proudly smiles. "Now God's mercy will hit us all, I shall rest peac-
A spear hits his torso, interrupting his speech and an axe slam into the soldier's forehead.
""SHUT UP!"" Rifana and Keel both yell,
"Misato, why are you not in my party?!" Ren yells out, seeing Misato is missing in Ren's list of teammates.
"My Gun is being suppressed by this thing!" Misato yells, slamming the shielded rifle into a rock, trying to smash the suppressor off.
"Let me try!" Ren says, raising his sword. Misato complies, propping up his Gun to Ren.
The Sword Hero slams his blade multiple times into the Gun, but the disc still remains intact with very little damage.
"BREAK DAMN IT!" Ren roars.
"I sense a large amount of mana forming above us!" Gaelion warns.
"It's judgment!" Misato realizes. Remembering the large beam of light that nearly disintegrated the Shield Party in the Anime. Now that soldiers are gone and they are trapped in the Lightning Cage, the Pope can use Judgment to wipe them out!
"What's that?" Ren asks.
"A GIANT BEAM OF BURNING LIGHT THAT CAN BURN US ALL INTO NOTHING!" Misato screams. "Okay here's the plan! I will use first use Meteor Pierce and if that doesn't work, Ren you will use Meteor Slash, hopefully our strongest skills can cancel it out!"
"Will it work?" Ren asks.
"It's our only chance." Without Naofumi to tank the hit, they are doomed. Hopefully Meteor Pierce will be enough to make Judgement disperse.
Ren tosses Misato an SP potion, the Gun Hero quickly jugs it, recovering more than enough SP for Meteor Pierce.
"Huh?" Ren says noticing something on his HUD.
"What is it?" Misato inquires.
"The Shadows got the jammers, we can teleport, but we just need to break this thing and get out of here!" Ren says.
Misato glances at everyone, they don't have three minutes to wait for the suppression to wear off.
The faces of his friends and family flash in his mind.
Misato grabs Ren's sword arm, shaking his head. "Ren, you got to teleport everyone out without me."
""WHAT?!"" Everyone yells.
"But you'll die!" Sadeena screams, grabbing Misato's shoulders.
"Not if I force my way out of this cage and get far away enough from the spell!" Misato says.
"Then how will you get through? Your weapon is suppressed!" Keel points out.
"Change Gun!" Misato commands.
Transformation Skills will not work!
Misato growls in frustration, raising his gun at the Lightning Cage. "Meteor Pierce!"
The blue bullet fires right through the cage but it only leaves a basketball size hole in the cage, not enough for Misato make it through.
"Meteor Slash!" Ren follows it up with his own skill against the cage but it's still not enough, not even Ace could maneuver through it even if he wanted to.
"I can cover you and take us out of the cage by force." Gaelion offers.
"You could die burnt and electrocuted to death." Misato says to Gaelion, an image of his father dying flashes over his mind.
Misato looks at the dead body of a knight, he pushes past Keel and the others, he grabs the corpse and slowly lifts it. "Maybe if Sadeena use thunder guard and I use this body as a shield-"
"No, you won't make it." Gaelion interjects, grabbing Misato with his claw, cupping Misato inside.
"But you could die-
"I won't go all the way! Just enough to get you through!" Gaelion roars, not accepting any arguments.
"Drifa Thunder guard!" Sadeena yells, encasing Gaelion's claws in protective thunder magic, as he pushes through the cage.
Halfway through, the spell breaks and Gaelion roars as the cage burns his claws. In spite of the pain, he slowly pushes his claws out and opens them, Misato falls out, unharmed, a purple orb falls next to him.
"Take the shard and RUN!" Gaelion urges.
Misato grabs the orb, placing it in his jacket pocket, he then places the Shield Rifle Gun on his back and sprints with all his might.
"GO MISATO!" Rifana yells
"RUN!" Keel screams.
"LIVE!" Sadeena yells.
"I'm sorry everyone!" Ren yells, raising a sword with an hourglass on it.
"Teleport Sword!"
In a flash of yellow light, Ren, his party, Misato's party, along with Wyndia and Gaelion disappear.
Misato runs down the mountain, ignoring the burning sensation in his legs, trying to create as much distance as possible from Judgment. He vaults over a rock, using one hand to push himself over it, swinging his legs together over the obstacle.
"Carriage Pair Up!" Misato yells, hoping to summon the copy of Fitoria's first carriage, the chariot, to go downhill faster.
Insufficient SP!
FUCK! He used too much SP on Meteor Pierce!
A sudden chill wash over Misato's body.
Wait…
Why did his stomach suddenly plummet again? The sensation is familiar…
Like…
The day he died…
Whether it's curiosity or his survival instinct, Misato looks up and he sees a tiny yellow star blink above in the sky, almost right above him.
IT'S RIGHT NEXT TO HIM?!
Misato glances to his right, seeing the vague figures of the Pope and his followers in the same spot from before, they see him!
There are no caves nearby, the rocks and trees would make poor shields against the blast wave. The only way he can get away from the blast is out of the Pope's sight…
He hears the winds roar as the magic spell descends next to him, Misato turns and leaps off the left side of the cliff.
THHRRRRUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Judgment hits the mountain, right behind Misato, he feels heat of it nearly burning his skin and the force of the blast launches the Gun Hero further away.
He screams as he spins uncontrollably in the air, multiple stone fragments painfully pelting into Misato's body. He closes his eyes and covers the sides of his head, shielding himself from the stone. Feeling one stone scrape his head.
The hail of stone stops, Misato opens his eyes, vaguely seeing a motion blur of green and blue, his vision constantly changing between those colors, he notices the green blur getting larger and larger than the blue.
He's going to hit the trees!
Misato groans, straining himself to grab the shielded rifle, wincing from the pain. He finally reaches the gun on his back, pulling it in front of him and places himself into a fetal-like position. He clings onto the Gun Shield with his arms and legs wrapped around the gun and uses the shield attachment to protect his skull.
Misato crashes shield first into the tree, the wood breaks but the impact also breaks Misato's guard.
He flails wildly, multiple branches and sticks scratching his body. His ribs directly hit a thick branch, knocking the air out of his lungs, he opens his mouth to scream but nothing comes out. He tries to grab the branch, but he slips, accidentally swinging off of it.
The front of his leg slams into another branch, and he flips forward to another branch, face first.
Misato barely raises the Gun Shield in time, hitting the branch but the impact flips him backwards and he falls straight down headfirst again.
The Gun Hero looks and sees a thicker branch, he raises his shield gun over his head, blocking most of the fall but part of his head hits the branch. He nearly blacks out from the hit, he opens his eyes, only seeing a haze in his vision.
Misato strains his eyes, and his vision refocuses, now seeing another tree branch and the ground closing in. He sloppily raises the shield gun over the branch, managing to hook the weapon on the branch, and he swings but the wood snaps from his weight.
He lands, stumbling in a spin, struggling to keep his feet beneath his body, unable to stop his fall.
He slams headfirst into the ground, it rattles his brain, and he rolls down the hill. Bumping and hitting rocks.
Misato eventually stops, lying on his back, he opens his mouth, struggling to get precious air into his lungs…
Can't… Breathe…
His head… His body… It…
Hurts… So… MUCH…
He…
Can't…
Keep…
His…
eyes…
open…
Misato's eyes close and he passes out.
Unmentioned Gun Form Information:
Shielded Rifle:
An assault rifle with a circular metal shield attachment, giving Misato an increase in defense stats.
The Gun-Carriage Hybrid Series:
+20 Strength Stats!
You can now use materials to craft Guns combined with carriages!
You have gained a permanent rate boost of +15% in Strength Stats!
Weapon Special Effect:
A Party member pulling the carriage will gain an increase of strength, defense and agility.
Crafting new Gun-Carriages will increase the percentage of your permanent boost rate up to 50%. To increase the percentage… Read more to find out.
Skill: Carriage Pair Up:
Note: Having a party member pull the Extra carriage will have the same stat buffs as pulling a Gun Carriage would.
Yep, I did the most hated thing in the world. I ended…
On a CLIFFHANGER…
*Cue Thunder sounds*
Thank you all for waiting.
Good news, thanks to The Disquieting One, I now have a TV Tropes page! I never expected this! Thank you so much "The Disquieting One!"
Anyway, Misato did it, he got the last hero and well… The butterfly effect can be a bitch.
Finally, I got the chance to introduce a new foe for Misato to face, the Sword Vanguard, wielding a Replica, that's right there are more than one replica weapons in this world. The Sword replica, unlike THE Replica the Pope uses, Adele uses a replica that is tied to different types of swords rather than conceptually different weapons.
I'm just gonna say, the mana energy required for the Sword Replica is actually less than THE replica the Pope uses but at the cost of less damage and destructive potential. Combined with Adele's tactical mind, she utilized the replica skills efficiently with little to no casualties for charging the sword.
I hope you noticed how Adele fights compared to the Pope.
Also introducing the knights of the church, wearing special armor (3/12 Update: it's not out of this world. I forgot that armor could provide special buffs) that not only buffs their overall stats, but buffs the defense by a lot and allows the wearer to move like they aren't wearing any armor.
Let me clarify, a soldier is the basic armored foot soldier Melomarc has, like the soldiers who helped Naofumi and Raphtalia fight in the Second Wave, a knight in this fanfic has more armor than that.
Misato needed a challenge, to take on tanky opponents, for more (Hopefully) interesting combat situations where Misato changes from normal bullets to armor piercing bullets with these knights. Imagine Misato makes one guy fall with normal bullets and changes his gun to a rifle, using a single piercing bullet to kill the knight.
Speaking of fights, I hope you liked it. Misato didn't engage close range too much as long range fighting is his advantage. One person said that Misato didn't use Skills or other guns a lot in the Justice Chapter, so here he uses it a lot to keep the enemies at bay.
Also introducing the Anti Material Siderite Rifle, a fitting weapon for the likes of the Church. And the Gun Carriage Hybrid, Misato didn't use that one earlier because, he was initially acting like a normal adventurer with exotic weapons, but once he was "revealed" as a Hero, Misato didn't hold back, especially in this chapter.
The Legendary/Vassal weapons do seem to indestructible to conventional/normal damage so it makes sense it can potential be a really effective shield, as I imagine they are lightweight for the Hero wielding them, unfortunately due to lacking defense stats, the wielder can feel the full force of those blows coming, where Naofumi would not be hurting or wincing from the hit, instead he would feel uncomfortable or have little strain from the hit but, with a few powerful exceptions. Like Defense ignoring attacks or just straight up pure offensive overwhelming power. Or a weapon suppression device.
So, I hope I justified why Gaelion couldn't exactly escape with the others by falling off the cliff, as his wing was ripped off and he had several arrows stabbing him. Since he's so big and heavy, falling down hard on the big trees below could probably impale him, the other drop would leave him exposed to the Pope. Misato's level and stats is higher than Gaelion, since Ren in canon managed to defeat Gaelion, also because Misato used his, albeit suppressed, Gun, to shield him from the trees, preventing impalement. The Gun Shield Hybrid Defense stat rate boost and weapon forms came in clutch.
Combined with Misato's survivor's guilt, he couldn't handle the idea of abandoning Gaelion and Wyndia crying at the loss of her father, hence why they all didn't run. Even though realistically, that would have been a smarter idea, with less risk of everyone dying. For some people, they were in the heat of the moment to think about a good plan, but for Misato, don't worry, his foolish decision will not be forgotten so easily by the others.
Plus, I still wanted this situation to happen, Misato ending up alone and injured. A major consequence has finally erupted from Misato's actions. An example, that despite Misato's wariness of the unknown, he isn't prepared for absolutely everything. The Church making such a bold move so early was unexpected. He expected a skirmish, not a war.
(3/16 Edit/Update: So, all of you raised a lot of good points, the suppression disc is overkill, so I decided to nerf it, it has a time limit and blocks less abilities, but the results are still the same, as for how a group like the Church got it, that's for later in the story. Misato probably could had used the Chariot, aka the First 'Carriage' form, to go through the cage by crawling under it like a turtle, but it doesn't cover all angles like Gaelion's claws did from the lightning cage, which is why Misato didn't use it earlier.
Remember, Pair up skills only takes the form of the first Weapon forms each Hero had. Later on, Misato will find a way to change that though.
As for why Misato fired out Meteor Pierce pointlessly at the cage, when he should have saved SP for the Pair up skill, he was panicking.)
This is totally unrelated to the next chapter, but what do you think is Misato's or rather the Gun Hero's main trait of heroism and why? What is it that made Misato and Forrest different from other Heroes, what trait makes the Gun Hero as whole stand out?
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!