Just going to say at the start, I did warn you guys in my omake that I'd be changing the name of the fic again to reflect the transition from Diligence to Virtue.
Unlike with Hope and Diligence, I have no clue how many arcs Virtue will cover. Besides elements from the Zeltoble Arc in LN 10 and the Phoenix which was in LN 15, almost everything plot-related going forward is going to be different from the LN due to the Butterfly Effect. In other words, Virtue will be the ending of this trilogy.
It could be as short as Hope (if you'd call that short), or it could be even longer than Diligence. I don't know as of right now. I have quite a few things planned out already, but I still end up getting ideas on what else I could cover, as those in my fanfic's fan server know. For now, I'd just recommend reading and enjoying until I finally reach the end of this monstrosity of a work and listen to your suggestions for what you're hoping to see along the way.
Thank you again for all your support, and I'll look forward to writing this all for our entertainment.
Summary: According to Newton's Third Law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Unfortunately, Naofumi and co will find this to be especially true after returning from their Otherworld trip. Between the threats coming from without and the enemies they're dealing with from within, our Heroes will all have to work hard with the help of their friends and significant others to overcome their challenges and face down their greatest trials yet. The end will not come before more blood is sacrificed for the sake of their future.
But with Diligence and Resolve, and Compassion and Humility, our Heroes' hard work will eventually pay off. And, at last, they will lead their world to rise and take their place amongst the multiverse, facing off against the greatest threat to all worlds. GODWORLD.
Hold onto your Virtue, great Shield Hero. The fate of the universe now lies within your capable hands. May your heart stay true, and be the beacon that brings peace to all of us forevermore.
Virtue of the Shield Hero
Arc 10: Chapter One: Motoyasu's Side of the Wave
At the time when Naofumi and co were fighting a Wave alongside Kizuna and her allies
You know, life is strange in a way.
If you'd told Motoyasu Kitamura a year ago that he'd be living in another world, working alongside a small angel girl and her flock to fight off a world-ending calamity, he would have laughed you off and said "You talk strange, good sir. Strange, yet funny. Let's have lunch together, my treat."
Yeah, he was a good guy. He would have laughed you off like any normal person, but he would have probably still ended up as your friend and, years later, be there to help you out whenever you needed him.
That was just the kind of person the Spear Hero was before his summoning.
Yet now, here he was, over half a year after being stabbed by his two jealous Yandere girl friends in his old world and being isekaied into this world; blowing through one Indian-themed monster after another with the Cardinal Spear in his hands while large Filolials destroyed monsters around him. Wave Cracks in the sky and on the ground spewed more of these monsters for the Spear Hero and his allies to slaughter.
Life really was strange. Maybe if he'd been more of a philosophist, Motoyasu could have found some deeper meaning in all this.
But for now, he was doing what he'd learned to do as the Spear Hero of this world, and exterminating every monster in his sight.
"Crimson Thrust!"
BOOM!
It wasn't just the elephant-man monster in front of him. All the monsters within ten meters of the first one were incinerated by the power of Motoyasu's flame skill. A wave of Exp notifications covered Motoyasu's vision from the slaughter.
"Careful, Moto! You almost hit Amber with that attack!" An unfamiliar voice shouted in complaint.
"Oh- sorry, Amber!" Motoyasu turned his head and yelled back at an orange-feathered Filolial further ahead.
The Filolial girl rolled her eyes but her beak formed a smile as she continued charging forward. Her large clawed feet stamping down on every monster in her way.
Yeah, that Filolial's name was Amber. You see, Motoyasu had met her a while back after Fitoria assigned some of her flock to watch over the Hero village, and-
Pbbbthhhh! Who did Motoyasu think he was?! Naofumi!?
There was no way in hell the Spear Hero was going to waste time here at the start retreading characters and their backgrounds like that bastard liked to do!
Ha! Ridiculous!
…
Then again, Amber had spoken there, she also had the form of a Filolial Queen instead of a regular filolial, so he should probably explain that much at least.
You see, he and Amber started their journey to Zeltoble around two days ago, shortly after receiving that mysterious letter.
At the start of their journey, she'd still looked like a regular Filolial, as it'd only been a couple of days since she'd had the monster crest applied to her.
However, shortly after being dropped off by Fitoria to a spot just a few days away from Zeltoble's Capital City, Amber…
For lack of a better term, got big.
POOF! "AHHHHHHHH- OOF!"
Motoyasu had been riding along on Amber's back when the Filolial suddenly disappeared in a puff of feathers. Amber had been running at her top speed too, so the surprise transformation sent Motoyasu screaming like a girl off her back, where he slammed hard into a tree.
Thankfully, he hadn't been too damaged from the rough landing. In fact, his impact uprooted the entire tree from the ground and shattered the base of it to splinters. The bit of nature had gotten out of the exchange far worse off than the Spear Hero.
Still, he was going to bruise from that impact. And his body had finally finished healing up too! Dang it!
"Whoa, Blondie, what happened to Amber!"
Motoyasu rubbed his head as he sat up, only for his eyes to widen to the size of saucers. "Amber, what the-?!"
The Filolial he'd been riding on had been around two and a half meters standing up before. But now, she stood at three meters, just like Filo.
Not only that, her width had expanded out, giving her the same owl shape that Filo's monster form had.
This meant only one thing…
"AMBER! YOU'VE BECOME A FILOLIAL QUEEN!" Stars appeared in Motoyasu's eyes.
"What?! Is that why Amber is so fat right now?" The orange-feathered Filolial tilted her head to the side curiously while examining herself.
"Ahahahaha!" Motoyasu raced forward and hugged the large Filolial.
Holy crap it was like hugging a warm campfire! This was so cool!
"Ehehehe! Blondie that tickles!" Amber started to giggle as the Spear Hero rubbed his face in her feathers.
"And you can speak now too! This is so awesome!" Motoyasu yelled.
"But… didn't Amber speak to Blondie last night?" Amber asked confusedly.
Motoyasu didn't hear it though. He was too busy enjoying and praising the newly formed Filolial Queen. This was truly a dream come true, I say!
Amber's transformation had been super unexpected, to say the least. He'd expected it'd take longer for her to become a Filolial Queen.
Nevertheless, he'd been super happy and ecstatic that the transformation happened so quickly, and that was the end of it.
Motoyasu wished he could say that they happily continued to Zeltoble's Capital from there, however…
No, believe it or not, he did not waste the next two days hugging and cuddling and gushing over Amber's new Queen form. He might have had a slight obsession with Filolials thanks to Filo and Fitoria being able to transform into angel girls, but even he wasn't stupid enough to let that sidetrack him…
For more than a few hours at most.
Anyway, Amber… did not stay in her Filolial Queen form for that long.
And that was the reason they hadn't been able to continue traveling that day.
"Oh! If Amber transformed into a Filolial Queen, does that mean Amber can use transformation magic like Fitoria and Filo?!" The orange-feathered female suddenly yelled excitedly, breaking through Moto's obsessed cuddling with her feathers.
"Huh-" Motoyasu looked up at her face.
POOF!
Motoyasu was suddenly enveloped in a cloud of orange feathers.
"Achoo! Achoo!" He started sneezing as some feathers had gone up his nose. It took him a moment to finally get himself to stop.
"Yayyyyyyy! Amber can transform into a human form now! Isn't this great, Blondie?!" Amber's voice said excitedly.
"What-" Motoyasu looked down, only for his eyes to widen past the size of dinner plates this time. "WHAAAAAAAAT?!"
Amber stood at around chest height. She was taller than Keel, but not as tall as Itsuki. A pair of pure white wings sprouted from her back, with locks of hair the color of the sunset falling around the sides of her head.
She was not an adult, nor was she a child. She had the body of a teenager, just like Wyndia and Ren. She also had the happiest smile ever on her face.
And she was completely naked. No shame whatsoever.
Motoyasu swiftly turned around, covering his eyes with his hands.
"Eh? Blondie, is there something wrong with Amber's new form?" Amber asked curiously, poking a finger curiously into his back below the armor.
"Amber! Please, change back to your monster form!" Motoyasu pleaded.
"Ehhhh?! But why?! Amber really likes Amber's new human form!" The girl yelled.
Motoyasu couldn't lie. Her human form was divine.
However, Motoyasu did not want to make those kinds of moves on someone he considered to be a great friend. Especially after parting with Rino last night. "Please, if somebody sees you and me right now, they'll definitely get the wrong idea!" Motoyasu yelled.
"Ehhhh?! But Fitoria dropped Blondie and Amber in the middle of nowhere! There should be no one around except monsters! And what does Blondie mean by getting the wrong idea?!" Amber's wings puffed out as her face pouted in agitation.
...
Yeah, having a naked angel girl around would have been a huge problem for Motoyasu to deal with. So getting Amber magic clothes became his number one priority.
After teaching her a thing about human decency, of course.
The Spear Hero saved the area and portaled them to the Capital of Melromarc, where Motoyasu spent several hours trying to find a tailor who could take Amber's measurements and, hopefully, make her a set of magic clothes while getting some other things done. However, such an experience was something he was still traumatized by and would rather forget about.
'Seriously, I didn't know female otaku existed in this world too- OH GODS! WHY AM I THINKING ABOUT HER AGAIN?!'
'BEGONE, THOT!'
…
Heh, Motoyasu hoped he'd have the chance to say that to Bitch one day. What had he been thinking about again?
Oh, right. It took a while to get Amber's measurements. However, after that was accomplished, he took Amber back to the village and made the dress himself. The tailor lady said that she'd be happy to make Amber's outfit; an offer that Motoyasu would NEVER take up even under the threat of torture.
It didn't take him long to figure out how to get magic thread, as he asked their resident witch friend Mahoya about it. She still had the spinning wheel from her shop required to make it. And after Amber had made plenty, Motoyasu spent the rest of the day and part of that night making her new set of transforming clothes in his house, before giving it to the excited Filolial girl.
It wasn't his best work, and they were simple clothes at best so he planned on making her more outfits in the future. Still, she'd looked super happy upon receiving the gift from the Spear Hero.
With that task done, he and Amber planned on going back on the trail the next day.
However, the next morning, Fitoria, having learned about Amber's transformation, showed up at Moto's house before he could resume their journey and requested to put Amber through a trial just like she had with Filo.
That ended up taking all day as well, which had Motoyasu spending the night in the village again.
But after the trial was finally completed, Fitoria rewarded the new Filolial Queen with a tiara that transformed into an ahoge as well.
Seeing the new addition to Amber's hair was entirely worth it.
And the massive boost in stats might have helped a little bit too.
Then today, before Motoyasu could leave, Fitoria knocked on his door again to ask for his help in suppressing the Wave that'd be happening later that day.
She would have asked Ren, but… yeah, better to not touch on that right now.
Motoyasu, being the nice guy he was, accepted Fitoria's request full-heartedly. After spending their time earlier in the day traveling towards Zeltoble's capital, he was here now at the site of the Wave alongside Amber and the rest of Fitoria's flock.
'Alright, and that should do it.' Motoyasu smiled happily to himself as he raced forward, his Spear easily piercing through another Ifrit monster like it was made of paper.
The flames that touched his skin didn't even feel hot. To think he'd struggled so much taking down a single Spirit Tortoise familiar a short time ago.
See, Naofumi. That was how you were supposed to recap events. Is that really so hard?
"Gwah!" Another blue-feathered Filolial cried out nearby as it launched balls of water into a flock of bird monsters that looked like a mix of peregrine falcons, eagles, and snakes. They were called Interdimensional Garuda Shadows on Motoyasu's HUD.
No, that wasn't Blue. He was currently back in the village. But it was nice to note some of the more powerful members of Fitoria's flock who were there to fight.
A pink-feathered Filolial fought alongside the blue-feathered one. Based on how the two fought, Motoyasu was pretty sure the two were mates.
Oh yeah! He should mention this about Blue since he came up: Ren's Filolial friend had finally gotten his monster crest yesterday after Amber finished her trial.
Ren was feeling a little better lately, so he was able to see Beloukas when he came by the village and got a monster crest for Blue. It wouldn't be long before their village had a Filolial King as well.
Whether he and Amber ended up getting together, Motoyasu didn't know. He was certain the two Filolials were friends at the very least, but he didn't think they got along that well.
And yes, Motoyasu had already warned Melty to arrange for a different tailor to get Blue's outfit made since Motoyasu wouldn't have the time to make something for him. And besides that, Ren was still in no position to be traumatized right now.
At least that tailor's mom had been nice. She even seemed to know who Naofumi was for some reason.
Anyway, back on topic, the blue-feathered Filolial raised his wing and pointed at something in the distance. "Gwah! Gwah Gwah!"
"Motoyasu. Orion says that he can see the Wave Boss up ahead." Fitoria said behind the Spear Hero.
The Queen of the Filolials was currently in her human form. However, she was riding around in what looked like a steam-powered chariot. It had a single cannon in the center of it.
Any monsters that somehow got past Motoyasu or the members of her flock found themselves smooshed by her weapon running over them. Or otherwise cut out of the sky by the blades of wind Fitoria unleashed just by swinging her arms.
"Got it! I'll make this real quick then!" Motoyasu changed his spear to the Spirit Tortoise Heart Spear.
It was a weapon form he'd acquired while in the Capital getting clothes for Amber. Mirellia had called him in, letting him know his share of the monster materials was finally ready. And he'd absorbed them, unlocking new weapon forms, before bringing Ren's share to him later in the day, and-
'Damn it, why do I keep on getting sidetracked! Focus, Motoyasu! You don't want to recap worse than Naofumi!' The blonde simp almost slapped himself across the face.
Maybe it would have been better if he'd started out covering everything that'd happened since leaving the Hero's village. But wasn't it better to start where all the action and excitement was going on?
Oh well, to make a long story short, he now had a wide variety of weapon forms from the defeated Guardian Beast. The Spear he had equipped was his strongest one by far. It was the one he was currently upgrading with the strengthening methods. And it also came with a new skill that Motoyasu used at that moment.
"Multi-Pronged Thrust!"
He stabbed forward, energy bursting out from his weapon in multiple directions in front of him.
All the monsters paused in their tracks simultaneously. And then, giant holes appeared in the center of all their chests. They collapsed to the ground in droves.
Motoyasu's HUD was flooded by EXP notifications again, but he grinned as the Wave Boss finally appeared in his vision.
It was a giant elephant-looking creature. It had some weird symbols on it, but he didn't focus on the details.
It was going to die in a few seconds anyway.
The boss monster's trunk blared out a fearful cry as it turned around to flee in terror. But Motoyasu had already charged up his strongest skill and began spinning his spear above his head.
"Meteor Thrust!" The ball of energy went into a portal that formed above him.
And then, it came out above the Wave Boss, crashing down directly into it.
KABOOM!
A large explosion filled their visions, and Motoyasu had to raise his hand over his face as chunks of elephant slammed into his armor.
Ew, gross. He was going to need to wash that out tonight.
He had gotten an exp notification though, signifying the creature was dead.
And when the lingering smoke vanished, it revealed only the smoking remains of a quarter of what had been the Wave Boss.
...
Yeah, it was definitely dead.
Just like that, the remaining Wave monsters began to run away in terror.
"Gwah!" "Gwah!" "Gwah!"
Too bad Fitoria had the majority of her flock there. The remaining Wave Monsters wouldn't get far.
"Alright. Easy victory!" Motoyasu planted his spear into the ground.
"Well done, Spear Hero." Motoyasu turned to find the bird queen smiling proudly at him. "Fitoria is usually the one to kill the Wave Boss whenever she brings a Cardinal Hero along to help suppress the Wave. But this time, you handled it before Fitoria could.
"That is a very big thing to accomplish."
"Aw, shucks." Motoyasu grinned, blushing in embarrassment. "I was just doing my job."
"Job or not, you are clearly showing proof that this generation of Cardinal Heroes is finally beginning to close the gap between themselves and Fitoria." The little girl bowed her head. "That makes Fitoria very happy."
…
Motoyasu, though surprised, eventually smiled for real as he rubbed the top of the girl's head. "Seriously, I'm glad to hear that. I've worked hard to get where I'm at now."
"And Fitoria hopes that the Spear Hero will continue to work hard. As Fitoria is going to take things more seriously from now on." Fitoria looked up, a rare grin of challenge on her face.
"Oho! You're saying you weren't taking this seriously before?!" Motoyasu laughed.
"Of course. Why else do you think Fitoria allowed the Spear Hero to lead the charge? Do you think things would have been the same if Fitoria had been the one in front instead?
"Even I know that the members of Fitoria's flock need the chance to prove their strength from time to time."
"Ha! I'll make sure to remember that for next time. We can compete to see who kills the most monsters between us then!" Motoyasu laughed.
"No need. I'll just go to the other side and count up how many monsters Fitoria kills while waiting for the Shield Hero's report." Fitoria said with a smile.
"Right, you go ahead and- wait, WHAT?! THAT'S CHEATING! I CAN'T SLAUGHTER MONSTERS OVER THERE!" Motoyasu pointed an accusatory finger at her.
"It is not cheating. Fitoria is simply taking advantage of the fact that she can kill monsters in another world while the Spear Hero can't." Fitoria continued to smile before slightly sticking her tongue out at the man. "Motoyasu won't mind keeping an eye on Fitoria's flock in the meantime, right?"
"I- grrr, of course, I won't mind. You just make sure you're quick about it, ok?" Motoyasu said worriedly.
"Do not worry. Fitoria will make sure to come back long before the Wave closes. And if Fitoria somehow doesn't, Fitoria can always use her Carriage to make it back to this world."
"... wait, your weapon can-"
As Motoyasu tried to ask his question, Fitoria raced ahead through one of the Wave Cracks above the ground. In just the blink of an eye, she was gone.
…
…
Damn, even with how strong the Spear Hero had gotten, he hadn't been able to track Fitoria's speed at all. His jaw was left gaping in front of him.
Just how much stronger was he going to have to get to finally be on par with the ancient bird queen?! It was like he'd climbed Mt. Everest, only to find that he was still miles below the summit!
…
Motoyasu grinned widely again. Ha! If anything, that only showed him that he and the others still had plenty of room to grow yet, I say! He looked forward to the day when he and Fitoria could go toe to toe with one another!
That'd be an exciting duel to be sure!
A duel that would likely get a bunch of angry topographers on his back for destroying mountain ranges and creating new valleys. But hey, it'd definitely be a sight to behold!
"Blondie, can you please stop standing around and help Amber and Fitoria's flock with taking out the remaining monsters?!"
Amber's voice knocked the Spear Hero out of his thoughts. He shook his head and smiled widely. "Coming Amber!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
Shortly thereafter, he was back to assisting Fitoria's flock with eliminating the rest of the Wave monsters.
In what felt like two minutes, their job was done.
No more Wave Monsters were in the immediate area. And the Wave Cracks themselves weren't releasing monsters anymore.
Motoyasu didn't know if that was because the Wave Boss was dead. Or if it was because Fitoria was murdering everything coming her way on the other side.
Overall, Motoyasu had killed at least a few hundred monsters throughout the Wave. He'd also slain the Wave Boss in one attack.
That was a huge improvement over his performance from before. It was awesome to see just how far he'd come.
…
"Hey, Amber, what is Fitoria doing right now?" Motoyasu asked curiously.
"Fitoria is talking to the Shield Hero, Blondie," Amber answered after focusing on her ahoge. "It looks like all of Blondie's friends are doing well as far as Amber can tell."
"Whoo, that's a relief to hear." Motoyasu smiled. He was grateful that Fitoria had put Amber through the Filolial Queen trial so quickly. Even if it had eaten into their initial travel time a decent bit.
Thanks to it, Amber was loads faster and stronger now. The trip that would have taken them a week was going to take them three days now at most. And the best part, they were able to talk to Fitoria whenever they needed to.
"Also, Fitoria killed at least a thousand monsters after crossing over to the other side." Amber suddenly added. "She told me to tell you she won."
"WHAT?! GIVE ME PROOF!" Motoyasu snapped.
"Amber can see what Fitoria is seeing." The filolial tilted her head to the side. "Does Blondie not believe Amber?"
"… that's… I thought those ahoges only allowed you to hear Fitoria telepathically?" The Spear Hero asked.
"Hmmm, no, that's not quite right." Amber tilted her head to the side. It was a very Filo-like behavior, which indicated that she was about to explain something complicated in a simple manner…
"The crown Fitoria gave Amber allows Amber to hear Fitoria, yes, but it also allows Amber to see what Fitoria sees if Fitoria allows it. It's like the recording crystals that some humans use. Fitoria can broadcast what Fitoria sees over her ahoge to Amber, and Amber can do the same for Fitoria.
"In short, while Fitoria and Amber can communicate thoughts via the ahoges. Fitoria and Amber can also show one another what Amber or Fitoria is seeing, touching, or even tasting in real-time."
…
"Is that a good enough explanation, or does Amber need to explain further?" Amber tilted her head again at Motoyasu's stunned silence.
"Um, ahem, no, that was good." The Spear Hero said, covering his mouth.
Apparently, Amber was far better at explaining stuff than Filo. Those tiaras were even more useful than Motoyasu had realized!
"But back to the original topic… Fitoria's strength isn't fair…" Motoyasu sagged.
His desire to compete with Fitoria was now at odds with his desire to keep his friend happy! What cursed circumstances to find himself in indeed!
"Ehehehe." Amber suddenly transformed in a poof of feathers. Only a second later, Motoyasu found himself being hugged by the teenage girl.
"It's ok, Blondie! Amber is sure that Blondie will best Fitoria next time!" She said happily.
"..." Motoyasu smiled sincerely as he hugged the angel girl back.
He guessed now would be a good time to point out the outfit he made for Amber. It was a dress similar to Filo's, though it didn't have frills. The top of it was orange, with it gradually changing to purple the closer it got to the bottom.
It gave her the appearance of a sunset, which complimented her personality very well. Though he wished he could have made something more complex for her.
Man, he needed to make more clothes for her soon. He couldn't wait to put his sewing and tailoring skills from his old world to good use!
…
He had mentioned before that he was good at making clothes, right?
Well, if you didn't know that before, you know that now!
Amber let go of the Spear Hero and assisted the Filolials in gathering the monsters' remains. Most of the monsters had been made of shadowy ichor, but there were a few genuine monsters here and there.
Parts of those monsters were torn off so Motoyasu and, later, Fitoria could absorb them. What remained of the Wave Boss was being dissected by select members of Fitoria's flock so the Heroes could get as many weapon forms out of it as possible.
The rest of the monster remains though. They were messily feasted upon by the Filolials and their bottomless stomachs. Motoyasu watched as the remains of an elephant-man monster were torn apart further by the beaks of these majestic creatures, spilling its organs and blood out onto the ground.
Ah, they were truly beautiful and noble creatures…
…
Motoyasu sat back on the ground, waiting for everything to finish. His carefree smile disappeared under a serious expression.
The Wave hadn't taken that long, so he guessed that he and Amber still had at least a few more hours that they could travel that day. And then, he'd teleport them back to the village to report to Melty.
The Spear Hero would then grab dinner from Garfield, Rachel's husband, who was filling in as one of the village chefs while he was gone. And then, Moto would finally retire to bed for the night. So long as the old Granny didn't corner him.
He didn't find that likely. She'd restrained herself to only giving him a practice spar first thing in the morning to help wake him up before sending him off. But you never knew with that crazy old crone.
She was probably biding her time to make Motoyasu drop his guard, just so she could pull him off for another week of hellish training, and then…
Heh, whatever that old hag was planning, he'd be ready for it. And the day would come when he finally beat the old lady in a fair duel, and-
"GWAH!"
Motoyasu snapped to his feet, only to look very surprised at the sight of Orion, one of the members of Fitoria's flock, having a sword thrust into one of his wings.
The cry hadn't come from the bird in question though. It'd come from his pink-feathered mate after Orion shielded her with his body to protect the female filolial from the stranger that'd suddenly appeared in front of them.
Just like that, Motoyasu felt as if his whole world had come crashing down.
What… what was… how had he…?!
"Hmph, you're a tough one, aren't ya?" The man holding the sword grinned widely as he sliced up, nearly slicing off the entirety of Orion's wing.
"GWAHHHHH!" Orion fell back, crying out in agony.
That cry was what finally snapped Motoyasu to action.
The stranger readied his sword to thrust through the Filolial's body.
"Chaos Thrust!" Motoyasu rushed the man in the blink of an eye, thrusting forward over and over again at a fast rate with a look of rage on his face.
"Oh! Safeguard! Earthen Wall!" At the man's yell, a wall of earth rose out of the ground between him and the Spear Hero to block the Hero's attack.
Motoyasu smashed through it though, still thrusting at the stranger who'd attacked the high-ranking member of Fitoria's flock.
The guy looked surprised at how easily his spell was smashed through… and yet when Motoyasu's skill ended, he saw that the interloper only had superficial wounds on his arms and a scratch along one cheek that was lightly bleeding.
He'd somehow managed to weave through and dodge most of the Spear Hero's attacks.
"Who are- Oh right, the Cardinal Spear! I almost forgot, you and your buddies are supposed to be a bit stronger than average, right? Almost caught me off-guard there!" The man laughed in delight.
Motoyasu's pupils dilated further, and waves of killing intent came off his entire body.
He did not know who he was. He did not know why this stranger was here.
All he knew was that this man needed to die.
"Crimson Thrust!" Motoyasu put himself between the man and the injured Filolial, allowing his mate to carry him away while Motoyasu engaged the interloper again.
The man sidestepped the flaming skill and almost impaled Motoyasu on the end of his sword.
"Magic Bullet! Stone Bullet!" Motoyasu then ducked as the man conjured a thin stone projectile in midair, with Motoyasu barely twisting his head enough to dodge the projectile.
"Nice! This is actually entertaining for me! Show me what else you've got!"
Within seconds, Motoyasu found himself backpedaling as the man attacked with a speed and ferocity the Wave Monsters had lacked.
The Spear Hero was now not only angry and confused but surprised as well. This guy hadn't just appeared out of nowhere and attacked the filolials without provocation, but he was also strong enough to go toe to toe with Motoyasu. A Cardinal Hero who had twelve strengthening methods under his belt right now.
The Hero jumped back in an attempt to create some distance between them, but the man raised his hand again. "Safeguard, Earthen Wall!"
Motoyasu tripped backward over the wall of earth that sprang up in the middle of his jump. He barely managed to move his weapon to block a downward strike from the guy, getting himself back onto his feet as the man continued to engage him in a flurry of blows.
He wasn't giving Motoyasu any time to charge up a skill or form a plan of counterattack.
The man's sword grazed the Spear Hero's cheek as he dodged another of his close-range stone bullets, but he hardly felt the small cut it left. And Motoyasu soon realized that it wasn't that this guy had particularly high stats.
Rather, he had loads of combat experience under his belt, much like Eclair.
This was likely not the man's first time fighting a spear wielder. And it was his skills and his innate knowledge of combat that prevented Motoyasu from finishing him as quickly as the Wave Monsters.
Too bad for the guy, Motoyasu had been training under Granny for quite some time now. Now that he had a better grasp of the man's strength and skills, he would not be defeated as easily as he had been at Lute Village.
"Ha!" Motoyasu swept his spear at the ground below the man, making him jump up and laugh.
"Trying to trip me up!? You'll need to try-"
POW!
Spinning his spear around in his hands, the blunt end of Motoyasu's weapon slammed into the man's rib cage. Launching him back through the air and into the thick trunk of a tree. "GAH!" Blood surged from the man's mouth as a look of shock covered his face.
"Air Strike Javelin!" Motoyasu then threw an energy projection of his weapon. And while the man managed to twist his body enough that it impaled his arm instead of his chest, it was still enough to pin his body to the tree.
"And now, Meteor Thrust!" Motoyasu spun his spear overhead to form a portal over the guy.
He'd attacked a Filolial intending to kill him and his mate. Orion and Pinkie hadn't even done anything towards him.
Thus, the man was undeserving of life.
Before Motoyasu was able to finish him off though.
"Magic Bullet: Stone Bullet!"
Motoyasu barely canceled his skill and moved his spear in time to intercept the projectile, which came from the right of the stranger.
Part of the spell still cut him along his arm though, drawing a somewhat deep bleeding gash along it.
Had he not reacted in time, that projectile could have gone through his head and killed him.
A second, more stout-looking figure walked out from the tree behind the first rogue.
"T-T-Took you long enough." The first coughed out more blood as he held his good arm to his broken ribs. "You couldn't have attacked him sooner?!"
"I was making sure that all of that troublesome giant bird's flock was in the area." The second stranger tossed his comrade a glowing stone. "But, I admit, I also wanted to see you make a fool out of yourself. We were told to avoid engagements with the Cardinal Heroes here for a reason, dumb% #."
"&^%$ you, dude. I didn't think he'd be that strong." The rogue grumbled.
The stout man chuckled as Motoyasu looked between the two men. "Who the hell are you, and why are you here?!" Motoyasu angrily asked.
"Who are we? That is none of your concern." The stout man smirked as he raised his arms to the sky. "After all, I'm about to wipe this whole area off the map."
"Magic Bullet: Meteorite Invitation!"
The sky above was blotted out by the form of a giant, flaring red meteor. Motoyasu looked up in surprise at its appearance.
"I suggest you seek some cover. No matter how strong you might be, you and everyone else here are going to feel this when that thing lands in five seconds." The second stranger taunted the Spear Hero. Holding a hand up in front of him.
"W-What the hell! That'd kill you guys too!" Motoyasu yelled angrily.
Instead of answering, the man lowered a finger on his hand. "Four."
… Motoyasu realized that talking would be a waste of time, and so he rushed forward to impale the caster. Thinking that might be the only way to keep his spell from going off.
However, the first stranger had somehow recovered from his injuries by then and appeared under Motoyasu's guard, slashing up with his sword.
Motoyasu barely reacted in time deflecting the man's sword out of the way.
"Three."
Motoyasu and the man disappeared in a blaze of speed as thrusts and parries were thrown against each other. Whatever that glowing stone had been, it not only healed the man's injuries but also buffed his stats.
Motoyasu's shoulder armor protected him from another blow. The hit stung a lot though.
"Two."
"Chaos Thrust!" Still, Motoyasu managed to charge up a skill and instead of using it to attack, he took advantage of the increased speed it gave him to knock the first stranger's sword out of his hand.
And then before the man could recover, the Cardinal Spear was buried through his chest.
"One." The tanky guy smirked.
The large meteor, which had been high up in the sky, came crashing down towards the ground below.
Motoyasu kicked the first man off of his weapon, sending his body flying into the side of a tree. He then faced the second stranger, but it was already too late to stop the spell.
"Enjoy your death, Hero! A strike like this is one that the bird god of this world won't ever forget!
"Aha, ahahaha-"
"GWAH!" The crowd of Filolials chanted.
"Ceremonial Magic!" Amber, who stood at their head, gathered the magical power of Fitoria's flock before her as she brought a fist down. "Judgment!"
A beam of light tore down from the heavens. Going straight through the center of the giant meteor from above.
KABOOM!
The entire thing exploded outwards. Motoyasu covered himself with his cape as bits of rock slammed into it.
…
…
After ten seconds, the falling rocks stopped. Looking up, he found that besides the trees being slightly damaged, the area was alright.
The stout interloper stood in his spot, stunned at seeing his giant meteor spell disposed of so easily. "Wh-What happened to the others attacking the flock?! Why aren't they-" As he turned his head, his face blanched.
Motoyasu turned his head too and finally realized something.
Those two hadn't been the only ones that attacked. Four other individuals had fought the members of Fitoria's flock as well.
However, while some members of the flock had been injured, those individuals were now lying on the ground in growing pools of blood.
Blood which was coming off of Amber's claws.
"Grrrr, another Filolial Queen? I hate getting old intel." The man scoffed.
He didn't get a chance to run, however. Before he could say or do anything else, Motoyasu pulled his Spear back over his head. "Second Javelin!"
Thunk!
The man's body was thrown through the air, the skill piercing through his chest and nailing his body to the trunk of another tree.
His heart had been destroyed by the attack. He had only seconds to live.
However, despite taking an obviously fatal attack, the second stranger's eyes widened as a manic smile covered his face.
"Go rot in hell, you piece of trash! Scum like you don't deserve to live!" Motoyasu yelled at him.
Yet as he turned around to check on the members of Fitoria's flock, the man began to laugh in his death throes.
"A good show, Spear Hero! But me and my comrades will be back soon enough!
"See you soon, and tell your Bird Queen that we're sending her our regards! Aha! Ahahahahahahahahaha… …" The man continued to laugh, until eventually, he finally died, and his body sagged.
The skill javelin disappeared then, and the body fell to the ground with a soft smush.
…
A shudder ran through Motoyasu's body, and he nearly felt the urge to vomit.
However, after checking the man's body, as well as the body of his comrade to make sure they were dead, he rushed over to Amber, who was in her human form helping out Orion.
"Gwah…" Orion grimaced in pain. His feathered wing hung limply at his side, and a small pool of blood had formed beneath him.
"Gwah! Gwah! Gwah!" His pink-feathered mate stood opposite Amber, yelling at her worriedly.
"Shhhh, it's ok. I'm just going to fix him up a little first." Amber comforted the pink-feathered Filolial while simultaneously petting Orion's head.
She then turned her head to face two other Filolials that approached. "Yellow. Sunset. Please hold Orion down for Amber. Brownie, comfort Pinkie for Amber. Pinkie's going to need it."
The two Filolials nodded their heads, and their wings restrained the blue-feathered Filolial to the ground.
The third one moved to Pinkie's side, allowing the Filolial to cry into her chest as the older Filolial comforted her.
Without giving Orion a second's warning, Amber then grabbed Orion's exposed wing bones and began pulling them and the muscles, connecting the nearly severed wing back to his body.
"GWAH! GWAHHHHHHHHHH!" Orion screeched in pain.
Some of the nearby Filolials covered their heads with their wings. Pinkie cried out even more at hearing her mate's pained cries.
"Wh-Wha- Amber- what are you-" Motoyasu began to sputter in shock.
Fortunately, Amber was quick with her work, and she finished setting Orion's wing back into place mere seconds after she'd started.
"Alright, Blondie should be fine to use Healing Magic on Orion now," Amber said as she stood up. She wiped her hands of the blood covering them as she turned to Motoyasu.
"A-Amber?" Motoyasu said in shock.
"The Evil Guy's strike nearly severed Orion's wing." Amber calmly explained. "Had the bones and muscles not been moved back into place, healing magic could have made Orion's wing heal wrong, and Orion could have lost the use of Orion's wing permanently.
"This is not the first time Amber has had to help with this kind of injury in Fitoria's flock. Now please heal Orion quickly, Blondie. Orion is losing a lot of blood from that wound. The sooner healing magic is used, the better it'll be for Orion."
Amber then stepped back, gesturing for Motoyasu to take her place.
The Spear Hero still looked surprised, but Orion was weakly crying out in pain. Tears fell from his eyes as he stared at his hurt and bleeding wing.
Pinkie stood nearby with Brownie. Still crying with Brownie's wing supporting her, but the Filolial was staring at the Spear Hero with pleading eyes.
Motoyasu shook his head and began reciting out an incantation. As he finished, he set his palm gently on the blue-feathered Filolial's chest. "Drifa Healing Warmth."
A red glow surrounded Orion's body. At its appearance, skin and feathers regrew over the bones of the Filolial's wing.
…
After a few seconds, the damage had all been repaired. Amber stepped past her Hero, being gentle as she examined Orion's wing for him.
…
After a few seconds, she smiled and rubbed the Filolial's head. "Blondie's magic did the job. Orion won't be in danger of losing Orion's wing now."
"Gwah…" The Filolial let out a sigh of relief and only seconds after hearing the words, he passed out from pain and exhaustion.
"Gwah!" Pinkie then rushed forward, crying as she hugged her unconscious mate close.
Amber started to gently rub the crying Filolial's head. She looked out over the few other Filolials who'd been injured by the surprise ambush.
"Blondie. Healing Magic should be good enough for the others." Amber said. "Please go help them."
"R-Right!" Motoyasu snapped to attention. Part of him still felt surprised by the nurturing side Amber had displayed. It helped him realize that even though she shared some of Filo's outward characteristics, Amber was still a drastically different person.
As the Spear Hero used healing magic to heal the other Filolial's injuries, he was struck by the thought that if Amber hadn't helped first, he might have very well made things worse for the Filolial Orion by healing his wing.
Filolials couldn't fly, yes. However, that didn't mean their wings weren't important for other things. Like pulling carriages, or helping them out in combat, and other such activities. To take away their wings would be like taking away somebody's arms.
Had he healed it immediately before setting the wing back into place…
…
Motoyasu sighed in relief. Thank the Gods he had Amber. He was going to have to study Filolials even more than before to make sure he treated them right, I say!
…
However, that could come later… after some other important things were immediately dealt with.
Shortly after Motoyasu finished healing the rest of the injured flock, Fitoria came rushing out of one of the Wave Cracks that were at ground level.
The Queen of the Filolials was blazing with energy as she appeared like a meteor. She looked ready to annihilate an entire continent if she had to.
However, it didn't take long for her to see that everything was ok. And she sighed as the presence of power around her gradually faded away.
"So… everything going well on Naofumi's end?" Motoyasu asked.
"... … …" Fitoria remained silent, looking around at her flock as well as the remnants of battle.
The Wave Cracks around them all glowed brightly, and after a few seconds, they vanished. Yet Fitoria didn't look around to acknowledge that.
Motoyasu grimaced as she walked forward without addressing him.
The Queen paused at Amber's side, looking down at Orion's peaceful face, which was being gently cradled in the wing of his mate Pinkie.
She took a moment to examine Orion's wing for herself, and then, she gave a grateful nod to Amber. Who returned it by resting a hand on Fitoria's shoulder.
"Fitoria is sorry she couldn't be here," Fitoria said somberly.
"It's okay. Amber and Blondie managed to fight the evil men off with the help of Fitoria's flock." Amber said happily.
"Gwah!" Some of the nearby Filolials let out a noise of agreement.
"Evil men…" But at Amber's words, Fitoria's face clouded further. She looked towards where the two bodies lay, and Motoyasu followed her gaze.
Imagine his surprise as there wasn't a trace of the corpses left. Even their weapons had vanished. All that remained to indicate them having been there was the pools of blood where their bodies had been lying.
"Where did they go? I know that they were dead!" Motoyasu said angrily.
Had others been hiding there?! But then, Motoyasu didn't see any bloody footprints or destroyed foliage or trampled grass or anything leading away from their spots, so how the hell did they disappear?!
"Fitoria hasn't sensed anyone else lingering in the area," Fitoria spoke up as Motoyasu continued looking around.
"What do you mean?! What happened then?! Bodies don't just vanish into thin air!" He said angrily.
"'Theirs' do," Fitoria said.
…
…
Motoyasu looked closely at the Filolial Queen. Her hands had balled into fists and her tiny body was trembling.
"Fitoria's worst fears are confirmed." The Filolial girl hugged her arms to herself. "Those evil men are back to try and target Fitoria and her flock again."
"Fitoria has been helping out too much. Now, Fitoria's flock will be at risk of being targeted and killed, and Fitoria won't be able to protect everyone again like in the past, and… and…"
"Hey… Um…" Motoyasu slowly approached the Filolial Queen. He felt himself shrink at what he recognized to be pure fear filling the most powerful being in their world. Anything that could scare someone like her was something he should have found downright terrifying.
Then again, maybe he was wrong and Fitoria wasn't afraid?
Yeah, that seemed kind of illogical, and there was no possible way that-
Fitoria looked up at him, raising her hand which was covered in wind magic. She didn't seem to recognize who he was in that moment. Her pupils had dilated like a cornered animal's and every fiber of her body had been pulled taut in anticipation of an attack.
Motoyasu, who'd been stepping forward, suddenly took a step back.
He now knew with outright certainty; that Fitoria was ABSOLUTELY SCARED out of her mind right now!
Memories were surging through her brain like tidal waves. Memories that'd be best left forgotten.
The Spear Hero was quick to realize that he had to make himself look as nonthreatening as possible, or otherwise be nuked out of existence.
Motoyasu moved his Cardinal Weapon to his back, and then he laid down on his side, still facing the Filolial Queen. He was trembling the whole while, but he stared at Fitoria with a look of care and empathy as he became submissive before her.
"Fitoria… I'm never going to hurt you or your flock." The Spear Hero stated. "No matter what. I'm here to help."
…
…
For several more tense seconds, bursts of wind continued to move around Fitoria's raised hand, which began to encircle her form.
Amber and the others stood in the background, fearful about stepping in and escalating the scuffle between their Alpha and the Spear Hero.
…
…
…
Motoyasu didn't move a muscle. Looking at the angel girl with fear, but also care.
It was the look in the Spear Hero's eyes that finally snapped the angel girl out of her trance.
Fitoria's pupils shrunk back to normal, and the wind magic that'd surrounded her form vanished. Her face, which had been twisted with fury, suddenly became ashamed and downcast.
"I… I didn't mean to…" She spoke in a shocked voice.
Motoyasu slowly sat up, being careful to not move too fast. He was still trying to appear as harmless as possible, in case he accidentally triggered Fitoria's trauma further, and…
It ended up being meaningless, as Fitoria rushed forward first and embraced the Spear Hero around the neck. Tears fell from her eyes as she began to softly cry.
"Fitoria didn't mean to view Motoyasu as an enemy! Please forgive me!" The girl sobbed as she broke down in the blonde man's arms.
…
Feeling like a weight had just been removed from his back, Motoyasu sagged in relief as he hugged the small girl back. "It's alright. You definitely scared me there.
"But you didn't attack me, so it's all good."
He continued to comfort her for another minute. Saying more reassuring things while internally pondering on the bizarre dichotomy of the bird queen's existence.
Having all the power and responsibility in the world, yet seemingly being stuck with the mentality and body of a hopelessly lost and scared child.
…
…
…
Eventually, Fitoria let go of the Spear Hero and looked up at him. She had to wipe some tears from her face, and she opened her mouth to speak but ended up looking around herself again.
"Motoyasu… Fitoria would like to get her flock to safety." The girl said seriously. It seemed like she had recovered from her outburst and managed to put on her regular passive, emotionless mask again. "Would you and Amber be willing to come along? Fitoria wishes to talk with Motoyasu in private."
Motoyasu gulped nervously. Nuts, he was going to get sidetracked again, wasn't he? He wanted to get to Zeltoble's Capital as quickly as possible, but fate was hampering the Spear Hero around every turn for some reason.
It didn't take long for Motoyasu to shake his head and rid himself of such thoughts. Considering what just happened, he would have to be a complete bastard to ignore what was clearly a desperate cry for help.
So the Spear Hero just smiled and gave the Queen of the Filolials a thumbs up. "Sure, we won't mind."
Besides, Motoyasu and Amber had managed to travel a fair bit today already. And he was the only Hero who hadn't seen the Filolial Sanctuary yet.
HE WAS SURE SUCH A PLACE WOULD BE PARADISE ON EARTH, I SAY!
"... Alright." Seeing the extremely happy look that came onto the blonde's face, Fitoria had to suppress the smile of relief that she wanted to express.
However, that relief was short-lived, as she finally saw that while the Spear Hero had healed the injured members of her flock, he had as yet to heal the injuries he'd sustained from his fight against the mysterious men.
"Gentle Breath." Setting her hand against his chest, a wave of green healing energy covered the Spear Hero.
After a couple of seconds, the gashes on his arms and face disappeared. The stinging sensation that'd lingered in his shoulder also vanished.
Motoyasu stretched the joint for himself, pleased to no longer be dealing with the pain. "Heh, thanks Fitoria." He told her gratefully.
"It is the least Fitoria can do after Motoyasu treated the members of Fitoria's flock with such care." Fitoria allowed a small, soft smile on her face then.
It didn't take her long to gather her flock around them, during which Motoyasu absorbed the monster remains that'd been scattered during their brief, yet deadly scuffle with the mysterious men who'd attacked them.
He'd have to give Ren's portion of the monster materials to him later. After he reported to Melty about this.
Damn it, he could already tell that she wasn't going to like hearing about what happened. But that was for future Motoyasu to worry about.
When he was finally done, Amber took hold of his hand, giving him a reassuring smile. And the carriage around Fitoria's neck glowed bright.
"Transport Carriage."
A flash of light surrounded the large group. And a moment later, they vanished from the plains where they'd dealt with the Wave of Catastrophe.
"Yeesh, they were wayyyyyyy stronger than they were supposed to be. What was up with that?"
"I know they're members of the World Guardian's Flock, but we should have been able to handle them easily without her around to protect them!"
"Blame that second Filolial Queen that was protecting them. She dropped me before I could even use my finishing move."
"Your finishing move sucks man. It takes forever to charge up and leaves you immobile."
"But the damage-"
"Drop it, you two, an extra queen or two doesn't matter. What is much more concerning is the Spear Hero that we faced."
"Oh yea! That fight was completely unfair. That Wave gave me a combined level of 176, and he still kicked my #$! That was such BS."
"We should probably contact one of the enforcers and report back on this. We were told that the Heroes here are a bit tougher than usual, but that skirmish felt too extreme. Something doesn't add up."
"You got that right. I can't imagine how that fight would have gone down if we didn't have our extra levels from that other world helping us out."
"Hmhmhm, it's fine. I don't know about you a lot, but I've seen worse before. We'll just have to spend a bit more time grinding for experience in this world before we face off against them again."
"Ugh, do we have to? This world is infamous for being difficult to level up in thanks to that moron who decided it'd be a 'good idea' to make an EXP generator in the Prad Desert's Experience Event zone. All the land monsters in this world give out less EXP than normal because that stupid machine is still working after all this time!"
"Why don't we just go break it anyway? I don't think we're forbidden from tampering with it, are we?"
"Hell no! The enforcers said that even the World Guardian of this world is barely strong enough to fight the monstrosities guarding that hunk of junk! We'd stand absolutely no chance if we tried!"
"Then stop complaining and get to grinding already! We have no time to waste!"
"Cut us a break, we just died you know!"
The men all shared a laugh as they went to slay more monsters together.
Author's Notes:
Holy… I made a chapter that was only 28 Google Docs pages long!
HALLELUJAH! Thank you so much Motoyasu!
Well, hopefully, it'll be a while before I go back to absurd chapter lengths again. Until then, I'm going to enjoy not having to write so much anymore, lol.
Also, have to add this at the end, super excited to hear that Season Four of Shield Hero has been announced! I'm going to look forward to watching that season too!
Hero Clips!
Recap Hell
"Hi, Motoyasu Kitamura here, I'm the Spear Hero of this world, and-"
"Moto, what are you doing?"
Motoyasu tilted his head confusedly at the angel girl in front of him. The pair were surrounded by Wave Monsters.
"I'm recapping important people and events so everyone can know what's going on, Fitoria," Motoyasu answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Ok... but does that mean you have to reintroduce yourself to whoever it is you're narrating to?" Fitoria asked.
"Right, I never was able to perfect my introduction. Though, I still love the title of Love Seeker for myself." Motoyasu grinned toothily as he thought back on good memories.
It only seemed to confuse Fitoria even more, but Motoyasu suddenly lit up.
"Oh, right! This here is Fitoria! She's the World Guardian of our world! She's super kuudere and doesn't like expressing herself very much, but she's super nice once you get to know her! She's also the most OP character in all of existence, besides maybe Goku or Saitama!
"But hey, with how broken the power scaling of their worlds is, you can't blame her for being so limited here."
"Excuse me, what did you just-" Fitoria started to say in an offended voice.
"Hey, Blondie!" Amber called out as she suddenly appeared from the mess of monsters.
"Perfect timing, Amber!" Stars sparkled in Motoyasu's eyes. "This here is my Filolial Queen, a girl with similar attributes to Filo, but who has her own traits and personality as well! She's super kind and motherly to those she takes under her wing, and as someone who's lived in Fitoria's flock for years, so she is someone even Fitoria will listen to from time to time!"
"Yeah, when Fitoria's not being super dumb and prickly, that is." Amber stuck her tongue out at Fitoria.
"..." Fitoria remained silent, not knowing what was going on at all.
"Anyway, as for why we're all here, let's start from the beginning!" Motoyasu exclaimed excitedly.
"Yayyyyy~!" Amber cheered.
"Gwah! Gwah! Gwah!" The other Filolials of Fitoria's flock quickly gathered at Motoyasu's feet, excited to hear about Motoyasu's tale.
However, it was waylaid as Motoyasu spent time talking about each member of Fitoria's flock. Their background, their personalities, important life events involving them, and so on.
Fitoria eventually walked off, dealing with all the monsters in the area as Motoyasu finally began telling a long, condensed version of Hope and Diligence for the rest of the Filolial Flock to listen to. With Motoyasu making plenty of jokes and comments about the other Heroes and their journeys along the way.
Fitoria disappeared to the Otherworld, came back, took a bathroom break, got her chores for the day done, and did battle against the monstrosities guarding the EXP machine in the Prad Desert.
Yet when she returned, Motoyasu STILL wasn't done!
His recap would last all day, and by the end, Fitoria and all the members of her flock would be dead asleep, as well as the group of mysterious men who'd come to ambush them. Waiting for Motoyasu to finish so they could finally make their grand debut.
And that summed up why the recap was super light at the start of this chapter. As covering the length of over two Harry Potter trilogies in one chapter would have been outright impossible.
"And that is why the goal of my journey is to make love to my spear!" Motoyasu proudly finished.
...
Though, it was also super light because Motoyasu was... Motoyasu.
But that's why we loved him!
Till Next Time
Allen