Chapter 10: It arrives
Day 27
5 Hours Til the wave
"Come on! Move it. You better be geared up by the time we teleport, or it's your ass!" A knight shouted. The entire village was in motion. The cooks were making the final meals before battle, the knights were stocking up on weapons and potions, and even the villagers themselves gearing up with the limited resources they have.
It was a hard debate, but Naofumi had to limit his choice on who to take when it came to own villagers.
He didn't have the money for proper equipment. There were a few who had gotten some magic clothing along with the filolial's like Keel, others weren't so lucky and had to rely on the subpar armor bought on mass.
He wanted as few casualties on his side as possible. So he handpicked 12 of his best fighters who already had the best equipment cause… Well, they were his best fighters.
Raphtalia, Keel, Rifana, Clark, Strelitzia, and Atorie would be in squad A. Ken, Layta, Brayden, Zenta, Dalton, and Delia, would be squad B.
And for added measure, he partied with Fitoria and Gaelion who decided to watch. Sakura, and Sadeena and Zalton.
Fortunately enough, all of them aside from Sadeena and Zalton had a Filolial. So he knew which Filolials he should take so he can pair them up with the others.
Yuki, Freon, Chino, Kent, Larium andTsubasa, for squad C. Then Lynn, Dynn, Faeor, Nayru, Kuro, and Teba for squad D.
"Everything is going smoothly. Everyone should be prepared by 2:00 p.m, partied up by 3:00 p.m, and have a final dinner break by 3:30. That leaves us with around an hour and thirty minutes of extra time."
"You know Melty. I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Like is any of this for real or not?" Naofumi pondered as he started down from his Manor's window.
"W-what?"
"A scattered dream that's like a far-off memory... a far-off memory that's like a scattered dream... I want to line the pieces up... yours and mine."
"Naofumi stop quoting things for your world. You know I won't understand."
"Sorry, it just resonated with me. I died, reincarnated, was framed for rape. And now I'm a lord in the same country that hates me, while also preparing to fight a rift in space-time. No matter how much I think of it, I can't really grasp how little sense this makes." Naofumi sighed. "When I first came to this place, I was expecting a normal fantasy Isekai experience. But this is turning out to be more troublesome than I first imagined."
"I mean. To an outsider's perspective, yes. But we've been here for longer and had to deal with things that your world hasn't. I'll say you only scratched the surface of what this world has to offer." Melty reassured… unfortunately, that didn't help Nofumi at all.
"Not really helping."
"Well sorry. I'm not used to dealing with the philosophical ramblings of an otherworlder." Melty sighed. "Look. After the world threw everything at you. You were able to turn a horrible situation into something grand."
"Yeah, with your help."
"Even without my help, I still see you doing well. Who knows. Maybe you'd become some kind of God of defense or whatever."
"That sounds like the stupidest ending to a novel ever."
"I'm trying to boost your Morale you idiot."
"I know. You're a great princess Melty."
"I-I am?" Melty flushed. It was the first time Naofumi actually complimented her. Usually, their conversations ended with their argument being interrupted, so this truly caught the crowned princess off guard.
"By the way. That's the only compliment you're getting from me for a while." Naofumi said as he left the room.
"Of course." Melty sighed. "Never change Naofumi. Never change."
/~/
"Shield hero, I'd like to have a word, please." A gruff voice asked. Sitting on his newly made chair in the living room was Aultcray, the acting king of Melromarc.
"I thought Melty forbade you from talking to me?" Naofumi scoffed
"Melty has temporarily restored my authority as acting king. So I'm ignoring those orders so we can talk. No insults, no accusations, just a talk. Man to man."
"Why in the world would Melty think that's a good idea?"
"Because my daughter desires to fight in the waves with you. No matter how much I plea, she expressed that she isn't planning on changing her mind."
"And what does this have to do with me?" Naofumi asked as he leaned on the wall.
"I don't like you. I'll probably never like you."
"Well fuck you too."
"Even still. Melty and Mirellia trust you, so I'll begrudgingly trust you too. So I ask. Protect Melty with all your might."
"So that's what this is about." Naofumi sighed, lowering his guard.
"A man must throw away his pride sometimes in order to make sure his family is safe. It's not easy to ask the god of an enemy nation to protect his child, especially after all it's put me through. So I'll make things clear. If something ever happens to Melty, I won't hesitate to personally smite you. And that's a promise."
Before Naofumi could respond. Aultcray had already left the room.
Sigh "Zalton. Add another person to the watch list please."
"Already ahead of you." Zalton came out the wall, using a portrait of Naofumi's Shield as a door. Taking the note and putting it in the "Give to Melty later" bowl, Zalton left the exact same way he came, closing the portrait back as he disappeared.
When Naofumi curiously opened the painting, he found that it was just a wall, and had no secret passage to speak of. He ended up chalking it up to Zalton's Shinanigens and left the room as well.
/~/
Countdown
9:04
"We just hit the nine minute mark. Are you three ready?"
"Yes Master!" The kids saluted.
Ren looked over to his team. Eclair, Ake and Terius squads all saluted Ren and stood at attention. Ren's own party was the one he had since day one, minus the man in armor who was over with Itsuki now.
Speaking of Itsuki. He was partnered with 3 knight squads from various noble houses, along with his original party who also hasn't changed as much.
Now the Motoyasu party was the most concerning. His knights were also from various noble houses, but his main party wasn't even that. He only had 3 girls with him, and none of them seemed to have any combat experience. It astonished Naofumi to see how little he took his party seriously. They couldn't even hold a sword for the king without getting winded..
"If Myne doesn't show up, we'll have to do this wave without her. That means you need to double time it on Lesty."
"Yes lord spear."
"Malty is missing? Thank God." Naofumi thought as he wondered what mischief she's up to now.
/~/
"This makes no sense. How can the bars be this resistant to fire!" Malty raged as shot another fireball at her cell's door.
"Just give it a rest already. You're not escaping." The slaver sighed as he continued to read his book.
It was a rule book on various games they would play, so he could call out Rifana bullshit whenever she tried to switch up the rules. She confiscated it many times, but her deputy Chino would always give it back.
"Shut up. Do you know who you're talking to!"
"As far as I know. You're in jail. Status means nothing here." The slaver replied.
"When I get out of here. I'll personally have you hung!"
"Like the last 25 times." The slaver scoffed as he turned another page
/~/
"We have 5 minutes left. This is your last chance to quit." Naofumi turned to his villagers and Filolial, all of whom seemed confused by his question.
"Quit?"
"We're going into a life or death battle. It's so dangerous that I can't guarantee your survival. If you don't want to put your life at risk, take this moment to leave." Naofumi explained.
Reactions were varied. Some were calm about this, others shook a bit at the mention of possible death. But the response was all the same, and no one dared to leave the party.
"I mean. We already knew that." Rifana replied nonchalantly
"Fine. But if you die, it's not my fault."
"Bubba. You're so bad at being a villain." Keel Insulted.
"Yeah. We have already come so far. We aren't going to quit just because "Oh scary monsters can kill." Delia mocked.
"It's not just for friends who live now, but our parents who gave us the will to live on."
"And master who gave up the opportunity to do so." Brayden and Strelitzia added.
"The wave ravaged this place before, and many died because of it. If we're going to back down when we have the ability to fight back, then none of us would be able to sleep at night."
"This is for everyone who we lost. We'll get revenge for the Lurolona we lost. That's why we stand here today." Raphtalia finished as the kids let out a cheer. Naofumi however could only chuckle.
"That was probably the cheesiest speech to ever be spoken."
"Come on. We spent all day on that!" Keel whined.
"Well I'll give you some credit. But I do ask, what would you have done if I didn't ask that question?"
"Let's not worry about that." Raphtlia swept the conversation aside.
"Well if that's really it. Stay alive. Village morale must stay high, or we'll get nothing done."
"He's doing it again."
"That just means he cares about you all." Melty added with a chuckle.
"No I don't. It'll just be a hassle." Naofumi sighed as he stepped forward. The counter hit the 50 second mark, and was going to teleport them once it ended. Overkill or not, his task was to stop the waves, then get the reward money. A simple plan with difficult execution. All he could hope was that the king's plans were as good as they say they were.
"You know Melty. These waves may sound scary. They can take your world; They can take your heart, cut you loose from all that you know. But if it's your fate, then every step forward will always be a step closer to home.
"Naofumi shut up."
Naofumi chuckled. "And here I thought you wouldn't notice." Naofumi chuckled some more as the timer hit zero. The sky started to crack as he and the legion of knights and villagers around him suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.
/~/
The four heroes appear first, with the rest of the army landing right behind them. The once sunny blue sky had turned into a bleeding red.
Zombies, skeletons and even giants fell from the cracks, slowly converging onto the largest source of life, that being the village of lute.
"Shit, this is where I get my wood."
"Not the priority Naofumi." Melty nagged.
"Right. Squad B, evacuate the village immediately. Everyone else, follow the plan." Naofumi ordered before turning to Motoyasu and Ren. "Do you two have skills that can draw in as many enemies as possible?"
"No, that's usually a tank skill."
"Of course." Naofumi groaned. "Motoyasu. Take my place, I'll go with Ren."
"But shouldn't we follow the plan?"
"This is plan 1 sub section 12. "In the event, the heroes can't draw in enough monsters, use the shield hero as bait."
"That was a thing?"
"Unfortunately, yes. And listen to the lecture next time!" Naofumi groaned. "We're running out of time. Sakura."
"Gua." Sakura jumped out of his pocket and grew larger.
"Get on." Naofumi called out to Ren.
"I'm not comfortable riding on a giant-"
"[Rope Shield!]" Naofumi tied up Ren in a bundle of rope and tugged it, pulling him into Sakura's feathers. Once he was inside, Sakura took off to the middle of the battlefield, being followed by Raphtalia's squad of filolial riders.
"[Hate Reaction!]" Once he got to the center, Naofumi leaped off Sakura. Using a skill, Naofumi unleashed a field of red energy. Every monster within a 15 ft radius suddenly made a mad dash towards Naofumi, ignoring every else in the area.
"Perfect. Move now! [Shield Prison!]" Naofumi commanded. "Ren and his squads proceeded to engage the monsters around Naofumi's prison, obliterating them quickly with their strength and aoe attacks.
Once his prison broke, and his rage shield depleted. Naofumi backed away, and allowed Sadeena to take the vanguard.
"Do it now Sadeena!l
"You got it. "[Dragon Vein! Hear our petition and grant it. As the source of your power, we implore you. Let the true way be revealed once more! Give us the power to overcome the obstacle before us!]"
"As the source of our power, we other thee. Decipher the laws of nature, and let the way of all things be revealed as we trap our enemies in a wall of air."
Sadeena stuck out her harpoon and gathered the wind casted by the filolial. Spinning it around a bit, she swung it forward and a slash of wind appeared in front of her. Many monsters in the way were sliced in half. Those who didn't get cut continued their attack, only to be electrocuted once they came into contact with an invisible wall.
[Storm Wall] "Sadeena made three more slashes on both sides, enclosing the monsters in an invisible wall of electrified wind.
They tried to escape, but a hail of fire and arrows rained down on the monsters, utterly destroying them.
"Break!" Naofumi ordered.
With most of the kids mp on recharge, the villagers attacked, picking off many of the monsters one by one.
None of them stood a chance. And both teams ran through the undead forces with ease. Itsuki, Motoyasu and their squads assisted from the sideline as they sniped any monsters that attempted to run away, while Melty and her team of mages continued to bombard the monsters from afar.
The wave at this point turned into a minor chore. The 4 heroes were enough already. The added knights squads for each of them were overkill, And then Naofumi's squad of hero buffed villages were beyond overkill. Some of them didn't even get hurt when the occasional attack hit them. Not that it would happen anyway,
Naofumi had full control over the battlefield with hate reactions, along with his Erst shield and shield prison skills going up whenever someone seemed to be in damage.
And again, that event of that happening was rare since every monster usually went down in a hit.
Only the giants actually posed a threat, and refused to go down in one strike like the rest. But the more agile villagers dealt with them immediately, and they never got close enough to cause any disarray in their ranks.
That was the flow of the battle until the boss finally showed its face. A chimera with a snake tail, a lion and goat's head, and dragon wings. It breathed fire into the air as it rushed at Raphtalia's group, ready to bite.
"What? It's an undead wave. Why is the boss a chimera?"
"Blame the developers."
"THERE ARE NO DEVELOPERS!"
"Right. I forgot. Switch to plan A section 12." Naofumi ordered. The knights moved immediately, understanding the instructions. The kids and Ren however stood there confused.
"For fucks sake. Fall back and keep the monsters away from the boss.
"Ohh. Yes master" the kids ran off to follow orders. Ren went along with them, but Naofumi grabbed him by the collar. "Not you! You're fighting the damn thing!"
"Right. I knew that,"
/~/
Ryute
"Come on guys, into the cave!" Dalton shouted. He and Delia were outside the cave to guard the villagers from any possible threats. Thankfully, no monsters were able to enter the village. And those that came close were swiftly dealt with.
"Move it cat boy!" A ball of black liquid splashed onto the ground, splattering itself onto Dalton who didn't move away in time.
"Great. Brayden's here." Dalton groaned as the puddle started to reform.
It was a boy with black hair and eyes. His hair was short, but he had two black squid-like tentacles hanging from both sides. Aside from his hair, he wore black shorts and a white shirt that was covered in various colors of ink.
"Finally. The second shift has arrived." Delia jumped down from her box and stretched a bit. "Let's go Teba. I've been bored."
"You do know this is a life and death scenario right?"
"Classic Teba." Delia scoffed as she lept away, her bird following shortly behind.
"Five kills after thirty minutes. That's how you know nothing is going on." Brayden complied, drinking some water that his filolial gave him.
Her name a Faroe. She was a filolial with green wings and hair that was in two buns. She also had a green dress. With no weapon to speak of.
"Guess the king went overkill… which is a good thing?"
"Yes and no. The people may survive, but I'll surely die of boredom." Brayden moaned as he slowly fell off his box.
"Don't worry. I'm sure something will happen right now-" As Dalton finished his sentence, a scream was heard from inside the cave.
"Damn, my luck." As soon as Dalton got up, another scream was heard, followed by an explosion coming from the village. "Fucking Karma I was joking!" Dalton yelled.
"I got the village, you take the cave. Later!" Before Dalton could protest, both he and Faroe jumped away.
"Kuro you awake?" Dalton asked. Looking on top of his head, he saw that Kuro was still asleep. "Of course you are." Dalton drew his knife and ran into the cave.
/~/
Cave
"Ahh!"
"Shut up, I'm coming!" Dalton grumbled. This was the 7th scream he heard in the past minute, and he was starting to get annoying.
"Fireball. Get down!" Dalton shouted. [Fast Fire.] [Lava Disc!]" Splashing oil onto the ground, Dalton set it on fire. Using the dragon vein, he fused the fire to the rock and tossed them like a disc down the hall.
"Man, I hope I didn't hit anyone." Dalton rushed down the hallway, with the only indication of his plan working being a deafening silence. Whether it was the death of the monster or the civilians however was the real question.
It was extremely dark, with the only source of light getting further and further away. It was days like these, Dalton was glad he was a fire mage. Soon enough, his light gave him a visual on the victims, a family of 3, who were hiding. One of which was holding their daughters mouth shut as they squatted behind a rock.
"Go. I-"
The woman put a finger to her mouth, suggesting a silencing motion towards Dalton. He had no idea what all the fuss was about, so he tiptoed over without paying much attention to his surroundings. That was when someone pounced on him, tackling him to the ground and knocking out his light.
"Gross! [Fast Explode!]" Feeling some saliva fall on his face, Dalton threw his hand up and blasted the monster away with an explosion.
"Run now!" Dalton order.
"Thank you!" The woman along with her daughter and husband made a dash towards Dalton's direction. He didn't like sending them off with a monster on the loose, but it'd be best to move them away so his more destructive abilities didn't accidentally kill them. Speaking of destructive. Dalton scattered more oil across the floors and set them ablaze. Whatever this creature was, he was planning on sending it to the hottest layer of hell. But what he didn't expect, was for the creature to be one of his own personal demons.
"No. i-i-it can't." Dalton stepped back as his heart rate skyrocketed. He wasn't scared, for whatever he was feeling was far beyond that. Something that he could only describe as pure terror, so much so that he couldn't walk properly, and fell to the ground. That first attack didn't even hurt him, but he felt like he was gonna die, no not felt. He knew he was gonna die.
The thing that gave him all his scars. The creature that used his arm as a chew toy before mercilessly ripping it off for a light snack. The monster mauled his brother alive, and used the rest of them as food for their young. He didn't believe it was possible. He hoped he never had to see this monster again. But alas, fate was cruel in its jokes, as what stood before him, was a black two headed dog.
Lodged within its torso was a rock, and its face half burnt off by the previous explosion. Theough all the damage however, it trekked on. And the scared cat knew it wasn't close to being finished.
"Stay away. Stay away! STAY AWAY!"
/~/
Clang
"The hell are you doing captain!" Ake shouted. He held back the blade of his captain to protect Teba, who was recently injured by said captain.
"Are you an idiot Ake! To think you'll blindly follow the shield hero into battle."
"Yes. Along with the other four heroes, the princess, and the king!" Ake pushed his captain's blade back and swung for his neck. The captain however, grabbed the blade and held it in place.
"Do you honestly think the king will help the shield hero? The princess was right about the shield's brainwashing. Then again, you've always been a demi lover, haven't you." The captain kicked Ake in the stomach, sending him back and disarming him.
"You're insane. [Fast Fireball!]" Ake got up and shot a fireball at his captain.
The knight dodged however, and closed in on Ake in an instant. Breaking his sword down, the young knight brought up his shield, and winced as he took the force of the attack.
"You set the village on fire, broke formation, attacked an ally, and are now assisting the monsters that are currently destroying the city! Is your hatred for demi humans so massive that you'd endanger the lives of innocent civilians to just hurt a few."
"Absolutely! You think we'd allow the shield hero to take command. If Melromarc has truly fallen so low that we'd allow a criminal like him to become a lord, then I think we need to take actions into our own hands. We'll follow the princess who's strong enough to not fall for the shield hero's deceit. Then we'll save the heroes and the king from this delusion that they're in!"
"[Ultra Stamp!]!" Brayden swung a hammer made of a black substance down onto Ake's captain. The knight barely rolled out of the way and shot a crossbow bolt, but the hammer formed into a shield and blocked the hit.
"This got out of hand very fast. Faroe, deal with the rogue knights."
"Alright big brother." The green bird transformed and attacked any knight that came into view. Thankfully, only the knights that broke formation were inside the village, so she didn't have to worry about committing friendly fire.
While that was going on, Delia drank some water from her flask while choking out a knight who stuck a dagger in her side. Not only did it cause her to bleed a bit, but it also ruined her favorite and only dress. And that made her kind of pissed.
"Perhaps you should go help some Delia!" Brayden exclaimed.
"Hold on. She's still conscious somehow." Delia dropped her flask and started to punch the girl in the face.
"I think he meant himself. And I don't know if you noticed, but also rogue knights too!" A girl explained.
Her name was Layta, a snake demi human who wielded nothing but her hands. She had green hair and eyes, and wore a blue mini skirt with several other shirts and jackets wrapped around it. Her shirt was a crop top that only covered her modest sized chest. It was blue and had gold trim and several jewels lining it, similar to a belly dancer. (They're fake)
On her back was a snake like pattern, and that pattern went from her green tail that was also wrapped around her waist.
"Ken, Zenta and their filolial already went to stop the monsters. So we need to stop these guys and go help before master gets angry."
"Where's Dalton then?" Delia had stopped punching the poor girl, and started to dump water onto her face.
"Something got into the cave. I'm sure he'll be fine."
/~/
His chest was pounding, his mind had gone blank. Every thought, every action it all felt impossible. All he could do was crawl back and watch the monster inch closer and closer. Until it finally attacked.
Dalton naturally held up his hand as the dog bit down. Tears of pain, but mostly of terror streamed down his face. It was happening all over again.
He was so frozen with fear, that a monster was able to get the drop on him. Even with his arm currently being bit, he couldn't think of any other than that one day he lost it all. His village, his parents. Even his brother who was stripped from his arms.
Was it fate for his family to die to the waves, and death was doing everything it can to make it happen, Not that It matters anyways. He couldn't even muster the strength to run, he could only do one thing.
"SOMEBODY, HELP!"
"Never fear. Kuro is here!" Kuro came in with a flying kick and knocked the dog away. "Nobody hurts big bro!" Kuro shouted as various balls of energy converge onto him.
"Take this! [Windmuster, Flashing Reverse Heartstopper Wild Windmill Sidewinding Twist Kick!]"
In an instant, Kuro moved so fast to the point he disappeared from sight. Reappearing above the dog, Kuro spun midair, generating a strip of wind that followed his foot before bringing down on the dog's chest.
The kick sent the dog deep into the ground with its torso piece through. If Kuro wanted, he'd be able to take a good look through its chest. But that wasn't his priority.
"Dalton. You're bleeding. Dalton… Dalton!" The bird did his best to tend to his friend's wounds, even going so far as to rip off pieces of his dress to do so. Dalton however didn't notice the bird, and just sat down with his heart on his chest, breathing very heavily, and mumbling some nonsense.
"Don't worry Dalton, I'm here. You're safe now. You can rest now." Kuro hugged Dalton, using his wings to act as a blanket. He could feel his heartbeat going down, and the breathing slowly coming to a stop.
Some of the villagers even came over to help after hearing his screams. But Kuro allowed nobody to get close. Not until he knew his brother was mentally stable.
"I hope the others are doing fine."
/~/
"This is not fine!" Brayden shouted as he stopped a blade. He and Ake had been dueling the captain for a while now. Surprisingly, Ake's captain was actually tough. Even worse, that attack from early on actually broke Ake's hand. And unlike Dalton who was more magically inclined, Ake was a melee combatant, and was now forced to fight with one hand.
This didn't seem to be a problem at first, but after the captain started to focus specifically on Ake. Brayden had to pick up the slack, and use his ink to protect the young Knight. Needless to say, he was both annoyed and pissed.
[Splash Down!]" Leaping into the air, Brayden crashed to the ground in a ball of ink. Some of it got onto the captain's armor as he dodged it, and he scoffed as he rushed forward to attack.
Ake came in from the side and parried the captain's hit, allowing Delia to come in for a kick.
The knight blocked the kick with his shield, and swung at Ake. But the ink on his armor formed a shield that blocked the hit, and started to absorb his sword.
Trying to pull it out, the captain is forced to leave it as a snake tries to bite him. Layta then continued her assault and put at him again, but The captain grabbed her neck midattack and tugged it. Pulling Layta forward and slamming her into the ground.
[Wave Break!]" Brayden tossed a ball of pure ink to the ground. Thinking it was a trap of some kind, the Captain avoided it as he attacked the squid kid. The ball however wasn't a trap, and suddenly let out a wave of ink that blew up the ink on the captain's breastplate.
He was launched back, and his armor was severely damaged. It was then he realized how fucked he was. He quickly scrambled to get rid of any ink he accumulated up to this point, but it was all in vain. Another wave came, and this time, the ink on his helmet blew up. This disoriented him, and gave him no time to dodge the other wave that blew up his breastplate, completely destroying it in the second blast.
When another wave came out, he was adamant on dodging this one and leaped back. But Delia was planning on his escape, and kicked him back to the ground.
"Damn yo-" He was going to swear, but he stopped himself after realizing the girl's foot was covered in ink. And after he got kicked, he now had a timebomb stuck on his back. A time bomb that suddenly went off, blowing him up and sending him to the ground.
His back was severely burnt, and the main area of the explosion caused a deep laceration into his upper back. The captain tried to get up, the pain was too unbearable, and he passed out on the ground.
"God, that guy was insane."
"Quickly. We need to enforce the front line. How's Teba?"
"My arm is fucked up. I won't be able to use my bow in this condition." Teba replied.
"Go to the medical tent. We'll-" Brayden stopped as the sky slowly turned back into a blue. The cracks started to close, and monsters stopped falling from the sky. It was these along with the cheers from the knights that signified the end of the waves.
"Oh thank God." Brayden slumped to the ground in exhaustion. "That was harder than I thought."
"You do know we aren't done yet." Delia nagged as she picked up Layta.
"Ughh. Fine." Brayden got up and looked around. "Guess we should report what happened?"
"What about Dalton? He's been gone for a while." Delia asked.
"Maybe he's still guarding the civilians?" Brayden generated some ink and formed it into a grappling hook. He got this idea after watching Itsuki who got it as a weapon form after absorbing some rope.
"Take these two to the medical tent. I'll check up on things."
"Got it."
/~/
"[Zweite Dark Matter Blaze!]" A sheep girl swung her umbrella down, sending out a streak of pure plasma at a rogue knight.
Her name was Strelizia. A sheep demi human with copper color hair, a white and black dress with white boots, and a white umbrella she was currently using as a spell casting focus. Naofumi never understood why some of his best fighters had the most unorthodox of weapons and fighting styles, but he couldn't care less, because they were effective.
Strelitzia was a caster who used plasma magic. Similar to Raphtalia's illusion magic that utilizes her dark and light attribute, Strelitzia's fire and lightning attributes gives her access to the all too destructive Plasma magic. And that plasma was enough to drive off, and severely injure any knight that tried to assassinate Naofumi.
Speaking of assassinations, the battlefield was now in chaos. While the boss was being fought by the four heroes, Three squads of knights broke formation and went over to Ryute. The line broke pretty quickly, and they were forced to fall back and do plan B. It was working well, all until the wave stopped. Once the heroes split up to deal with the remaining monsters, several more groups of knights broke formation, and rushed towards the shield hero and his party. At first they thought it was out of celebration. But that was proven to be wrong the second they drew their blades.
"Melty. What the hell is going on?"
"How am I supposed to know!?
"Sorry. Force of habit. Let's finish them off quickly."
"On it master. Everyone."
"[Four Elements: Land of Storms ]" An explosion of fire, water, earth and wind expanded into four different directions, catching most of the knights in the co-op magic of the group.
After the initial explosion, the area was covered in various conditions. To the north was an unbearable heat that attacked anyone in there with an eruption of flame. To the south was a whirlpool that was much deeper than the knights thought. Anyone caught inside was dragged in, and kept falling until they ran out of breath.
To the east, tornadoes and high wind flung the knights around. Sometimes they were even thrown into other areas, and were subjected to the same conditions like the rest. And finally to the west was a pit of earth that opened, and slowly closed when one entered. The current group of knights were doing their best to stop it, but it was futile.
"Huh, not bad."
"Thanks. Dragon Vein makes co-op magic much easier." Strelitzia replied.
"Good. Now stop on the earth side, we need them alive."
"How about a few."
"No Rifana."
"How fun." Rifana pouted.
As ordered, Strelitzia stopped the spell, forcing all the victims back onto dry land. Those who were affected by it were quickly captured, and those who were were taken out without much effort.
The wave was pretty much over. He and the other heroes went over to Ryute to talk things over, while the knights and kids dealt with the remaining monsters. There, they also saw the aftermath of squad B battle, and arrested them too.
He didn't know who or what caused all of this. But Naofumi knew that it was the result of someone wanting him, or Lurolona dead. He did have his fair share of enemies, but a force like this with the sole goal of killing him made him and Melty realize the seriousness of the situation.
It wasn't just one random dude. But a whole army of people within Melromarc who wanted him gone. And with no confirmed target or way to retaliate, all he could do is bide his time and wait for someone to slip up.
/~/
"Our God. is an awesome god he reigns-"
"Your holiness! Your Holiness!" A sister exclaimed. She had rushed into a Choir practice with a mountain of papers in hand.
"That concludes choir practice for today. Now go along with your daily duties."
"Yes Pope Balmus!" The sisters respond. As they all left the room, the Pope sat down on a bench as the sister came up to him.
"Ahh, sister Kayla. What report might you have today?"
"Will God's chosen be listening?" The sister asked.
The pope immediately tensed up, and secretly did a signal behind his back. Scuffling was heard in the room for a moment before a woman in white fell from the ceiling, and handed the pope the note. Disappearing as quickly as she disappeared, the Pope chuckled as he responded.
"God is always listening. But his chosen one has no power in this chamber."
"Then I'm here to report. The wave went on with zero civilian casualties, and only minor injuries from a random dog."
"That's good. Now. What's the real report?" The pope ordered.
"Y-yes sir." The sister stammered. "The forces of slavers and priests we gathered were unable to kill the shield hero, and were captured. Here's the list of assets we lost."
Kayla handed the pope the paper. On it was all the armor, weapons, people, and allies they lost in the battle. What's worse, the report stated that only two of the shield heroes' followers were injured with some minor injuries, making this loss even more humiliating than it already was.
"This loss is truly a drastic one. The shield hero has already taken the princess and king under his control, and even got the three heroes on his side. Tell me sister, what do you think may happen if we allow the shield hero to gain more political power."
"...We'd be unable to-"
"We'd be unable to touch him!" The pope shouted, causing Kayta to flinch. "The shield demon is already using everything at his disposal, to build an army. Imagine if he gets to Siltvelt, or Shildfreeden, or any other country that worships him. There goes Melromarc, stomped under the foot of the person we oppressed. We're the church, we're not going to be outdone by the shield demon and his petting zoo. He must be eliminated quickly, or we'll lose all the power we gained. Am I clear?"
"Y-yes lord Balmus."
"Good. I'll allow anything as long as it stays out of the eyes of the queen. If she catches wind of this, then it'll be trivially easy for her to stop us. Stay out of sight. And make the attempt at his life as discreet as possible. And if worse comes to worse, I will personally go forth and purify the devil myself. You are dismissed."
"Yes Lord Balmus."
/~/
Mache Kun: The long awaited wave with the full power of the temporary Luronan army on Display. In all honesty, the kids could have handled this themselves, but better to be safe than sorry you know.
Also I don't know if you realized, but this indeed a crack fic. Have fun, leave a review, and Thanks for reading.