I am so so sorry about the lateness of this chapter. This past week has been pretty brutal on me having to focus on my assignments so I haven't had much time to write...and I cannot promise that updates will be quicker in the future.
But I will try to be quicker with updates in the future , but like I said no promises.
Big thanks to Qinlongfei for beta reading this chapter ! And a big thank you to Commissar Gaunt for providing some realistic medical advice when it comes to...severe injuries.
Let me just say, that I hope you all are prepared for this chapter...because it WILL not go the way you think it will.
Please excuse me if this is not medically accurate.
With that said , let's get it started.
Chapter 18 : The Wave of Catastrophe
Mein stared at the blood red sky , it was almost like it was burning and about to rain hellfire on the entire world. It was like staring into a whirlpool , only it was in the sky and spewing uncountable amounts of monsters down on them . Purple miasma clung to the Wave like an actual whirlpool , as hundreds of monsters fell out of them like raindrops.
Mein thinks she's finally starting to understand the common folk much better , why they need the Heroes of Legend to protect them. Or this world is truly doomed for Catastrophe.
Mein clenched her gloved fist as she pulled out her new sword. This was the moment they've been preparing for . This was the Wave .
" Naofumi ! Over here ! " A voice came from behind them , followed by the sounds of multiple footsteps coming to them . Turning they see the Spear , Bow and Sword Hero running to them , with their parties following in tow .
" Guys ! " Naofumi called out to them , as they stopped in front of their party.
" Where the hell are we ? " The Bow Hero looks around , confused of his surroundings . They appear to be in some kind of forest but ... where ?
" I think we're in the King's Forest , I recognize the path we're on ... I think " Ake speaks up among the heroes , explaining his reasoning . The knight looks up between the blood sky and what seems to be the direction of Lute " Goddamnit ! Lute Village is closer to Wave ! They're not going to stand a chance against any of the monsters that come out !"
" The castle isn't that far away but by the time the knights get here , the whole village will be destroyed ! " Naofumi quickly figures out that the village will pretty much be doomed without their help . Naofumi turns back to the Three Heroes " We have to go now ! "
" Alright , Mald , Armina , you're up ! " The Bow Hero gives the order to the heavily armored knight , who walks to stand by Naofumi's side begrudgingly , while Armina was much more cooperative " Save as many innocent people as you can , okay ?"
Armina smiled at Mein , trying not to show any nervousness or fear in the face of the Wave " Guess this is it , huh ?"
" Indeed " Mein nodded her head at her , keeping her cool as much as possible .
The Sword Hero simply gives a nod to Farrie and Welt , who quickly joined to stand by the Shield Hero's party .
The Haven , wordlessly walked to stand beside the Shield Hero's group , without the Spear Hero having to actually say anything. Despite the lazy look in her eye , she did notice the slight tenseness in her shoulder and seriousness in her eye.
" We're going after the Boss monster , catch up when you can " The Spear Hero no longer wears his usual carefree and cheerful attitude , but instead a face of seriousness and determination " Itsuki , Ren , lets go ! "
The two younger heroes nod their heads , before running off into the forest , with the remainder of their parties . But the Spear Hero stopped midway , turning his head to look at Naofumi briefly " Take care of Elena will ya , Naofumi ! "
Naofumi nodded his head and that seemed to be enough for the Spear Hero . His red caped and blond pony tailed head disappearing into the forest .
After the three heroes disappeared into the forest , Naofumi turned to his now expanded party " Lets go ! "
With Naofumi leading at the front they were off , heading towards the small village. Mein saw that people like Mald and Haven were having trouble keeping up with the rest of them . She almost had the urge to laugh at Mald's lack of strength , despite being bigger than literally everyone else in the party , that big hulking suit of armor proved to be is undoing in this situation . Haven seemed to be having trouble keeping up because she had the stupidity to come to a battlefield in a black dress .
Mein guessed that with her high agility , she probably could have outrun everybody in the party and reach the village of Lute in no time at all , but decided against it. She would need everybody's help to fend off the wavespawn...
" Over there ! I can see the village of Lute ! " Naofumi points at the village that is slowly starting to come into view . Mein can see that the wooden walls of the village have been completely broken down and the watchtower that once stood tall had been destroyed as well and as they fastly approached one of the gates that led into Lute-
" Get the hell out of the way ! "
" Stay close to me baby !"
" Run for your lives ! The WAVES ARE HERE !"
" Don't stop running ! "
" Aaaahhhhh !"
And encountered a large group of what she can only assume to be escaping villagers from Lute...and nearly getting trampled as a result.
" Holy shit !" Armina shouted as she was nearly dragged by the sea of people.
" Stay close to me Raphtalia !" Malty said as she held the girl's hand to keep her from getting carried off.
" Son of a mother-!"
" Goddamnit ,we need to get these people under control or they are all gonna get killed !" Malty heard Ake shout over the confusion.
" E-Everybody please calm-"
" We're all going to die !"
" Mommy !"
Naofumi's feeble attempt at trying to get the crowd of Lute to stop and pay attention was clearly not working.
" STOP RIGHT NOW , YOU USELESS IDIOTS ! "
A loud indignant shout rang out through all the screaming-
And all eyes turned to Mald who had a furious look on his face.
" YOU IMBECILES ARE RUNNING AROUND LIKE A BUNCH OF HEADLESS CHICKENS WHILE THE HEROES ARE TRYING TO HELP YOU FOOLS ! " Mald shouted, making the villagers tremble in fear of the large man " DO YOU NOT SEE THE MONSTERS FALLING OUT OF THE SKY ?! ARE YOU THAT WILLING TO BECOME FOOD FOR THEM !? "
None of the villagers replied all of them looking scared into obedience by the burly knight.
" That's what I thought...now stop running around like idiots and listen ! " Mald shouted.
Mein had to give it to Mald...he at least knew how to use his thuggish attitude for something 'good'.
" Where the hell is the Georg and Sir Rathos ? " Ake asked the refugees.
" T-T-Their still in the village trying to defend against the Wave monsters !"
" They aren't gonna last against them, we need to go help them !" Ake shouted.
" What about the refugees ? We can't just leave them " Naofumi asking looking up at the wave in worry.
" Is there a safe place nearby we take them ? " Armina suggested.
" The mines ! We can take them to the mines !" Naofumi quickly mentioned.
" The mines are too far away, their never gonna make it that far on foot without a bigger escort than our party " Mein refuted before turning to the refugees " Are there still people inside the village ? "
" Y-Yes !"
Mein groaned in irritation " We're going to need to get the help of the militia to help evacuate these people while we help hold off the wave monsters !"
" Alright , let's go-"
" Sir Naofumi , look over there ! " The knight shouted suddenly . The knight points at the direction of Pickaxe village and what seems to be flare that had just been shot into the air.
A call for help.
Damnit ! Much like Lute , the village of Pickaxe isn't that far away from the castle but by the time the knights even arrive the whole village along with its population will be destroyed !
" That's Pickaxe village ! We forgot about it ! " Naofumi eyes widened in realization . Pickaxe's defenses aren't that much better or different than Lute's , so they are equally doomed without help from their party .
" We need to split up ! " The knight quickly suggested to Naofumi " I'll take Mald , Farrie , Welst and Elena to go protect Pickaxe . You guys go protect Lute ! "
Naofumi glanced at Mein and the knight , before taking out a few health potions and handing them to Ake " Alright , but be careful and help the villages evacuate . Try to find us later too , after the knights show up to handle the situation , okay ? "
Ake nods his head to Naofumi , before turning to the rest of the party " Let's go ! We don't have much time ! "
Mald however , didn't look too content on the idea of going with Ake , opening his mouth in protest " Now , hang on a second -"
Armina though , didn't look in the mood to be having of Mald's complaints " Goddamnit , Mald ! We don't have time to be picky or argue just go ! " Armina shoved slammed her hand on Mald's armored back sending wave of vibrations over the armor .
Mald only growled in response , glaring at Armina before running off with Ake and the rest of the party.
Naofumi turned to the rest of the refugees and held up his shield which almost reflected in the light.
" Everybody follow me ! We're going to keep you safe !"
Mein followed behind Naofumi , as they proceeded towards Lute unknowing of what awaited them inside .
The situation was even worse than they thought.
Men and women dead in the streets...fire rising from many of the buildings...and countless undead and monsters flooding the once bright and happy streets of Lute.
Screams in the village seemed to come from every direction , as the few adventurer's and brave farmers tried to fend off the many undead and Dragon Bee's that were destroying their home .
" Stay back , you monster ! AAAHHH !" A loud scream coming from between the buildings hit their ears . Mein turns to see Naofumi already running towards a man about to get hit by an undead's blade , fortunately he was quick enough to block the attack with his shield .
Mein didn't need to think about what she needed to do next " Fast Fireball ! " She threw the ball of fire at the undead's head , killing it instantly . Running up to Naofumi , who is helping the clearly shocked man stand up.
" Are you alright ? Are you hurt in anyway ?" Naofumi asks the heavily breathing man , who just nods his head at the Shield Hero . Naofumi stands up and turns to his party and their entourage of terrified villagers " Mein go ahead and find that militia ! We'll try to follow you and defend the villagers ! "
" Got it ! " Mein nodded before turning to the " Raphtalia , stay close to Naofumi and Armina , okay ?"
" O-O-Okay ! " Raphtalia nodded her head , clutching her short sword with visibly shaking hands , looking more than a little fearful at the sight of having so many monsters in one place. This must be her nightmare come to life.
Mein doesn't have the time to give any more comforting words as she runs ahead with her sword out and hood and veiled pulled up as she charged headfirst into the burning village.
She quickly ran up to the nearest building that wasn't on fire and climbed the wall to get to the roof. She would need to get higher if she wanted to find that militia as quickly as possible...and to assess where the monsters were coming from to plan a strategy.
Mein jumped from rooftop to rooftop of destroyed building or burning house that just barely seemed to hold under her weight. She held back from using Blink since she didn't want anybody to notice her smoking Marked hand , even if she had her face covered.
As she jumped across the rooftops of the village , Mein was quick to assess the damage that was being incurred upon the village.
Mein's ears picked up on the sound of screams coming from a lot of the houses , no doubt some villagers deciding to stay in their homes to try and stick it out in the wave.
The walls and entrances are fucked, no point in diverting men to try and hold them , we need to set up a perimeter along the streets and keep the survivors safe. We also need men getting into the homes and rescuing the people trapped inside , before they run into a wave spawn.
Mein grit her teeth and hardened her eyes as she jumped onto a rooftop that gave a clear view of a street with several men fighting back against the undead and bees. They were far too poorly equipped for even the poorest adventurers with most only wielding repurposed farming tools like pitchforks and few holding weapons made out of stone and bone.
This must be Lute's militia.
" Hold those monsters back ! Do not let them breach anymore of the walls !" One of the militants stood out , looking like the long lost brother of Erhard , since he was barking orders at the other militia, no doubt the leader.
Mein didn't waste anymore time as she quickly ran and dropped down close to the militia group doing a quick roll to break her fall. The men looking very surprised at her and turned their weapons to her in untrained fighting stances.
The militia leader was caught off guard by this " What the-!?"
" Get your men in these buildings ! There are people inside and they could be burning to death or walking right into an undead or bee swarm ! Get as many men as you can spare towards evacuating the villagers to the mines ! " Mein didn't have time to explain , only to give orders " And I need a perimeter set up as far back as the west entrance ! "
The militia leader looked shocked " And who the hell are you ? "
"RRRRAAAAHHHHH !"
Mein's eyes widened as she noticed two undead flanking her sides !
Mein quickly moved back to avoid an overhead sword attack from an undead , grabbing its arm she uses her sword to chop it and kick the undead in the shins to send it to the floor. She moved forward to avoid the spear stab from the second undead and used the dropped sword of the previous undead to stab the second straight in the face.
Before gracefully spinning around and decapitating the one she sent to the ground. Before holding out of her hand towards the group of undead that the militia was facing.
" Fast Gust "
Two magical words and a powerful gust of wind erupted from her hand and blew the undead away , giving the militia some much needed breathing room.
The lute militia leader just looked at her for a second before turning back to his men " Gaston I need men in those buildings ! Get the people off the street and towards the mines ! "
" Got it !" A big man with a ponytail black hair ran said before turning to instruct several others following him.
" Sir Rathos , you and me are going to set up a perimeter all the way to the west entrance "
" Understood , lead the way " Sir Rathos nodded.
" Mein ! We're over here !"
The Marked heard the sound of a familiar voice and turned to see Naofumi , Raphtalia and Armina running up to them with the group of villagers from before !
" Naofumi ! The militia is over here !" Mein called out.
" Are you the Shield Hero ? " Sir Rathos asked in surprise as he saw Naofumi stop in front of him.
" Yeah , forget about that ! Just help get these people to safety ! " Naofumi shouted , understanding the gravity of the situation " We'll help with the evacuation and keep the monsters back !"
" Understood, Gaston lead the people from their homes to the mines !" Sir Rathos shouted.
" On it , everybody follow me !" Gaston shouted.
" Sir Rathos , go and get those people out of their homes and towards the mines !"
" Understood Georg, on me !" Sir Rathos said before running off with some men.
" Armina go with them and help with the evacuation , we'll stay and help defend " Naofumi ordered to the spearwoman.
" Got it Shield Hero " Armina had no arguments as she ran off to help with the evac.
" Damn it , we can't hold these bast-AAAHHH!" One of the villagers managed to scream before getting overwhelmed.
" Shit !" Georg shouted as he cut down the undead that were fast approaching.
Mein turned to Raphtalia , whose face could only be described as one of pure terror " Stay close to me Raphtalia..." The girl couldn't even respond , looking on the verge of a breakdown.
Naofumi grit his teeth as he changed his shield to the Iron Spiked Shield " I'm going to draw their attention , Mein you follow up and cut them down "
Mein nods her head , as Naofumi ran towards the direction of the monsters with Mein trailing behind him . She sees dozens of undead and bees , she was about to suggest using one of her high level area of effects spells to take care of them , but sees that the undead are facing off against the few brave villagers who stuck around to try and fight back against the Wave.
Damn it I can't use my magic in this place !
" Spike Bash ! " Naofumi bashed the spiky shield straight into the face of one of the undead , causing its health to go down by a quarter or so . Standing at the front of villagers , holding a defensive stance against the horde of undead , as all the villagers look in shock at the Shield Hero.
Naofumi turned his head to the villagers " Quickly , get out of here now ! Go help others evacuate ! We'll cover you ! "
Georg looked like he wanted to argue but grit his teeth " You heard the man, let's go !"
Georg and the rest of the militia quickly ran off to aid in other areas of the defense.
Naofumi turned back to undead , bashing a few of them away with his shield " Come on , you stupid zombies ! I'm right here ! " Naofumi directed all of the undead's attention to him , as he ran circles around them .
Mein didn't waste this opportunity as she used her high agility to her advantage , cutting down the undead one by one. A decapitation here , another slash to the chest here and the like.
As she cuts down the last undead she quickly run to stand side by side with Naofumi , who is panting at the physical exertion ,changing back to Light Metal Shield " Damn it , their numbers aren't diminishing , we're going to get overrun at this point ! Where the hell are the knights !? "
That is the question she is asking herself. Where the hell are the knights !?
" Can't you use one of your fire spells ?! "
" Not unless you want this whole village burnt to the ground !" Mein shouted back.
" Shit ! Dog Bite ! " Naofumi both quickly changed to his Two Headed Black Dog Shield and activated its skill , causing the two dog heads to come to life and bite down on the undead . Mein quickly kills the damn thing.
Fire is one of the most volatile affinities there are , it could end up destroying this village rather than saving it . She could use one of her few wind spells , but most of them are so weak , that there would be no point to it . Its brief moments like these where she finds herself jealous of her mother's affinity for Ice , at least she doesn't have to worry about burning an entire village or forest with her magic.
So what can she do ?!
Mein looks at her Marked hand and thinks , her eyes widened as an idea quickly comes to mind .
" Naofumi , I got an idea ! Get them all clumped together and I'll take care of the rest ! " Mein knew that this plan was risky , but what other choice did they have ? Naofumi looked confused and opened his mouth to question her , but Mein quickly interjected " Just do it ! Please trust me ! "
Naofumi must have seen the fire in her eyes and saw that there was no point in arguing . Instead running through the swarm of undead and bees , bashing away any monsters that got in his way " Come on , you dumb zombies ! Its time to work for your dinner ! "
Naofumi's tactic seemed to have worked , many of the undead stopped shuffling to Mein and instead chose to focus their attention on the green cloak shield hero. She feels a brief sense of pride for her hero before reminding herself of the current situation.
" Mein , I got them all clumped together ! " Naofumi yelled at her , as soon as the zombies seemed to have shuffled together into one big group , the undead group looked resembled that of a hungry pack of rats , that will devour anything in their path
Quite ironic , considering what Mein is about to do.
Using her high agility , Mein maneuvered herself to the flank of massive group of zombies clumped together , switching to one particular skill.
" Windblast ! " Mein swept her hand forward and in that single motion a powerful gust of wind , knocked all of the zombies off guard and they all hit the ground , causing some light damage to them.
It wasn't enough to actually kill them. She wasn't expecting it to.
Mein raised her hand at the downed undead " First Fire Blast !"
With that single attack , Mein managed to set all of the undead ablaze , none of them even having the chance the recover with only a few who managed to get up quickly falling back down from the burning fire.
" Mein ! " Naofumi called out to her , running to her side " Mein that was ... " Naofumi glanced at the fire that was rising from the undead" A really good idea ..."
Naofumi looks sick from the smell of the burning undead corpses. She's not exactly having an easy time holding in her breakfast either . Mein turns to her side to see little Raphtalia still standing by her side looking a little green herself.
" Sir Shield Hero ! " Mein hears a feminine voice call out to them , turning they see Armina running towards them , using her spear to repel any undead that even came close to her. And accompanying her was a platoons worth of militia with Georg leading them.
" We've managed to evacuate a majority of the village but there are still more people left in the village " Armina breathed heavily as she explained " Its going to take maybe an hour before we can fully evacuate "
" We don't have an hour ! This whole place is going to overrun in less than 5 minutes !" Mein shouted as she saw more undead coming their way.
" We need to hold back the monsters until we can finish the evacuation !" Georg shouted looking at the monsters coming closer.
Naofumi nodded his head " Agreed , help us keep the undead away until we can finish the evacuation. You guys take the left side and-"
Naofumi didn't get to finish his sentence as large shadow overtook them.
" Naofumi look out-! "
Mein's warning didn't reach Naofumi quick enough... as he barely had time to raise his shield as a large axe impacted against it.
It did not hold. And Mein saw blood come out of a large gash in Naofumi's arm as he got thrown back with Georg into a tree.
Naofumi's health dropped by over half by that one attack.
" NAOFUMI !" Mein shouted as she turned to see an undead golem towering over them.
" YOU BASTARD !" Mein turned her attention to golem before her ,anger starting to rise up in her stomach " Raphtalia stay back ! I'll handle this ..." Mein pushed Raphtalia away , as she moved to deal with this monster.
" BIG SISTER LOOK OUT-!"
Raphtalia's scream to her didn't reach her in time... as she failed to notice an undead spearman charge at her.
She felt a sharp pain impact her side...as her black chainmail held up against the weak attack.
It still hurt like hell though.
" AHH ! Son of a-!" Mein cursed as she decapitated the spearman.
" Mein !" Armina shouted.
" I-I'm fine...fuck !" Mein cursed as she held her side where the spearman got her. There was no blood , but she was worried it might have cracked a rib or some-
" Mein look out !"
She heard Armina call out to her this time as another undead swordsman tried to take a slash at her.
Her eyes widen and quick as she could raised her blade-
But she failed to notice as Raphtalia jumped and shoved her aside onto the dirt to save her from the attack...
Mein saw the slash connect...and she saw blood fly.
She felt as time slowed down as Raphtalia fell to the ground in front of her.
With one of her arms missing.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !"
Raphtalia's shrill scream of pain tore through the sounds of battle and reached her ears.
" RAPHTALIA !" Mein screamed as she cut the undead down quickly before tending to Raphtalia.
" B-B-Big sister..." Raphtalia choked with tears in her eyes.
" Get her to safety I got this !" Armina shouted at her as she stood off against the undead golem.
Mein wasted no time as she picked up Raphtalia and got her out of the way. She saw that some of the other villagers were helping Naofumi and Georg out get away too.
Mein observed Armina's actions...as she stood perfectly still as the golem raised up its axe-
And at the last second , Armina sidestepped the attack , the golem's axe ending up getting stuck in the dirt.
" EAT THIS !" Armina let out a battle cry as she used this opportunity to run up on its arm like a spider. Thrusting her spear downwards and killing the golem in a single strike.
She gracefully lands on the ground as the golem falled.
That however was the least of Mein's worries at the moment as she inspected the severe wound that Raphtalia had received, holding pressure on the stump where her arm used to be to slow the bleeding down.
" Naofumi are you okay !? " Mein shouted at Naofumi as he got back up with the help of a villager.
" I'm fine the villagers managed to stop the bleeding but...fuck this hurts !" Naofumi cursed as he clutched his now bandaged up shoulder as he turned to them " Is Raphtalia oka-" Naofumi's words died in his throat as he saw the condition of Raphtalia " Oh god no..."
Mein grit her teeth " Armina ! Get the militia in a formation and keep these bastards off us !"
" Got it !" Armina nodded as she started slashing away at the undead.
" M-Mein can you save her ?" Naofumi's words almost sounded distant to her...as she focused onto the wound as she held pressure over it.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck ! She's losing blood and fast, we need to tourniquet the wound !
" Give me a goddamn cloth , I need to make a tourniquet ! " Mein ordered to Naofumi , doing her best to slow down the bleeding with her gloved hands. Ignoring that they were getting soaked in blood.
" Here !" Naofumi quickly took out a cloth that was just long enough for their purposes.
Okay...okay... I can do this...
Mein concentrated as she applied the tourniquet, hoping to the Outsider that she knew how to do this right.
She made sure to place the tourniquet above the wound and as close to the shoulder as possible. As she tightened the tourniquet , the bleeding finally stopped.
Raphtalia let out an unsteady breath as she did that , as Naofumi tried his best not to panic in this situation.
" Okay , the tourniquet is secure..." Mein said as she made sure it wasn't loose " But that's only half of the problem ,we need to sew up the arteries and veins or she'll be bleeding again soon "
Naofumi turned to the militia that was still wrapped up in the fighting " Tilla ! We need help over here !"
The Shield Hero called out to a woman that Mein herself hadn't taken the time to recognize. It was that same healer who patched up her shoulder wound !
Tilla quickly approached them and knelled down next to Raphtalia " Move , let me see the wound..."
Tilla did a quick inspection of the wound " Tourniquet huh ? Not half bad... but where's her arm !? "
Mein's eyes widened as she completely forgot about her arm ! She forgot that they could still reattach it and-
Her eyes eventually wander over to where Raphtalia lost her arm...to see it now being consumed by the undead.
" Oh you gotta fucking kidding me !" Naofumi shouted in frustration.
" Forget the arm then , we need to get her to a safe place so we can sew the wound shut or she'll be bleeding again later !" Tilla shouted.
" We're not going anywhere ! We're surrounded !" Armina called out.
Mein looked around and it was true that there seemed to be more undead heading their way than before.
Naofumi's injured and Raphtalia is down...fuck !
Mein felt her heart beating in her chest as she saw undead filling the streets... as more of the villagers who fought desperately for their ruined village fall one by one...
She doesn't care what she has to do...she's going to kill every single last one of these undead motherfuckers for what they did to Raphtalia.
Mein readied her blade as she was about to cut down one of the undead that came close to them-
Only for a perfectly timed arrow to hit the undead straight through the head.
Mein feels the ground start to rumble but she knows that it isn't coming from the monster horde in front of them , because she can also hear the sound of filorials . Turning she sees a cavalry of knights riding filorials , riding proudly on their steeds , getting in between them and the monster horde . And beginning to slash away at the caught off guard monster horde .
There is also a group of infantry following closely behind , who also jump into the battle.
" The Knights have arrived !" One of the militia happily announce.
About goddamn time !
" Infantry get into Phalanx formation ! Cavalry back them up ! " A knight captain with a mustache on his horse , yelled out orders to his men.
" Yes , sir ! " The knight's waste no time getting into formation , cutting down the horde of zombies and bees with ease .
The captain looks down to Naofumi , distaste clear in his voice " Shield Hero , what are you still doing here ? Get going and kill the boss so we can , end this goddamn wave ! "
" We would have gone after the boss , if you guys hadn't taken your sweet time showing up to help the village ! " Naofumi growls , shouting back at the captain " And one of my companions got hurt in the process too !"
Naofumi gestures to the downed raccoon girl who was still laying on the ground with a missing arm.
The knight captain flinches glaring at the shield hero , but knows he can't refute what he said . He takes out his sword almost as if he is about to strike down Naofumi , but instead takes down an undead swordsman . The captain turns back to Naofumi " Just go and help the three heroes kill the boss , we saw them fighting north of this village , we'll handle the situation here ! "
Naofumi looked at the battle and his face looked conflicted , almost like he wanted to stay. But before Mein could quickly jump to convince him , Armina stepped up in her place " Sir Naofumi , the knights can handle the situation , we'll do more if we go help the other heroes take out the Boss Monster "
" But what about Raphtalia ? We can't just-"
Naofumi looked like he was about to argue when Raphtalia grabbed him with her remaining hand and looked up to him.
" M-Master ...Naofumi...you need to go...stop the wave...so others don't suffer the same fate as my..." Raphtalia couldn't even finish her sentence on account of her recent injury.
" We'll take care of her Shield Hero , you can count on us to keep her safe " Tilla said with a determined look on her face " I promise I'll keep your companion alive , just go and stop this fucking wave ! "
Naofumi looked conflicted for a moment before nodding" Shit... Alright lets go ! "
" If she's not safe or here by the time we get back , I'm castrating all of you bastards !" Mein shouted at the villagers who visibly shuddered as they left the village to face the boss monster.
Mein slashed away at any monsters that dared to come near them , while Armina did the same with their right flank. Making their way to the direction that knight captain had pointed them towards and it wasn't long before Mein could hear the telltale shouts of battle coming into range.
" Naofumi ! Look ! " Mein points ahead of them and can see multiple figures and one very big figure fighting in a clearing near the forest . It was the three heroes and they were battling -
A loud lions roar broke her line of thought , as they got closer to the battle Mein saw the heads of a lion , goat , dragon and a deadly viper . All attached to the same body.
A Chimera.
The Boss Monster was a Chimera .
Mein had read about Chimera's before in her books about monsters . The difficulty level for dealing with a Chimera differed , it depended heavily on several different factors , such as its size , level and most importantly ... the number of heads of monsters it had attached to it and what exactly those monsters were in the first place.
With the Four Heroes of Legend trying to kill it , this Chimera should be an easy kill.
Hopefully.
As Mein stared at it , her HUD activated and appraised it :
Chimera , Level : 48
Its level is higher than her own and Naofumi's , but she's willing to bet the other heroes aren't that far behind this Chimera's level . Mein looks to the still red sky as more monsters start to spill out of the Wave , she hopes they can end this battle soon .
" Sir Naofumi ! " A familiar voice calls out to them , Mein instantly recognizes it to be Ake's. Turning they see him running towards them , it appears he has decided to join the battle against the Chimera . Looking around , Mein spots a few of the faces that came to fight alongside them to protect the villages.
" Wind arrow ! " The Bow Hero releases an arrow from his bow , covered in a gust of wind at the Chimera .
" Crimson Blade ! " The Sword Hero quickly runs his hand across his sword , lighting it on fire and slashing at the Chimera .
The Chimera health drops significantly , as the Spear Hero seems to lead the last attack .
" This ends now ! Take this ! Lightning Spear ! " The Spear Hero thrust a powerful charge of lightning at the Chimera . But before it could hit , the Chimera jumped out of the way of the lightning attack , causing the attack to end up hitting the treeline behind them.
" Shit ! I missed ! " The Spear cursed , seemingly getting ready for another attack .
" Somebody kill it ! " Naofumi shouted out , changing to his Light Metal Shield .
Before anybody could even get close to the Chimera , the goats head let out a howl and the Chimera's whole body glowed in a bright light . As the Chimera's body glowed.
" What the hell is it doing !?" Mein could hear the Sword Hero shout out , covering his eyes from the bright light .
The light dissipated and Mein could see that the Chimera's health bar is almost completely full !
The Chimera Lion Head let out a roar and breathed out fire at them , causing many of them to jump back , causing the grass to catch some of flames threatening to start a fire and burn down the entire forest , if some of the heroes companions hadn't stomped out the embers so quickly.
" It can heal itself !? Come on ! " The Bow Hero shot a normal arrow at the Chimera , but this barely did a quarter of damage to its current health bar .
" We need to kill it , before it can regenerate itself ! " The Sword Hero charged at the Chimera with the Spear Hero following behind him .
Mein racked her brain for some kind of plan and any info she could remember about Chimera's , they can't just attack it and hope to kill it before it can regenerate itself , they need to cut off its goat head ! That seems to the monster head that is giving the rest of the body its healing factor , if they cut it off than they might be able to cut off its self healing !
Mein moved quickly to tell Naofumi about her plan " Naofumi ! We need to - "
" Guys , look out ! " Before Mein could even finish her sentence , Naofumi moved in front of her and blocked a lightning attack with his shield . Mein was almost blinded by the bright light that came with the attack but the light quickly dissipated , Mein looked over Naofumi's shoulder to see that the attack came from the Chimera's dragon head .
A lightning dragon . Just perfect .
Naofumi was breathing heavily from having to block such a powerful attack , luckily he didn't seem to be injured , Naofumi turned his head to her " Are you okay Mein ?"
" I should be asking you that ! " Mein does a quick check on the left corner of her HUD to see Naofumi's health hasn't gone down much.
Naofumi weakly smiled at her still panting " Don't worry Mein ... I'm fine "
Mein wanted to persist but the sounds of fighting , made her realize that now was not the time to play romance novel . Now was the time to kill the Chimera !
" Naofumi , listen to me ! We need to cut off the goats head on the Chimera ! Its the only way to cut off its healing factor ! " Mein quickly gives Naofumi the extremely short version of her plan , as the three heroes still try in futility to kill the Chimera .
" Its healing factor , huh ...? The goats head did do that thing before its whole body glowed so ..." Naofumi seems to reach the same conclusion she did .
Mein turned back to the battle , the three heroes having to jump back as both the dragons head and the lion shoot out a bolt of lightning and fire at them .
" Damnit ! Everybody get back now ! " The Sword Hero yells at his party , jumping back in the nick of time before the flames could even touch him .
Naofumi ran to stand by the Sword Hero's side" Guys ! We need to cut off the goat head ! Its what's giving the Chimera its healing factor ! "
The Sword Hero turned to Naofumi with a puzzled expression " What ? The goat is what giving it OP healing powers ? But that's ..." The Sword Hero's eyes widened , the same look Naofumi had when he figured it out . The Sword Hero turned back to Naofumi with a serious expression " How are we going to get close enough to even chop it off ?"
" Leave that part to me ..." Naofumi changed back to his Iron Spiked Shield , holding a similar serious expression .
" Wait , what are you -"
Before Mein could ask Naofumi what he was going to do , he suddenly ran at the Chimera's side , much to surprise of everybody " Spike Bash ! " Naofumi yelled before slamming his spiky shield into the side of the Chimera causing its head to howl in pain , despite it doing almost no damage . The Chimera jumped back and if her eyes weren't deceiving her , all of the heads appeared to be glaring at Naofumi , getting ready to charge at him . The lion let out a roar before charging at him , like a raging bull.
Naofumi changed to his Light Metal Shield , preparing for the oncoming charge . The Chimera tried to attack Naofumi with its claws , but Naofumi stood firm holding his shield up and blocking the attack , but the Chimera wasn't finished there . The dragon's head twisted around and lightning was starting to form in its mouth , as fire started to come in from the lion's mouth.
Mein's body almost moved on its own , she had to help him , getting ready to use Windblast-
" Got you now ! Crimson Blade ! " Before Mein could attempt her risky move , the Sword Hero activated his fire based skill again and in one slash , he cut off the goats head entirely . Which in turn caused the whole Chimera to jump away from Naofumi , giving him the chance to jump back to safety .
" Kill it now !" Naofumi shouted , completely disregarding the fact that he just attempted an extremely risky move.
" Thunder Shot ! " The Bow Hero shot out a pure bolt of lightning from his Bow , hitting the Chimera square in its ugly faces .
" Flaming Thrust ! " The Spear Hero thrusted forward , launching powerful fire from the tip of his Spear , hitting the Chimera and causing the burning status alignment to it.
" I got this ! Meteor Slash ! " The Sword Hero slashed his blade forward , and released some kind of powerful blue magic energy from his blade .
With that final attack , the Chimera's health completely dropped to empty and fell to the grass dead.
" Mein , look at the sky ! " Naofumi pointed upwards at the sky , Mein looked up and saw the waves glowed before disappearing , the blood red sky returning to its sea blue color . Mein took a deep breath and sighed , sheathing her blade .
The Wave was finally over.
Aultcray's POV
Aultcray had to be honest- He was expecting tougher from the Wave.
He had heard the stories as a child , scared by all the terrifying monsters and death that came with the Wave-
Perhaps it was his years at war that made him so desensitized to this.
" Arcane Shot !" The Seven Star Staff grew brightly as it shot a beam of pure arcane energy straight through a crowd of skeletons, obliterating them.
Aultcray grunted in annoyance as he easily dodged an axe attack from a golem , before pointing his staff at it " Drifa Thunderbolt "
Simple words of power , but enough for a bolt of lightning made of mana to strike clean through the golem , as if its armor was made of parchment.
Aultcray looked back at his men , they were more than capable of handling the pathetic monsters of the wave. Posing little to no threat.
He almost hadn't noticed it when the blood red sky of the waves turned back to its blue color.
" Huh..." Aultcray said as he took out his pocket watch. A gift when he was younger and still lived somewhat happily in Faubley.
" Aultcray , the waves have finally been stopped , I'm ordering the men to start cleaning up the remaining wavespawn " Biscas said as he approached him , no longer dressed in his usual religious robes. But instead adorned in the armor of a knight , wielding a sword.
Aultcray didn't answer him as Biscas got closer.
" What is it ? " Biscas asked.
" It took them longer to end the wave than I thought it would..." Aultcray said as he put his watch back in his pocket " Looks like we got our work cut out for us my old friend..."
" Of course , we do..." Biscas said with a tired smirk.
Well...now you all know why I asked for you all to excuse my lack of knowledge in medical stuff.
I'm going to be frank with you all...this chapter was intense as shit. And got even more brutal with the fact that Raphtalia literally lost her arm , which was a suggestion that was made by Qin.
Originally, Raphtalia was only supposed to receive a slash to the stomach after pushing Malty out of the way...but Qin rightly pointed out that it felt too weak of an injury. Considering the fact that she is only level 2, literally 10 years old and not armored in anyway...yeah , even if we go by the wound she received in my original draft she should be dead from internal bleeding alone if not get cut in half by a single slash and have all her intestines flay out.
And I also went this route of Raphtalia losing her arm since if it was just an injury that Raphtalia was going to immediately recover from with no adverse side effects or lasting consequences than it might as well not be there.
I really wanted to show the consequences of Naofumi's crew not being level sufficient...and I think I got what I was going for here.
Next chapter we'll be seeing how Raphtalia handles the fact of having one less limb.
For now , let's answer some reviews shall we ?
To OechsnerC :
Thanks ! Glad you're enjoying the chapter.
To Matt Rogan :
Yeah...that was nothing short of the universes irony on both of our parts.
XD
To lord Martiya :
Ake is definitely a lot smarter than Malty gives him credit for...and I think you'll be enjoying the plans I have in store for him.
:P
Thanks for reading and I will see you all in the next one.
Angel Out.