The Wrath of the Iron Fans
Alright, so some mixed reviews on last chapter, but that's okay. Now onto the reviews: To my faithful guest DCDGojira: Will Darius copy Glass's fans, you'll find the answer to that in this chapter, so just read on. Also, for those curious about the sudden update, you'll find the explanation at the author's notes at the end.
The Third Wave: Aboard the Boss Ghost Ship
Today was one of those days where Darius tended to count the good news against the bad news. In this case, the good news was that the bosses, a pair of Dimensional Soul Eaters, had been defeated. The bad news, however, was that it took almost everything they had just to beat the first one, while the second one was defeated in a single attack by a raven-haired woman in a blue kimono. The reason this turn of events wasn't good news was that said iron-fan-wielding woman, who'd introduced herself as Glass, had declared herself an enemy.
Now here he stood with the other four heroes and their parties trying to figure out what they could do against someone who could down a boss in one blow. 'I can't get a good read on her Stats,' the Armory Hero noted as he saw mostly static on his HUD, save for her weapons. "Why are you hesitating to attack Sir Naofumi and Darius?" Questioned Glass, "Do you wish for your servants to strike first?"
"What did you say?!" Questioned Ren angrily as he and the other three heroes stepped forward.
"Are you actually insinuating that we're-," Itsuki started to say while Motoyasu stepped in and completed his sentence.
"Those guy's servants! FUCK YOU!" They all yelled before charging in with their weapons raised, building up energy for their strongest attacks. The hero's party members also moved in, quickly surrounding Glass to prevent her escape. But the woman didn't even budge as the cardinal heroes unleashed their skills. "Meteor Thrust! Meteor Slash! And Meteor Shot!" Darius and Naofumi had to shield their eyes from the light as all three attacks hit their target dead on.
But when they looked again, there stood Glass acting almost as if nothing had even happened. "Is that really the best you've got?" Questioned the raven-haired woman as she opened her fans and held them out on each side. "Zero-stance Rondo: Reverse Four Seasons." Yellow light enveloped her body as she swung her fans multiple times, creating gold blades of energy which knocked away not only the three heroes but their party members as well, flinging them all over the deck of the ship and rendering them more or less incapacitated. "Just as I said, merely servants."
"Yeah their names are Lee, Roy, and Jenkins," quipped Darius, mostly to hide his own fear as he and Naofumi quickly downed some mana potions, "And if they actually did work for us, I at least would've fired them a long time ago."
"Well either way," said Glass, "I do hope the two of you will provide a bit more entertainment."
"Entertaining's not really my strong suit," said Naofumi with a shrug before quickly raising his shield, "Shield prison!" The green orb of shields and chains quickly formed around Glass and was just as quickly destroyed with a swing of her fan. But this wasn't meant to hold her, only create an opening for Rifana, Raphtalia, Filo and Johann to strike. Their opponent was just as quick as she was strong, however, as she blocked and batted away Rifana and Raphtalia's strikes at the same time before swinging her right fan and knocking Filo off course of her attack.
Glass then used her left fan to fend off Johann's tail whip. "Venom chain!" called Darius as several portals opened around glass, allowing chains with scorpion tails to wrap around and pierce into the woman's body. Naofumi also produced the heads of three large cobras from his shield who bit into the fan wielder's head, shoulder and arm. "I hope you weren't expecting this to work terribly well," said Glass, very much unaffected by the mass of venom.
"Then lightning and Crimson chains!" called Darius as half of the bindings charged with electricity while the other half caught fire.
"Filo, Johann," ordered Naofumi. The two mounts added their own attacks as Johann shot a stream of blue flame while Filo fired one of her fast tornadoes.
"All of this heat and yet it's still too cold," chided Glass before she burst out of the maelstrom of attacks with a massive wind, breaking not only the chains but canceling out all of the attacks as well. Raphtalia and Rifana moved in from behind her then, but Glass simply blocked the strikes by holding her fans behind her. With a simple swift movement of each arm she broke their weapons in half forcing them to retreat as they stared at the state of their fighting implements in shock.
"Lightning charge, High quick!" Johann and Filo yelled as they rushed in with their respective attacks. Just as before, however, Glass quickly blocked all of Filo's kicks with one fan before holding out her other fan to cancel out Johann's charge.
"I do believe it's my turn now," said Glass as she jabbed both mounts with her weapons. The blows hardly seemed to hit them, yet the force was enough to send both of them flying to the back of the ship. "Now, Zero Stance Rondo: Reverse Four Seasons."
"Everyone behind us now!" Ordered Naofumi as he and Darius quickly encased everyone in an extra-large shield prison. As Glass's yellow energy slashes impacted against the shell the Armory Hero's replica broke, causing his own layer of shields to fall. The Shield Hero's was next, coming apart just as the barrage ended. Despite surviving the attack it clearly had an effect as most of their party members collapsed to the ground.
"I'm impressed to see some of you still on your feet after that barrage," noted Glass. "But I must ask, do you intend to use that flaming shield of yours or not?" She was clearly talking to Naofumi on this one. The Shield Hero looked unsure for a moment, but the decision was made for him as Darius put a hand on his weapon and stepped forward.
"You've already risked enough using it once," said The Armory Hero as he stood in front of his friend.
"Darius, I've got more control of it now," said Naofumi, "I should be able to-."
"Need I remind you that I've got a curse series too," said Darius as he sent his ax back to his inventory and crossed his arms in front of him, "besides, she's already seen the rage shield, so it's best we strike with something she's not expecting. Try to remember we're both heroes here." Naofumi clearly wasn't happy with this idea, but a hand on his shoulder from Rifana got him to back off.
"And what manner of weapon do you wield?" Questioned Glass, "I saw the ax yet you wield chains as well."
"I suppose I should give you my full title," he replied, "I'm Darius Saxon the Armory Hero: he who wields many weapons including these, the bands of Greed and Sloth!" As he said this, lightning suddenly erupted from his wrists as the jewels turned black and the bands themselves changed shape into gauntleted gloves, with his left turning dark green and forming the symbol of a turtle while his right turned gold and formed the symbol of a crow. At the same time, his mask also activated and covered his entire face and much of his head like a helmet, sprouting a small pair of antler-like horns to complete the change.
"A fascinating transformation," said Glass, "But what does it have to offer?"
"The power to take what I want," answered Darius, his voice now distorted from the mask, "And what I want right now, is your LIFE!" Several portals opened above and around Glass then, all sporting gold weapons. The cardinal hero raised his right hand as he called out the name of his new attack. "Greed Series: Reign of Gold." He snapped his fingers then, causing all of the assembled weapons to fire and impact on the area where Glass was standing, kicking up a mass of debris with the numerous blasts.
"Now this is more like it," said the raven-haired woman as she blew away the cloud of dust with a wave of her fan, "have you anything mor-?" She didn't quite finish her sentence as seven Armory Heroes were suddenly attacking her from all sides, each wielding a different weapon.
"Sloth Series Multi-Skill: Dance of the Phantom Monk, along with High Quick!" declared Darius as he shot forward like a bullet, swinging a pair of gold sabers with black blades. The other illusions followed suit, either attacking or bouncing around the ship like pinballs at high speed, forcing their enemy to use both fans to block from numerous directions. 'I'm actually doing it,' thought the Armory Hero for a moment as he rushed in and out then back again, slashing ferociously at his opponent, 'I might actually be approaching Fitoria's speed.'
His excitement wasn't deterred even when Glass's fans actually managed to break his swords as he simply switched to a spear, then a war hammer, a rapier, twin axes, a chained flail, then finally a pair of daggers. "Excellent technique," said the fan wielder as she continued to block his attacks from every angle, "but you still lack force!" She emphasized her point by swinging her fans in the direction he was coming from next, creating an air blast which destroyed his illusions and slowed him down significantly while also causing him to lose his daggers. "Now try to stop this," Glass closed and raised her left fan before bringing it down towards Darius's head.
Time seemed to slow as the weapon approached its target until, amazingly, it was stopped by a pair of identical iron fans. "Whew, took longer than usual, but now I've got my own." He said as he forced her fan back up before swiping at his opponent a few times with the same strikes she'd used earlier. Glass clearly had no knowledge of his Replica ability as the woman actually jumped back to avoid one of his swings, landing a short distance away. "Go ahead, I know you want to say it."
"Say what exactly?" Questioned Glass as she recomposed herself.
"Simple, your next line is: where did you learn that style?" Remarked Darius as he fanned himself with one of the replica weapons while still holding a fighting stance.
"Very well," said Glass with a sigh, "where did you learn that style?"
"By watching you of course," replied the Armory Hero as he took the zero stance next, "same place I learned this: Reverse Four Seasons!" His version of the attack used white energy blades which Glass fended off with her fans as he continued to strike, increasing in speed and ferocity until he was raining down attacks like a madman, and he sounded like it too. "WRYYYYYYYYYYY!"
"I will not allow this mockery!" declared Glass as she swung her fans and created a much larger energy slash which canceled out the remaining slashes coming at her. She then closed her fans and produced a purple blade from her left fan and pointed it at the Armory Hero. Darius followed suit, using a white energy version as both lined up their attacks with one arm while using the other arm to hold one fan over the other. "Rupture-Stance Rondo: Tortoise Shell Cracker!"
The two attacks launched forwards like ballistae, slamming into each other halfway to their targets. Despite the near perfect imitation, however, Darius's wasn't as powerful as the original and only succeeded in slowing the attack down. He managed to raise his replica fans at the last moment to block the purple blade, but the impact went through the fans, destroying them and the glove sections of his gauntlets. "Now then, stop holding back and show me the ace up your sleeve, I know you must have at least one left."
"Well since you're insisting," said Darius as he resummoned Raisetsu, which now had added gold features, "Come forth, Greed Series: Gold Cauldron!" Much like Naofumi's iron maiden, a storm-like portal opened above Glass, allowing a massive cauldron through which tipped forward and poured liquid gold onto his target. The heat was intense enough that sections of the ship caught fire. "Now be eternally slothful as a statue of gold!" He unleashed Raisetsu's lightning blizzard then, it's power augmented by the Sloth series, and cooled the gold while also conducting a mass of lightning into his target.
The Armory Hero then collapsed to one knee as his bands returned to normal and his mask retreated. "Did you get her?" Questioned Naofumi as he stepped forward a bit to inspect the scene.
"It's far less potent than I expected for such a flashy attack," said a voice from within the gold. In the next instant, red energy erupted from the statue as it exploded, revealing a relatively unharmed Glass who strode forward, still wearing her same confident smile.
"She's still standing after all that," said the Shield Hero, voicing the thought on everyone's mind. 'This is bad,' thought Darius as he struggled to his feet, 'that was my best combo attack right there and she just shrugged it off. Is there really no way to fight her?' His attention was drawn to a corner in his HUD then as he noticed a timer was counting down, and it was nearly out.
The next surprise came when the boat suddenly shifted and began losing altitude. "Blast, I didn't expect the time to run out so quickly," commented Glass as she moved to regain her balance.
"Darius," said Naofumi as an idea began to form in his head, "we're gonna use the secret technique of the cardinal hero."
"I suppose we got no other options," replied Darius as the Shield Hero signaled his intentions to Raphtalia.
"I'm afraid none of your plans shall succeed," said Glass as she resumed her fighting stance, "this battle shall end in victory for us, no other outcome is acceptable. Please know that I have nothing against you personally, but this is simply the way it is."
"Now Raphtalia!" ordered Naofumi. The raccoon girl quickly cast fast light, temporarily blinding their enemy as the Shield Hero turned and cast fast heal on Filo and Johann. The two mounts woke up just in time for their respective party members to clamber onto them.
"NIGERUNDAYO!" yelled Darius, hardly believing his life was being saved by a Jojo reference, but it was all the signal the mounts needed to take off from either side of the ship. Glass was clearly not expecting this tactic and was too slow to follow after them as they quickly put distance between them and the ship. 'At least she can't fly after us,' thought the Armory Hero before kicking himself for jinxing it. She might not be able to fly, but she did have ranged attacks.
"Incoming!" yelled Rifana as a number of purple blades flew at them while another group flew towards Naofumi's. Johann quickly climbed higher into the air while also rolling and jerking from side to side, narrowly avoiding the barrage. Darius then switched positions with his partner, forming a replica legendary spear as one final energy blade flew towards him.
"Meteor Thrust!" yelled the Armory Hero as he threw the weapon at the oncoming projectile. The two collided in the air, with the replica spear breaking and disappearing in the process of diverting the energy blade which fell down and destroyed part of the canyon below. Naofumi seemed to have similar luck escaping as Darius looked and managed to find their indicators on his HUD. Now that he had a moment to spare, he noted that the timer had run out. And just as it did the sky returned to normal. The wave was apparently over.
"The monster portals are gone," noted Rifana as Johann turned around and slowly circled back towards the ghost ship. What ever had been keeping it afloat ended once the timer ran out, causing it to crash land on the right side of the canyon.
"Hey Boss," said the sky dragon, "I think that fan lady hightailed it."
"But why would she do that?" Questioned Rifana, "does it have something to do with the wave suddenly ending?"
"More than likely," said Darius, "she was about to get serious when that timer appeared on me and Naofumi's HUDs. It's possible she's only able to fight us while a wave is in full swing, meaning once the timer runs out, so does her own time."
"But why did she want to fight us in the first place," questioned the weasel girl, "I thought the waves of catastrophe only brought monsters, but she looked and smelled human to me, not to mention the way she took out the boss like it was her enemy too."
"Who knows," said the Armory Hero, "but we're gonna need to get stronger by leaps and bounds before we face her again, and I've got a feeling she'll be showing up with the next wave." Rifana and Johann silently agreed as they flew back to check on the other three heroes and their parties. Naofumi arrived shortly after with some help from the village as well as the good news that Rino, Rishia and the rest of her group had all survived with only some minor injuries to report.
The two cardinal heroes also managed to locate and absorb some material from the body of the first downed soul eater before heading back to the village with everyone else. Though it quickly became apparent that Darius was a lot slower than usual. This made him unable to help out much as he was forced to sit down and chug mana and health potions that Naofumi was enhancing while the rest of their parties went about helping the village get back in order. "I guess having the curse series doesn't completely nullify the strain on your body from using a move beyond your level," noted the Shield Hero as he handed his comrade a second enhanced health potion.
"It's one of the weaknesses of the Imitator ability," explained Darius, "I can almost perfectly replicate a weapon or combat maneuver move for move, but if it requires speed or strength beyond my limit then it strains my body. Add on to that the aftereffect of the Sloth series, which seems to halve the recharge rate on all my ability, health and mana gauges and you've got one slow moving Armory Hero."
"I guess we should count ourselves lucky we haven't had to use them much up to this point," said Naofumi as he tossed him a mana potion next, "the rage shield is tough to control which may be its drawback. What about your Greed series?"
"It seems to cause decay to items of value," replied Darius as he held up Raisetsu, "I noticed a bit of decay in the blade when I looked at the stats again. Luckily the evil alchemist who created this thing also gave it an auto repair function, so for now all it needs is time to fix itself and I'll be able to wield it again. But, it's highly likely that if we overuse the curse series then even worse drawbacks will occur."
"Well that doesn't change much at the moment," said Naofumi, "we already agreed to only use them as last resorts, but we won't be able to get much stronger right now without getting class upgrades."
"I take it you've got something worked out for that," said Darius as he handed the vial he was drinking from back to Naofumi.
"Each country has a dragon hourglass," said the Shield Hero, "since his royal hind end has banned us from using the one in the church in Melromarc our next best bet is to head out to another country."
"Any places worthy of no-oh gosh it's this guy," said Darius as the lead guard from Rino's party came walking up with the pain in the neck mustached captain of the King's guard.
"I apologize for interrupting sir heroes," said the young guard, "but you see-." The captain stepped forward then.
"You have both been summoned by his royal highness," said the Captain, "immediately."
"Huuuuuh," groaned both cardinal heroes with an 'are you serious' look on their faces.
Castle of the Queen and King of Melromarc: Throne Room
There were a list of places both Darius and Naofumi did not want to be at any given time, and inside the royal castle in the presence of King Aultcray was right there at the top. Currently, there was a crystal ball playing a recording of the battle of the last wave, specifically the instances of both heroes using their respective curse series abilities. As soon as it ended, the king cleared his throat and was the first to speak. "After watching these events transpire, even I must say it is impressive how you both quelled the most recent wave, loathe as I am to admit it."
"Just doing our jobs," said Darius, "whether you like it or not by the looks of it."
"Just do us both a favor and cut to the chase," said Naofumi, "why'd you call us here?"
"I require you two to answer a question for me," replied the King, "how exactly did you both come to possess so much strength? Such powers as those are unbecoming of a cardinal hero, so I'm giving you both a chance to fulfill your duty as heroes by revealing the secret to me. And it goes without saying, but do not even think of lying."
"Just possessing power isn't a crime," said Darius, "and the only thing unbecoming here is a king throwing around authority which doesn't even belong to him."
"What did you say?" Said Aultcray with a hint of anger and slight bewilderment on his face.
"You heard me," said the Armory Hero, "you're only in charge right now because the Queen's away. And she left you with one job and one order, look after the kingdom and don't give the Shield Hero a hard time. For whatever reason, you took that to mean let the three heroes church attempt to summon only three out of the four heroes and when that failed, summon all four heroes and proceed to harass Naofumi, the Shield Hero, despite him being guilty of nothing."
"Are you accusing me of abusing my authority?!" Sneered the King angrily, "everything I have done up to this point has been to insure the safety of Melromarc, and I will not have some lowly pretender question me!"
"But the queen is the one questioning," said Darius as he held up the letter he'd received from the Queen's shadow a few days ago. Funnily enough, Rifana had discovered he'd dropped it after their 'little adventure' in Koteraan's castle. He'd read it to Naofumi on the way to the castle and it had revealed some interesting details. "Because according to this letter from her highness, the four heroes were all supposed to be summoned in four separate countries to insure they all had some sort of defense against the waves. Which means you've overstepped your authority at least twice by using the summoning ritual and more than likely aren't meant to be in charge of either of us, so that means we don't need to say a single word in answer to you."
"But there is something you can do if you really want us to answer," Said Naofumi as he pointed at the floor in front of him, "step forward and kneel." A number of the gathered guards actually gasped at such an audacious request, demanding a king kneel before them. But the Shield Hero wasn't done. "You see in my world, when someone needs something badly they grovel before the one who has it and say 'please enlighten my ignorant self, kind sir.'"
"INSOLENT CURS!" raged the King as his anger finally came to a boil. His reaction also spurred the other guards into action as they all drew their swords and surrounded the two heroes.
"I wouldn't advise that," said Darius as he conjured a replica of Ren's transformed curved blade sword and rested it on his shoulder.
"You think you can threaten us now," Said Naofumi, "but the truth is the two of us could kill you and every guard in this castle before strolling on out the door on our merry way."
"Don't think I'll fall for such a childish bluff!" The King shot back. Naofumi reacted by simply summoning his viper shield while Darius's replica sword began to crackle with electricity.
"If anyone here really wants to test that theory then bring it on," said Darius as he moved his replica weapon to a half ready position, "just remember that one of us took out the wave's boss while the other held their own against an opponent even stronger than that." This seemed to give the guards pause as a number of them even began to tremble at the implication of facing two people that strong.
"Looks like there are no takers this time," said Naofumi before his eyes turned back to the king, "even despite the Shit you've put us through, we're still willing to cooperate until the waves are done. After that, we're bailing out of both this land and this world."
"Y-you would both disrespect the King of Melromarc this way," said Aultcray as the two heroes turned and started walking out.
"A king who's doing such a bad job that his wife sent over their youngest daughter to scold him isn't worthy of much respect," Darius called back with a wave.
"Don't think you can squeeze out of this so easily," said the King, "If I can't punish you two, then those slaves of yours shall be punished instead-CRASH!" The monarch was silenced as the Armory Hero whirled around, changing his weapon into a replica airstrike javelin and throwing it all in the same movement. The spear impacted to the top right of the King's head, utterly destroying that part of his thrown while the blast itself knocked the crown from his head. For a brief instant, Aultcray wasn't sure if he was alive or dead until he heard his heart beating at an incredible pace.
"I ended the month by ousting a king, maybe I should start this one the same way!" Darius nearly shouted as he unconsciously summoned his mask to his face, creating a fearsome visage. Naofumi was shooting an equally venomous glare in the monarch's direction, causing the blood in his veins to run as cold as ice. "If you so much as utter an idiotic threat like that again, Naofumi and I will not only end you but we'll hunt down and eviscerate that red-headed bitch you call a daughter!"
The Armory Hero turned and exited the room then while the Shield Hero stayed behind to leave one last word for Aultcray. "We can take everything from you now, but you will never take anything from us ever again." He exited the room with the King cursing the both of them.
"Well I think that went quite well actually," quipped Darius as the two of them walked down the stairs. Naofumi didn't answer, though, as he seemed to be lost in thought. In fact he was so lost in thought that he almost didn't notice a brown-haired girl in a pink dress walking up the stairs.
"You two did exceptionally well this time around," said the woman suddenly as she passed them and stopped on the staircase, "I daresay a little too well. In fact it's likely your accomplishments have garnered the attention of certain powers who can no longer ignore how powerful you've both become or the interference you've been causing."
"You mean like the Three Heroes Church," Darius said, having a slight idea what this might be about.
"Very astute," said the woman as she held up one of the religious order's pendants, "You likely know better than most, Sir Armory Hero, that while they appear virtuous on the surface they are cunning and conniving underneath. I daresay it would be wise to exercise a great bit of caution moving forward." Before either of them could question her further, the woman continued up the stairs and out of sight.
"Who was that?" Questioned a confused Shield Hero.
"Likely one of those 'shadows' who've been following us around the whole time," said Darius, "And she's right. It was a member of the Three Heroes Church who released that Leshen in Koteraan, and since that didn't work they're likely to try something else very soon now that we're waiting for the next wave."
"Wonderful, yet another problem to deal with," said Naofumi as the two resumed descending the stairs, "all the more reason for us to get out of here as fast as we can."
Erhard's Shop: A Short Time Later
"You two are unbelievable you know that," laughed the Shop Owner, "I'm probably talking to the only two people in the entire kingdom who can threaten his majesty twice and live to tell about it."
"Just to make sure the facts are straight, the king was the one picking a fight with us," said Naofumi.
"I just hope those thrones aren't too expensive to replace," said Darius, "It was kind of a spur of the moment decision to blast off a chunk of it." Whether or not this was funny, the Armory Hero didn't know but Rifana and Raphtalia both got a laugh out of it.
"Well fortunately for you both I've got all you need right here," said Erhard, "except for those class upgrades. Based on what you've told me, it's pretty unlikely they'll let you use one here."
"We were thinking of heading over to either Siltvelt or Shieldfreeden actually," said Darius.
"What about Koteraan?" Questioned Raphtalia, "Wouldn't they have a dragon's hourglass as well?"
"Oh, uh, as much reorganizing as the country's going through right now it's likely that no one even knows where it is right now," said Rifana surprisingly quickly, "besides we spent so much time there it'd be nice to visit some place new."
"Well if you're looking for recommendations, I'd go for Shieldfreeden," said Erhard as he unrolled a map on the counter.
"If what I heard from the slave merchant is true, that's a country of demi-humans," said Naofumi, "but it's surprisingly welcoming to humans as well."
"Certainly more welcoming than Siltvelt," affirmed Erhard, "some of them get pretty extreme about demi-human superiority over there."
"So does all of this mean we're going on another trip?" Questioned Filo to which Naofumi nodded in affirmation. "Yay! We're going on another trip!"
"Ordinarily it would take close to a month to get there," said Erhard, having to talk over Filo as she hopped up and down cheering, "but with her you'll probably make it there sooner than that."
"Heh, if it was just me I'd get us there in about a week's time," commented Johann with his arms crossed.
"Yeah but you can't pull a wagon," laughed Filo with her hands on her hips.
"I don't want to hear that coming from a flightless bird," Johann shot back as he and Filo both glared at each other.
"I can jump more than high enough to make up for that, can you jump around?" Asked the Filolial as the two began bickering once again.
"I'll get some essentials ready for your trip," said the Shop Owner, having to speak even louder over the arguing mounts.
"Oh, could you throw in a couple of new weapons for Raphtalia and Rifana," said Naofumi, despite his companion protesting that they both had spare weapons and that they should be saving money. In the end, fortunately, Erhard was able to make a deal that worked out for all of them.
On the Road to Shieldfreeden
Given the amount of time the journey was gonna take, the group had pretty much needed to leave immediately. "It's been awhile since we've all been able to travel together like this," said Rifana happily as they soared above Filo's wagon.
"I'm just glad Erhard's an organized guy," said Darius, "we'd probably just now be exiting the city if we'd had to pack everything ourselves. By the way, what do you think of the new weapons?"
"Well the mace is about the same as ever," replied Rifana, "though the balance is a little better and I can tell the magic iron is a bit tougher than the last one. As for the mana warhammer, well, it just feels a little weird carrying a handle around on my waist." The reason behind this, according to a little letter Erhard had left in one of their sacks, was because it used mana to create the weapon itself to battle foes with no physical body. Raphtalia had also gotten a mana sword which was also just a sword handle until mana was put through it.
Filo had also gotten a pair of white and blue gloves which would grant her the strength of a hundred men while also augmenting Johann's gauntlets and greaves to have a similar effect. As for Naofumi, he got a shield accessory which would allow him to scan other shields to see what they were made of, among other uses, while Darius was gifted a new jewel for his belt which not only stored extra mana but increased the auto repair ability in his other armors and weapons. All in all, they were at least prepared for a little more trouble than before. Though there was still the problem of the awkward air between Darius and Rifana, which the others were starting to pick up on. It was easy enough to deny at first but the longer they traveled the more obvious it became.
By the time of their second or third stop on the road to rest, Raphtalia and Naofumi had figured out something was going on which made for an uncomfortable silence around the cooking fire. Filo and Johann were fortunately oblivious to it as the dragon boy reveled in the fact that he didn't have to wait on his hot beverage to cool before drinking it, while Filo had to blow on hers to keep it from burning her tongue. "You know, of the few things I've found to enjoy in this world traveling would have to be at the top of my list," said Naofumi, surprising everyone by being the first to speak, "we don't have to deal with royalty or the other heroes. It honestly feels like we're free in a way, not tied down by anyone."
"Speaking of traveling," said Raphtalia as she sipped at her own drink, "what was Kot-?"
"FOUND YOU AT LAST!" yelled a familiar voice as everyone turned to see a carriage approaching, surrounded by half a dozen guards on horseback. Everyone's suspicions about the occupant of said carriage were confirmed when a smiling Melty poked her head out of the side to wave at them.
"It's Melty!" cheered Filo as she and Johann jumped up and down while waving, "over here Mel!"
"Filo," chided Naofumi before being stopped by Darius putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's at least see what she wants first," said the Armory Hero as he stood up, "besides, I've been meaning to ask her about something." The Shield Hero clearly wanted to say no, but a bit of begging from Filo and a pleading gaze from Raphtalia finally made him give in as he also stood up. Though he still had an annoyed look on his face.
"Sir Shield and Armory Hero," said Melty as she exited the wagon and approached them, "I have a request for the both of you."
"Answer one question for me first, and we'll hear you out," said Darius, "did the relief supplies I ask for ever make it to Koteraan?"
"Indeed they did Sir Hero," replied Melty as she indicated herself, "I saw to the delivery personally. From what I understand a cardinal hero overthrew the Revolutionary leader who ousted the last king. The country is currently in the process of selecting its new ruler and distributing funds for rebuilding. As for the people, well, according to a rather insightful woman they are happier now than they were when she first entered the country."
"Wonderful news," said Darius, "and thank you for your help in the relief efforts."
"You are most welcome Sir Armory Hero," said Melty with a curtsy, "though the woman also had a message for you: 'I look forward to our next semi-private lesson.' Do you know what that means?"
"Oh, no big deal," said Darius as he rubbed the back of his head while laughing nervously, "she was my weapon instructor is all so we did a lot of lessons together and whatnot."
"I'm more curious as to when you arranged to have relief supplies sent from Melromarc," said Naofumi, "was that about the same time that you accepted the letter from the shadow?"
"Pretty much," said Darius, "and I also promised to hear her out in exchange for her help, and that I'd convince you to listen too."
"Are you kidding me right now?" Questioned Naofumi with more than a little annoyance, "You can't just go behind my back like-."
"I'm not asking you to go along with her request or even to agree with it," said Darius as he held his hands up defensively, "just listen for a few minutes to what she has to say is all I ask. Who knows, it might be a rather simple request and-."
"I'd like you both to return to the royal capital to speak with King Aultcray again," said Melty.
"Fuck that," both heroes said at the same time, causing the crown princess to step back in confusion.
"Sorry, reflex," said Darius, "pray tell why do you want us to speak to the king?"
"I would like you both to apologize for your previous conduct and reconcile with his majes-," Melty started to say before being cut off.
"He can eat a dick," both heroes said again with their arms crossed and their heads turned to the side. Melty was even more flustered by this reaction but somehow managed to keep her cool as she continued.
"Please, we need your help against the waves," said Melty, "and besides, you'd all be lost without the King's financial support." Darius actually burst out laughing at this statement.
"What financial support," asked Naofumi with a mocking smirk on his face?
"No wait, I think I know," said the Armory Hero as he made a show of rummaging through one of his belt pouches before bringing his hand up flipping the bird. "Oh here it is, the middle finger he's been giving you and the rest of us since this whole mess started!"
"There you have it," said the Shield Hero, "If anyone's being generous it's us. We're the ones graciously giving our help to you guys, at least until the waves are over and done with." The young princess looked beyond aggravated now as she clenched her fists in frustration.
"Master Naofumi, Darius," scolded Raphtalia, clearly displeased with their dismissive behavior.
"Look Naofumi's doing this because she's royalty," said Darius, "I just can't agree with such an unreasonable request when I already know how it's gonna go."
"AND THAT'S WHAT'S SO RIDICULOUS ABOUT IT!" yelled Melty as she began flailing her arms like a regular girl throwing a tantrum. "I don't understand why you two and my father insist on acting this way! A king can't be at odds with the heroes, they just can't! Filo, you and Raphtalia agree this is ridiculous don't you, and what about you Rifana, Johann?"
"Well I'm actually Naofumi's sword, so I can't really-," the raccoon girl said sheepishly.
"I'm not getting in the middle of this," said Rifana with her arms crossed.
"There you see, even they agree with me," said Melty.
"I'm pretty sure none of them agreed with you at all," commented Naofumi.
"Just please apologize to father, this one time, or mother will yell at him when she returns!" exclaimed Melty. 'Okay, I can see more of the family resemblance now,' thought Darius with a sigh as both he and Naofumi were tuning the angry princess out at this point, 'she obviously got her dad's temper. And I wonder if she realizes she's giving us more incentive not to apologize by telling us how her mother will yell at him when she gets back.' The Armory Hero had to keep from smirking at that thought until he noticed something a bit off when he looked at the guards gathered around the carriage.
For some reason, none of them had stepped forward to stay by Melty like a guard would normally do, which wasn't so strange if she'd ordered them to stay back. But why did the guard standing in the center have a crystal ball out? As entertaining as this little show was there was no real reason to recor-shit! Realization hit both heroes at about the same time as one of the guards drew their sword while running forward and swung at their target, Melty Melromarc.
And thus the plot thickens as one of the powers behind the scenes makes their move. Hello everyone, hope you enjoyed this latest chapter and as always feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. For those wondering about the sudden update, I nearly forgot to give a shout out to the reader who suggested the idea for the 'Reign of Gold' attack, which I also used in a previous chapter in Darius's dream sequence, so thanks again for the input. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes find themselves on the run from both the royal guard and the other three heroes. 'Til then.