Armory of the Forgotten Hero

by Masked Spider

The legend goes that there are four cardinal heroes. But fact and fable are often twisted in the land of Melromarc, while others are left out completely. One such fact is that there is actually another hero, the Armory hero, who doesn't wield a primary weapon. But the world will soon remember as Darius Saxon is called to remind the people that there aren't four heroes, but five.

42. Intelligent Fools

Intelligent Fools

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero! This week we'll be diving a little deeper into the purpose of the familiars as well as expanding on a couple of other mysteries. And though it may be a bit shorter than the last few, don't worry, this is likely the last of the slower chapters as things are gonna be picking up real quick. But I'll let you be the judge of that. And to answer the observation of RandomGuest's review, it was Rifana's tail that threw me off as it looked more like a cat's tail than a weasel's. Now then with that question out of the way, let's dive on in!

Siltvelt: Village at the Foot of a Mountain

"Did you just say sasquatch type," questioned Rifana as the ape-like monster rumbled towards them, "what in the world kind of monster even is that?"

"Tell ya in a minute," replied the Armory Hero as he summoned his blue lightning bow, now upgraded and with yellow markings in place of it silver ones, "for now, sink one or both of its feet!"

"On it," said Rifana as she put her hand to the ground with yellow magic energy emanating from her palm. The Sasquatch monster was in a full charge now as it beared down on them before suddenly halting as its whole right leg went into the soft spot on the ground Rifana had created.

"Izumi, Melty," ordered Darius, "soak 'em with water magic before he gets out!" The two didn't need to be told twice as they conjured a powerful stream of water, the combined force of which was enough to not only waterlog the monster but also knock it out of the pit it was stuck in. "Johann, lightning breath!" The mount complied as he turned back into dragon form and unleashed his electrified attack at roughly the same time that Darius fired his charged arrows. The Sasquatch beast roared in pain as its body was fried by the lightning combo attack, the water working as a conductor to make it even more effective.

They hit it a couple more times with lightning before the monster stopped moving completely with much of its hair now charred from the electrical attacks. "Izumi, help me check it," said Darius, switching his bow to a polearm as the two of them moved towards the downed creature cautiously. The analysis on his HUD indicated that it was dead, but he wasn't about to take any chances if there was some sort of undead or resurrection magic involved. Thankfully, a minute of poking and prodding revealed that their foe was in fact dead or at least no longer a threat to them.

"I've never seen a type of monster quite like this," said Melty as the others approached cautiously, "do you recognize it, Izumi?"

"I do not," replied the Black-horned Girl, "it is definitely a monster that would be found in mountains and forests, but not around here."

"It read as a familiar," said Darius, "it probably came from the same source as the bats and might have something to do with what Naofumi was trying to tell us earlier. I'll try to contact him again and-CRAAAAAASH!" The sound of snapping branches and even a falling tree cut their conversation short as more monsters came out of the woods, ones much different from the first. Unlike the Sasquatch familiar, these creatures were closer to person-sized and resembled bestial half mountain goat and half man monsters.

''-'s Familiar: Satyr Type', read the Armory Hero's HUD. "Wow, those are the hairiest, ugliest satyrs I've ever seen," quipped the University Student as he swapped his current polearm out with a long mace.

"They don't look too pleased to see us either," said Rifana as she readied her own weapon, "but what else is new!" The group charged then, closing the distance the rest of the way as they met the leaping monsters head on, quite literally in some respects, and began to tear into them. Darius made wide two-handed swings with his weapon, knocking several of the monsters out of the air whenever they tried to jump at him. Izumi would take care of the ones he missed, usually by leaping over him and slicing into the necks and throats of their enemies with her naginata.

Johann and Melty also worked to limit the movements of the Satyrs with the Dragon Boy, now back in human form, leaping up to meet the monsters with kicks and claw attacks while Melty shot cutting streams of water at any that tried to flank them. Then it was up to Rifana to deal the finishing blow to several of them as she ran around slamming her mace into every downed Satyr she could find. It was a messy process involving horns, the occasional limb and blood flying everywhere. And while it took more than a couple minutes, eventually all of the hybrid creatures laid dead at their feet. "Well," said Melty while breathing heavily, "that was a bit different."

"I take it you don't recognize any of these monsters either," said Darius between breaths as he turned to Izumi.

"We have goat monsters in the mountains," replied Izumi while recomposing herself, "but no satyrs like these. Wherever they're coming from, it's not from around here."

"Well let's move in and check out the village," decided the Armory Hero, "maybe we'll find some answers there. Which reminds me." He opened up the message feature in his HUD and selected Naofumi.

"Darius, everything alright," said the Shield Hero as his face reappeared in the upper right of his vision.

"We just had to deal with a Sasquatch and some Satyrs," replied the Armory Hero, "how about you guys?"

"Raphtalia and Éclair took out some Yeti monsters with tortoise shells on their backs," replied Naofumi, "I'm guessing your monsters read as familiars too?"

"Yeah, but for whatever reason the analysis can't determine what or who they're familiars of," said Darius, "have you got any leads?"

"We've figured out where the new monsters are coming from," answered the Shield Hero, "when I said those bats were carriers earlier, I meant egg carriers. They've been attacking countless monsters and implanting them with strange purple objects. It appears to feed on the monsters until they die and then incubates in the corpse before hatching and bursting out as another familiar."

"That does explain why the new monsters all have that tortoise shell feature on their back," said Darius as he glanced over towards the monsters they'd recently slain, noting said shell on all of their backs. "Though that raises a question: what happens when those bats attack and attach one of those eggs to a person?"

"Very likely the same thing," said Naofumi, "I just pulled one off of Kiel and even despite healing him with magic he's pretty weak. Wherever you are right now, pass on the word to burn the monster corpses and that anyone who was injured in any way by the bats needs to get checked. If you do find somebody with one use medicine and forceps to remove it. That's been working so far."

"Can do," replied Darius as they entered the village, quickly noting everyone else was peering at them from their windows and doors. But the only ones out and about right now were a group of adventurers being led by a demi-human who looked more like a bipedal rhino with armor on.

"I saw all that out there," said the Rhino man, "you're a pretty formidable group of adventurers. Who are you exactly?" Izumi took the initiative and stepped forward.

"I am Izumi Yama of the Yama clan," she began before holding her hand out to indicate the rest of them, "and this is no ordinary party of adventurers. With me is the mighty Rifana, the great dragon Johann, our diplomatic envoy, Melty, and the Armory Hero himself, Darius Saxon."

"Armory Hero?!" Said the Rhino Man and the collection of adventurers.

"Yeah that's me," said Darius as he held up his arms where his bands were visible, "I heard you guys were having trouble with some weird monsters."

"W-We are," said the Rhino Man, "but they're not just appearing here, they've been spotted in multiple countries."

"With a majority of them massing in the East for whatever reason," Darius added, "we were hoping we might find a clue around here as to why that is. But first, I'm gonna need you to call an assembly of all the villagers."

"I most certainly can but what do you intend to do?" Questioned the Rhino Captain.

"My friend Naofumi, The Shield Hero, has already discovered one of the purposes for those bats," explained Darius, "anyone injured by those monsters could be at extreme risk. Now we don't have a lot of time for me to be explaining this over and over again, so you mind gathering the villagers so that I can go into full detail Mr. Uh?"

"Call me Grotto," said the Rhino Man, "and I'll introduce the rest of my band when we have the time. But as you said, let's get the villagers out here." He turned and walked over towards the center of the town where a well was situated before taking a deep breath. "ASSEMBLY! TOWN CENTER! NOW!" He yelled with enough force that his voice echoed into the mountain.

"Guess that's one way to get everyone's attention," commented Rifana as she rubbed her ear. But the yelling had the desired effect as the rest of the villagers started coming out of their dwellings, some more reluctantly than others, and gathered around the spot Grotto had indicated.

"Now then," said Grotto, "this is Darius Saxon, the Armoy Hero, and he's here to investigate this strange monster infestation that's been happening. So please give him your full attention and do as he asks." Naturally more than a few murmurs went through the crowd at the presence of a Cardinal Hero in the village, but that was a less pressing matter than the current one as Grotto stepped aside and signaled for him to go ahead and speak.

"Alright, good morning everyone," Darius began, "as you heard, yes, I am indeed the Armory Hero and my duties have brought me here to investigate the appearance of the strange monsters plaguing not only this village but several others. While we've yet to locate the origin of the bat familiars that have been going around in multiple countries, we've gleaned at least one of their purposes: monster creation. They accomplish this by attacking a living creature and implanting a type of purple egg into its body. While the egg incubates in the body, it saps the victim of their energy and keeps draining them until they die. The new monsters then hatch and burst from the corpse."

A murmur went through the crowd again as Darius continued. "Now so far, this has only happened with monster corpses, so we'll need to set out and start burning every dead monster we can find. But before that, we've got a more pressing issue. You see those bats aren't just capable of implanting the egg into monsters, but people as well." Before any questions or panic could start, Darius raised his hand, telling them not to be alarmed before continuing. "The good news is that it can be removed with the simple application of medicine to the site and the use of any kind of forceps you have to pull the egg out. So anyone who received even a minor injury from the bats is to report to the doctor or local healer right away while all other capable people will grab fire starter equipment so that we can burn the monster bodies in the woods."

No argument was heard as the villagers nodded in understanding, their excitement at seeing the Armory Hero tempered by the current situation as they began to disperse. "Good thing I've got fire magic," commented Rifana as she stepped up next to Darius, "so what should we be doing now?"

"Melty," said the Armoy Hero as he turned to the princess, "why don't you stay behind and help with healing the locals." He whispered the next part, "and best not let them know who you are right this moment. The fewer problems we have the better right now."

"Alright," said Melty with a nod of her head, "I guess the rest of you are heading into the forest?"

"I'll have Johann circling around in the air," said Darius, "that way he can keep an eye on both the forest and the village just in case any more monsters break out of the tree line while we're gone." He turned to Rifana and Izumi then. "And I know you might not like this, Rifana, but I need you and Izumi to head in one part of the woods while I accompany Grotto and some of the other adventurers into another part."

"What," said a slightly confused Rifana, "why not just the three of us in one group while Grotto leads most everyone else?"

"Because the monsters we encountered were pretty strong in comparison to average adventurers," replied Darius, "the two of you can handle them without much of a problem but these guys will need at least a little backup. Plus, it might be good for the two of you to spend a bit of time together."

"If that is what you wish," said Izumi, "I am curious about who I'll be fighting alongside from this point on. Perhaps she could tell me how better to please you as well."

"Don't even start with that," said Rifana, "what me and my man do in the bed is none of your business."

"I see," said Izumi, "very well, I'll only ask about less intimate forms of affection then." Rifana groaned at this.

"Why don't you start with just getting to know each other," said Darius, "I imagine there's at least one or two interesting things you might be able to share with each other."

"I'll see what I can do," said Rifana with a sigh before she started walking, "come on mountain warrior, we got some corpses to burn." If Izumi was bothered by her tone she didn't show it as she followed after Rifana.

"You sure it's a good idea sending them out there together?" Asked Johann, "because even I can tell Rifana doesn't like that girl trying to butt in on her territory."

"I mean you and Filo stopped fighting over food after we sent you both out on an errand together," Darius reminded him, "maybe they'll find something they have in common if the two of them work together for a bit."

"Besides wanting to be in your pants," said the Dragon Boy with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yes Johann," said Darius as he rolled his eyes, "besides wanting to be in my pants. Now, aren't you supposed to be patrolling above the forest right now?"

"Yeah I'm on it," said Johann before changing back into his dragon form and taking to the air.

"We'll try to be back as soon as possible," said The Cardinal Hero, turning to Melty, "it goes without saying that Johann's gonna be keeping an eye on you from the air, but if anything does happen, try to send up a signal of some sort."

"I will," said Melty, "and you should all be careful in there too. There's no telling what in the world might pop out next." Darius nodded in understanding before proceeding into the woods with Grotto, several villagers and all but a few of the adventurers with the remainder of them staying behind to protect the village in case of another attack. With such a large search party, it didn't take them long to discover the monster corpse the Sasquatch had emerged from.

It had apparently been some type of small mole monster before it was killed by the egg implanted into it. Now all that was left was a bloody corpse with a huge hole filled with broken bones protruding out of it. 'Of all the movies to rip off for an evil plan, why did it have to be Alien,' thought Darius as he found another set of corpses with torn holes in them. Even if they'd been used up, he decided to burn them anyway using a fire staff he'd gotten from the castle in Melromarc that contained a basic fireball spell. Or at least it had before he upgraded it with his abilities.

It worked well enough to catch the corpses on fire and with help from the villagers and other adventurers, they made steady progress. 'I hope Rifana and Izumi are doing alright,' he couldn't help but think as they went along on the grim errand. He knew the two could likely handle whatever else might pop up in the woods, but the unknown nature of their foe still had him worried. What he didn't know, however, was that the two girls themselves had other issues on their minds at the moment.

The Other Section of the Forest

"Your fire magic is quite adept," complimented Izumi as she watched Rifana set another few corpses on fire with her Burning Earth spell, "who was your teacher?"

"A lot of this is self taught," replied Rifana as they moved onto the next corpse which Izumi set aflame with a torch she'd brought with her, "it's only been the latter half of this month that we've actually been studying under a trained magic user."

"That does explain why you're more comfortable forming it around your mace as opposed to creating fire in midair," said Izumi, "though your earth magic is even more refined."

"I use it more," replied Rifana, "manipulating the terrain has saved our hides on more than one occasion. And this might not surprise you but pitfalls are surprisingly effective when used in the right places."

"Learning how to properly prepare a pitfall was part of my training," said Izumi, "the mountains have many monsters roaming around them, so my clan ensures we're all prepared for the possibility of running into one. Do you have a similar practice at your home?"

"I'm from a fishing village, so I learned how to swim and fish," answered the Weasel Girl, "I didn't learn how to fight until Figneria taught me and Darius."

"Is that how you met the Armory Hero?" Inquired the Horned Girl, "through this Figneria woman?"

"I met Darius when he freed me from a bastard nobleman who got his kicks by torturing demi-human children," said Rifana in a somewhat darker tone, "I might not look it thanks to a lot of leveling, but I'm technically ten years old."

"So that really was Sir Armory Hero who was responsible for that," said Izumi, "we'd heard about the incident but many had dismissed it as the work of a vigilante adventurer."

"Darius killed over twenty of the guards and roughed up that prick pretty good," said Rifana, "but the one who stabbed him in the throat until his head almost came off was me."

"I see," said Izumi as she averted her gaze a bit, "it's little wonder Sir Armory Hero is so fond of you. There's a fire in your heart, the kind that isn't found in just any woman."

"Alright," said Rifana with a sigh as she stopped and turned to her newest party member, "first thing, you don't have to call him 'Sir Armory Hero' all the time. He has a name and it's Darius."

"I know I'm just not used to it yet," replied Izumi but Rifana wasn't done.

"Second," she said, "if you're going to be working with us then you need to help take care of every member of the party, not just Darius."

"That wasn't even a question to begin with," said Izumi as she narrowed her eyes slightly, "as great as a cardinal hero is they have always needed a party. I'm well aware that Darius made it this far with your help and the help of the others and I will give my life for you or any of the others should it come to it. I may be the chosen warrior of my clan but there are others who can take my place should the worse occur. Whatever your doubts about me, Rifana, do not doubt that I intend to fight with all that I have as a member of this party."

"'Others who can take your place,'" repeated the Weasel Girl, "just how dead set are the women of your clan on becoming the wife of someone they've never met?"

"Have you never fantasized about being the wife of one of the heroes?" Questioned Izumi.

"I mean I have," said Rifana, "practically every girl in my village fantasized about being the wife of the Shield Hero at one point. But we never came up with some complex plan that was completely focused on it. Most of us didn't anyway."

"That's because your village wasn't built up with the Shield Hero's strength," said Izumi, "before the Armory Hero came along our clan was a small one who hid in the mountains to avoid the Waves of Catastrophe and any other enemies we had. But when he arrived looking for resources for Siltvelt he quickly recognized that we knew the mountains better than anyone. He allowed several of our clan members to join and level up their strength in his party while also gifting us with several weapons we'd desperately needed. And when the Waves of that time ended he'd married one of the women in the clan and even set up his home in the mountains with the rest of his party and his other wives. Many strong descendants came from them and our clan grew into a number of villages that spanned the largest mountain in all of Siltvelt. I'm certain you understand, we owe everything to the Armory Hero and now we need his help once again."

"But do you have to marry him," asked Rifana, "for all you know your personalities might clash or something or you just might not like him that much."

"You and another woman have already fallen for Darius," Izumi pointed out, "he is not the most handsome man I have ever seen nor does he seem the most charming. So he must possess a good bit of character, charisma, or other desireable qualities that would attract warrior women such as you and your teacher. I did note he is quite kissable."

"He is," admitted Rifana grudgingly, "he's a very nice guy and I love him with all of my heart."

"While also allowing another woman to love him," said Izumi, "which is why I'm curious about the reasons you're so resistant to allowing me to love him as well."

"You only want to marry him because someone else told you too," said Rifana, "it doesn't matter whether or not you're in love with him. For you, marrying him is the same as an adventurer accepting an assignment from the guild."

"Do not put what I wish to do on the same level as an adventurer going about their daily work," said Izumi, "for me this is beyond my wildest dreams. Where you fantasized about marrying the Shield Hero I dreamt of being the wife of the Armory Hero even when the odds of meeting him were slimmer than meeting any of the other heroes. My parents would lull me to sleep night after night with tales of his exploits and before my training began I'd talk excitedly with the others in my clan about what he would accomplish if he really appeared this time. When news reached us that he'd been summoned, it was like my clan had new life breathed into it knowing that everything we'd done for the past two hundred years had not been in vain. You think it doesn't matter to me whether or not we're able to fall in love, but I know for me at least that it is impossible that I won't be in love with him in one form or another."

"I want to tell you you're wrong," growled Rifana in mild annoyance, "but honestly you probably will like the kind of person he is. And he'll probably help your clan in some way because that's the kind of guy he is."

"As I've saide before, I have no intention of discouraging his love for you or Lady Figneria," said Izumi, "All I want is to help my clan and to help Darius accomplish his goals. And should it come to pass that I do not truly love him, you can all still depend on me as an ally. If this arrangement is not enough for you, then tell me what else I can do to prove that I belong with the rest of you?"

Rifana sighed deeply as she digested the Yama Clan Girl's words before speaking. "Alright, look," she said, "truth of the matter is we need all the help we can get right now. The other three heroes are idiots so it's putting that much more on Darius and Naofumi's shoulders. So even if I might not completely like it you've already proven that you can help us. I guess I can talk to Figneria about some of the finer details and we'll work something out."

"You have my eternal thanks, Lady Rifana," said Izumi with a smile and a bow.

"Don't mention it," said Rifana with a sigh before the roar of approaching monsters caught her ear, "now we'd best be getting back to work." Izumi nodded with a determined look as the two female fighters engaged the familiar monsters.

A Little While Later

"Alright, that seems to be all of them in this area," said Darius as he finished setting the last large monster corpse on fire, "let's head back to the village and check on how things are going with the medical treatment." A murmur of agreements sounded among the gathered the adventurers and villagers as they all turned and headed back. The Cardinal Hero didn't know if they'd really disposed of all the monster corpses, but they'd incinerated and killed a fair number of them within close to a two mile radius of the village. Darius himself had made especially sure to stomp extra hard on any of the bat familiars he happened to find.

Those things pissed him off more than he liked to admit. But that was a problem to focus on later. For now his main concern as they reentered the village was that Rifana and Izumi were okay. "Darius, Johann!" Called Melty as she waved at them from within the village entrance.

"Hey Mel!" Cheered Johann as he landed and reverted to his human form, "any trouble while we were gone?"

"Nothing major to report," Said Melty as she started walking next to them, "we did pull off a good number of those apparent 'eggs' the monsters were hatching from. Seems Naofumi was right about medicine and forceps being all that was needed, though more than a few villagers are gonna be bedridden for a day or two because of them. But they are for sure going to recover."

"Good news," said Darius, "and adding to that, we managed to burn up a ton of the monster corpses in the area and took out some of the others that had already emerged. With luck, there shouldn't be any other monsters roaming around here for a good bit. At the very least it might buy us the time we need to find out what's causing this. By the way, are Rifana and Izumi back?"

"They got back just a couple of minutes ago," informed Melty, "they're eating together right now."

"That's extremely good news," said Darius, trying not to show how relieved he was.

"You could have sent some of the adventurers along if you were worried about them," said Melty.

"It wasn't the monsters that worried me," replied Darius, "I was honestly worried they'd try killing each other if I put them together. I doubt any of the adventurers here could've stopped them if they went all out."

"If you were that worried about it, why'd you risk it?" Asked Melty.

"Better to nip a problem in the bud before it grows into something worse," answered the Armory Hero, "Rifana's got enough self control to remember our situation and that we're looking for new party members. If she and Izumi are able to bury the hatchet, even just a little, now then it'll save us a lot of trouble that might've cropped up down the line otherwise. Of course, the possibility existed that I might've been wrong and then we'd have had another problem on our hands."

"Izumi's desire to marry you is something that you'll need to address at some point," said Melty, "I spoke to her a bit while you and Rifana were out of the room yesterday. Several years of her life and the lives of her clan members have been dedicated to preparations for helping you. Obviously the big thing is they want you to strengthen their clan back to its former glory, but Izumi herself genuinely believes that she'll be able to love you and hopes that she's worthy of being loved by you."

"And if the matter is really as pressing as all that I'll see if there's anything I can do for her clan," said Darius, "but I somehow doubt she'll be all that fond of me in comparison to the idea of the Armory Hero. Don't get me wrong she's quite a looker and just might be great wife material, but I doubt I could make her happy in the way that she thinks I can."

"Rifana and Figneria say otherwise," Melty pointed out, "what'll you do if the two of you happen to have a lot in common and generally enjoy being around each other? Not to mention, it isn't illegal for you to have multiple wives."

"Please tell me you're not encouraging me to marry a girl I barely even know," groaned the Armory Hero. "And where I come from polygamy is not only uncommon but outright illegal in many places. I still count the fact that Rifana and Figneria agreed to share as nothing less than a miracle."

"I'm just saying that if Rifana and Figneria were able to come to an agreement to share your affection, then it's not impossible that they could accept another into the fold," Melty suggested.

"Well that's equal parts helpful and unhelpful," said Darius as Rifana and Izumi came into view, looking like they were at peace for the moment. "But I guess it's something that we'll just have to tackle one step at a time."

"Right, first things first, the monster issue," said Melty as they stopped in front of Rifana and Izumi who were eating on a bench.

"Glad to see you're all okay," said Rifana with a smile, "I was starting to wonder when we made it back before you."

"Had to keep doing head counts every time we ran into something," said Darius, "but it looks like we got the situation in hand for the moment. Couldn't find any clues on where these things are coming from, though."

"Our search was equally unsuccessful," said Izumi, "but our section of the forest has been cleared. The villagers were also kind enough to offer us food for our help, would you like some?"

"So long as they don't mind," said Darius, accepting some food from Izumi since Johann immediately swiped a couple of handfuls from Rifana for both him and Melty. "Now I guess after we take a break we're gonna need to head back to the castle and see if anyone working in the archives has found anything. Most of the bats around here are already dead or gone so-." He was interrupted by the sound of the 'call' feature on his HUD.

"Hey Naofumi," said the Armory Hero, "we've cleared out the monsters over in this village but we didn't find anything else. Any luck on your end?"

"Rishia says she might be able to find something so we put her to work on that," replied Naofumi, "but that's not why I'm calling. I just talked with the Queen and we've got another annoying problem. Those three moronic heroes have fled the country." Darius had to stop himself from choking on the food he was eating before responding.

"THEY WHAAAATT?!" Exclaimed the Armory Hero, "how in the world did they manage that?!"

"Got themselves some fast Filolials and flying dragons," replied Naofumi, "they even went without rest for some time, long enough that they were able to shake off the shadows."

"Somehow I shouldn't be surprised that they demonstrate some actual intelligence by once again making things worse," said Darius, "does anyone even know why they fled?"

"According to reports from the guards at the border," replied Naofumi, "they said they hadn't broken their promise and were just going to resolve the situation."

"So they know what in the world's causing this problem in the first place and they're refusing to tell us because they want the glory," said the University Student as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "and thus their sudden show of intelligence loops right back around to them being idiots. Do we at least have some idea where they might be going?"

"Not yet," said Naofumi, "and there's something else. I tried talking to Fitoria to see if she might be able to help locate them or teleport us to them, but she refused."

"'Refused?" Said Darius, more than a little dumbfounded by the news. They'd recently discovered during training that Filo's cowlick that she'd received from Fitoria was actually capable of acting as a sort of antennae. As long as Fitoria allowed it, they could talk to her through Filo and vice versa. "What did she say exactly?"

"She said that the area they're heading to is out of here jurisdiction, but since our relationship with the three heroes is this bad, it'd be pointless even if she could help us catch up with them," explained Naofumi. "Even stranger, she said that if everything works out, the waves won't come again."

"Well that's a fine way of telling us absolutely nothing," said Darius, "she's usually a little more straight with us than that even if she has been hiding one or two things from us."

"It might have something to do with what she told us last time we talked at the ruins," surmised Naofumi, "When she said we'd have to chose between the people or the world."

"There must be a reason she doesn't want to tell us the whole story," said Darius, "but whatever the case, we need more information. I'm gonna check back in the castle at Siltvelt to see if they've found anything and then we're heading back to Melromarc. And heads up, I may be bringing one or more new friends."

"If they can help then that's fine," said Naofumi, "just get back here soon. We need to figure out our next move fast."

"Be there as soon as we can," said Darius before they broke off the communications link and he turned to everyone else.

"I know that look Darius," said Rifana, "that was more bad news, wasn't it?"

"Unfortunately, yes," replied the Armory Hero, "I'll explain when we get back to the castle. But long story short, things just got even busier for us."

So it seems that despite answering one or two questions, a dozen more have cropped up and those in the know don't feel like telling anyone what's going on. Unbeknownst to our heroes, the countdown has just begun to their confrontation with a most powerful enemy. So while we await the answers to some of these questions, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes at last uncover the possible identity of one that might pose a threat even greater than the Waves. 'Til then.