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.

51. From the Forest Comes Duo Yamato!

From the Forest Comes Duo Yamato!

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero! But first, a moment of silence for Billy Kametz, the English voice actor for Naofumi, Josuke Higashikata and countless other characters. May he rest in peace and may his legacy continue to inspire others for generations to come. With that in mind, I'll forego my usual advertisement on this note and leave it 'til the end of the chapter instead. Now moving away from the more depressing matters, we seem to have no review questions to answer this week, so on to the story!

Portal To Another World

The vortex which swirled around them was pitch black, like some kind of dark whirlpool that they'd been dropped in the center of. Fortunately, they could see perfectly well for one reason or another. It might've just been the nature of the portal itself or the countless floating orbs of light which seemed to be accompanying them to their destination. But it was of little concern to the Armory and Shield Heroes right now as they continued to 'fall' with the rest of their party members towards what appeared to be an exit below.

"We should be getting close," announced Naofumi as he readjusted himself behind his shield, "everyone try and huddle together now!" He didn't need to add that if Kyo had left a trap for them, right here near the exit would be the most likely place he'd spring it.

"Right, got it," replied Raphtalia and Rifana as they moved behind their respective heroes along with their other party members. Darius quickly summoned a replica of the Spirit Tortoise's Heart Shield, imitating his friend as he held it at the ready. For a brief moment he noted that despite the adrenaline rushing through his veins, he couldn't say he was all that terrified of what might be waiting for them on the other side of the portal. Perhaps it was because falling down a giant swirling portal had been how his, and Naofumi's, journey had gotten started.

It was quite the contrast, honestly, to how they'd reacted the first time. Before when he'd been summoned to the Filolial Sanctuary, Darius had been nothing but a ball of confusion and panic while falling through that portal. Now here he was jumping headfirst into a portal to yet another world with little to no hesitation whatsoever. It was amazing what a little experience could do for a person, especially when sudden emergencies pop up.

In this case, said emergency was the suddenly appearing giant head and shoulders of Kyo Ethnina. Despite only having a few moments to register it, Darius was able to discern that this wasn't really the wielder of the Vassal Book but actually a soulless projection with an evil smile and pupilless eyes. "This is the trap! Brace yourselves!" Exclaimed Naofumi as he held his shield up with his party squishing even closer together behind him.

The Armory Hero moved before he'd even gotten all the words out, raising his shield with his party members crowded behind him. Though even with all of their experience, the two heroes were still a bit surprised by the force of the attack launched against them as two powerful lightning bolts impacted against their shields. It was enough to push them back, scattering their party as everyone began to turn end over end. "Boss! Darius! Johann! Rifana!" they all yelled while reaching desperately towards each other.

But they were all beginning to spiral, spinning around now like the vortex that surrounded them. As Darius reached for his faithful party member and girlfriend, his arm straining and his fingers outstretched, he was only able to brush her fingers for an instant before they passed each other and fell into the darkness at the bottom of the portal.

Glass's World: Unknown Forest

'Ow,' thought the Armory Hero as a beam of sunlight seemed to suddenly shine in his eye. He instinctively pulled his arm up to cover his face as his eyes slowly opened. It took a moment for his vision to adjust to the new lighting, but he was quickly able to ascertain that he was in a forest of sorts due to the surrounding trees and what appeared to be a moderate to slightly cold climate. 'Well the good news is I seem to be in one piece,' he mused before moving around to a more comfortable position. But as he did so he noticed something strange about the bands on his wrists.

They'd changed from the Spirit Tortoise Bands to a pair he didn't recognize which more closely resembled the gauntlet of a samurai with black and white lines. In fact, the only thing familiar about the bands was the everpresent white jewels that were part of all their transformations. 'It must be some effect from traveling to a different world. May as well see if they work differently than my usual ones.'

Darius proceeded to open his HUD, happy to see it still worked the same way, and checked the name of the bands he was wearing. Or at least he would have if he didn't spot something far more alarming. "What the shit," he thought aloud after double and triplechecking the status bar, "how in the world am I back to level 1?!" He then opened his weapons menu and started scrolling through it while also checking the bands and abilities he'd unlocked.

And with each page he went through the more the realization sunk in. 'I can't use any of the high-level weapons in my storage right now and most of my skills are behind a level lock again. And even my current armor set seems to be wiggin' out because my level isn't technically high enough to use its effects.' And he could actually see the issue with his current armor as it seemed to distort on his body like static on a television.

The Armory Hero quickly fixed this by looking through his inventory and selecting one of the lowest grade armors he still possessed: the first batch he'd ever gotten from Earhard. 'Guess being sentimental comes in handy every now and then,' he thought before looking around and calling out. "Rifana! Johann!" He yelled, hearing his voice echo slightly among the trees, "Naofumi, Raphtalia, Rishia, Filo!"

But all that answered his calls were the sounds of the forest as he flipped through his menu again. He first tried determining the position of his own party members and quickly discovered that they weren't in range so he then tried calling the Shield Hero. All he received, however, was a notification that his signal couldn't be found. 'Outstanding, it looks like I'm runnin' this game solo right now.'

Such a situation as this might've made him panic a bit back when he was level 1, but he quickly clamped down on his rising fear and anxiety, instead focusing on what he could do right now. 'Alright,' he mused, 'if this world is anything like ours then I just need to find a river or a road and go from there.' And so he started walking, flipping through the information on his HUD as he did so in order to determine what he could still make use of. He also tested his magic out a little and found that it still worked in relatively the same way as it did before.

Another similarity he quickly found between this world and his own was the presence of monsters. And they didn't seem to be in the shortest of supply as he encountered his first monster after just several minutes of walking. It was a small white monkey monster that made its intentions known pretty quickly by leaping at him with its fangs bared, only to be cut down a moment later by Darius's summoned sword. He found, again to his relief, that killing monsters here also enhanced his XP. A few more monsters popped up along the way like a vicious buzzard, a killer venus flytrap, and a small monster with eyes on its hands. 'A majority of the creatures here seem to be similar to those in Japanese and other Asian legends,' noted the Armory Hero after a while as he cut down the most recent monster.

He also noted that whenever he used a replica of Glass, L'arc, or Kizuna's weapons they all seemed just a bit more powerful than before. Not so surprising given that this was their world of origin, after all. Eventually, Darius managed to find a large, worn path that was unmistakably a road. 'Wagon wheel tracks,' he noted as he bent down to examine the ground, 'there's at least a bit of coming and going along this road, and a lot of horse tracks too.' It was a good sign, one that hopefully meant civilization or at least something akin to it wasn't far away.

'I'll need to get a better look in both directions before I decide which way to go,' mused the Cardinal Hero as he summoned a portal near the top of the largest tree he could find. One of his chain claws reached down then and grasped his arm, allowing him to quickly ascend to the top of the tree where he grabbed and hung on to the limbs. 'Now let's see, there are a lot of mountains off in the direction behind me, but there appears to be something way off in the other direction, possibly a village?' Whatever it was it was the closest thing he had to a lead on where his friends, or people of any kind, really, might be.

As he was about to climb down, though, he heard a strange noise as a shadow seemed to suddenly fall over him. Looking up, the Armory Hero noted a strange, flying creature with long bird wings, a beak and claws along with a snake-like body. Most disturbing of all, though, was the almost human-looking face and shrill cry of the beast as it swooped towards him. Darius's HUD had just enough time for him to register the monster as an Itsumade before he leapt off of the tree, feeling the breeze of giant wings barely a foot from his back as it sliced off the top of the tree.

He quickly produced a portal with a staff much further down which he grabbed onto, using the momentum of his fall to swing his legs around before letting go and landing a few feet away. No sooner had he landed and summoned one of his old silver axes than the monster bird was on him. The Armory Hero swung and felt his weapon collide with the Itsumade's head. But instead of the familiar feeling of a blade burying itself into flesh and bone, he instead felt like he'd struck stone as the monster changed course and went back into the trees.

'Shit, this one isn't strong enough,' he realized as he switched over to a two-handed falchion sword, one of the strongest weapons he had at the moment that wasn't a replica. He scanned his surroundings then as his opponent seemed to slither in the air and through the trees, its eyes looking for an opening to strike. It didn't wait long before leaping out again, its beak aimed at the Cardinal Hero's throat. Darius reacted quickly, ducking and sliding beneath the attack before bringing his weapon up to hit the monster in its left wing.

The Itsumade shrieked in more anger than pain as it kicked out with one of its two clawed feet, tearing through the armor on the Hero's torso and leaving several shallow but still nasty cuts. 'Shit I felt that,' thought Darius as he backed away from the flailing monster before it righted itself and sped into the trees again. 'Even with my bands still regulating my pain I can't afford to take too many hits like that or I might start bleeding out.'

The flying serpent seemed to understand that too as it came at him from above this time. Darius reacted by summoning a portal with the strongest shield he could use at his current level. The displeasing sound of denting metal reached his ears as soon as the Itsumade impacted against the shield, veering off yet again to head in between the trees. But hardly two seconds later it struck again, forcing the Armory Hero to summon another shield, then another after that. 'It's gonna tear up all my shields at this rate, I'll need to hit it with something else.'

No sooner did he make this decision than the Itsumade spiraled and veered around his latest shield, its beak cutting into his shoulder as it knocked him down. Darius quickly rolled away and back to his feet, summoning the weapon of the Hunting Hero in its blade form as he did. The moment the Winged Serpent charged again, he struck. "Blood Flower Strike!" Exclaimed the Armory Hero as he sped forward and slashed several areas on the monster, causing it to shriek in pain again as its weak spots became amplified.

'Now to finish this,' The Armory Hero thought as he tried to ready his next attack. But the Itsumade still had plenty of speed left and tackled him into a small tree with its talons digging into his armor and flesh. Adding to his predicament, the monster wrapped its tail around him and the small tree, keeping him from dodging this time as it struck towards his face. Darius reacted on instinct, summoning Glass's fans at the last second to halt the Itsumade's attack by catching the fan between its beak.

The angry creature attempted to wrestle the fan out of his grasp while trying to go for his face at the same time, turning their bout into a strange type of tug of war. But it did succeed in keeping the monster's head in one place, which was all Darius needed as he shoved the other fan into its mouth, tip first, and activated its attack. "Rupture Stance Rondo," said Darius as a white blade of energy stuck out of the back of the Itsumade's head, getting a gargled cry in the process, "Tortoise Shell Cracker!" The beast's head exploded then as the energy blade shot out of it, causing the rest of its body to fall dead and limp.

This included its tail as Darius collapsed to the ground on his hands and knees, wincing in pain next to the monster's corpse. 'Been a minute since I've had to work that hard to kill a monster that size,' he mused before summoning a health potion and downing the contents, 'good news is Naofumi's enhanced healing potions still work about the same here.' Though even the potion's wondrous effects couldn't completely dull the aches and pains as the Armory Hero got to his feet and took a moment to catch his breath. 'If I'm having that much trouble taking on a more medium level monster right now, I've got a ways to go before I'm ready to take on the likes of that Kyo guy again.'

"Hello," called a male voice from the direction of the road, startling Darius, "is anyone back there?!" The Armory Hero instinctively hid behind a nearby bush and peered through the leaves at the one speaking. To his mild surprise, it was a dark-haired man in what appeared to be a type of brown kimono. Behind him was a cart being pulled by a horse with a woman sitting in the passenger seat. Her hair was on the browner side and she had a simple green kimono on.

"Hello," called the man again as Darius weighed his options. He didn't know these people or how many traps Kyo had set up in this world for anyone pursuing him. On the other hand, the apparent husband and wife might have some much-needed information he could make use of, like where in the world he was at right now. 'If I was Naofumi there'd be a high possibility of me just letting them pass,' he mused before glancing at the carcass of the Itsumade, 'but I most definitely am not Naofumi.'

"Are you sure someone's in there," asked the Brown-haired Woman as the man turned back to the cart.

"I was certain I saw a light or something," he said, "but everything seems to have gone still-." The sound of rustling leaves and branches interrupted whatever else he was going to say as the man turned to see a figure emerging from the foliage dragging something behind him.

"Whew," said Darius as he dropped the part of the monster he'd been dragging and wiped his brow, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, "what a day this has been. You folks wouldn't happen to know anyone who trades in monster material around here, would you?"

"Oh, uh, well," stuttered the man for a moment, clearly not expecting someone dressed in a Japanese-style armor to be showing up. Darius had gotten it from the Golden Tyrant's vault and had held onto it mostly for the looks. Ironically it was now the strongest piece of armor he could wear right now that looked like it came from around the area, or so he hoped. "There is someone back in our village who deals in monster parts, yes, but we have to ask: who are you, stranger?"

"Oh where are my manners," said Darius before dusting himself off a bit and bowing, "the name's Duo Yamato, and through a rather complicated series of events I've somehow managed to find myself, wherever this is. And now I've got a monster corpse that I don't know what to do with."

"Monster corpse," said the man as he approached cautiously to get a better look at the creature. As soon as he did, his face paled. "That, that isn't, an Itsumade is it?"

"From what little I know that's what it is," replied Darius with a shrug, "damn thing tried to make a meal out of me and nearly succeeded. Thankfully I had a couple of tricks up my sleeve."

"I knew something was wrong when people started disappearing at night," said the Man, "we thought the bandits had stepped up their attacks despite us paying them tribute, but to think it was an Itsumade all the way out here."

"Uh, bandits," said Darius with a raised eyebrow, "I haven't seen anything like bandits since I got here. Just monsters."

"Well it seems clear you're not one of them," said the woman as she hopped down from the cart, "if you were really able to defeat an Itsumade then you'd have no problem robbing us."

"Truthfully I got a lot of problems right now," said Darius, "most of which can hopefully be solved by getting to a nearby village. Once I get my bearings I can go from there." The man and woman exchanged a glance before the man spoke.

"Perhaps, we can take you to our village," he said, "as mentioned we have someone who deals in monster material there and if directions are all you need then we can happily provide them. That being said, I wouldn't advise you to travel at night right now. If one Itsumade is around, there could potentially be more."

"Oh I don't want to impose or anything like that-," Darius started to say before being interrupted.

"Nonsense," said the woman, "you've already done us a huge favor by killing that monster. What's more, if you still have the strength you can protect us from some of the other monsters too." The Armory Hero put a hand to his chin and thought about it for a moment. He really did need to get moving and this seemed to be the break he needed to find out where he was.

In truth, there really wasn't all that much to think about. "Alright," he finally said as he began dragging the monster corpse to the cart, "just a heads up though, this thing is starting to smell."

"I think we'll manage," said the man as he helped the Armory Hero load the dead beast on the cart, "by the way, I realized we never properly introduced ourselves, Mr. Yamato."

"Please, just call me Duo," said Darius politely, "and you might be?"

"I am Kaz, and this is my wife Ming," he replied, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Duo."

Nighttime: Kaz and Ming's Village

"So you really don't know much about this part of the world at all," said Ming from her position in the passenger's seat, "your home must be truly isolated for you to not know who the Spirit People or the Grass are."

"Ah what can I say," replied Darius from the back of the cart while rubbing his head, "your ancestors get trapped on the other side of a freaky phenomenon and decide to make the best of it, then before you know it there's a whole little town. Even our magic developed a little differently which is how we were able to create the bands I'm wearing."

"That's very fascinating," said Kaz as he drove the cart, "perhaps you could take a few samples of your unique magic up to the capital. I hear there's a genius who showed up recently."

"'Genius,'" repeated the Cardinal Hero, "as in the scientific type?"

"You could say that," replied Ming, "rumors have been going around that he's actually able to duplicate the teleportation miracle."

"Has he really now," said Darius while rubbing his chin, "any chance his name was mentioned? If I do decide to venture up to the capital it'd be best if I'm not looking for a complete needle in a haystack."

"I'm afraid that's all we've heard," said Kaz as they entered what must've been his village, "but the capital is only a two day walk from here. If you're stocked up on supplies you should be able to get there no problem, or at least make it to the next town." He stopped the cart then in front of a larger building with a slanted and tiled, Japanese-style roof. It had a sign on it that the Cardinal Hero couldn't read but he did recognize the pictures of monsters drawn on it. "Hey, Enkel, we've got something you're gonna love!"

The sound of shifting was heard behind the door then before it opened to reveal a silver-haired man wearing a white kimono. Though his most distinctive feature was his pointed ears, making him very much resemble a classic fantasy elf. 'So that's a Grass,' thought Darius as the man lit a lantern he'd brought out with him.

"Did you have to bring me out at this hour, Kaz," said the man named Enkel, "I close up shop in less than thirty minutes."

"Would you make an exception for this," said Darius as he held up the dead monster.

"Huh," said Enkel, "it's a bit dark so my eyes might be playing tricks on me. For a second I thought you had an Itsumade."

"That's exactly what it is," said Ming with a smile on her face. This clearly confused Enkel as he stepped forward to more closely examine the beast.

"W-Wha-wha-WHAAAAAAAAAATTTTT!" Exclaimed the Grass man, "there really was an Itsumade around here! And you, are you the one who managed to kill it?!"

"Just barely," said Darius as he rubbed his side where his damaged armor was, "I'm still pretty sore from the encounter and that was after taking something to heal myself."

"I've got some good news for you then," said Enkel, "the feathers of an Itsumade make great charms for detecting danger and the scales work to make armor that's of good quality. And the things I could make with the talons and the wings! I don't know who you are stranger but you've just made my night!"

"Uh, the name's Duo," said Darius, "Duo Yamato, and mostly what I need right now is money and information. A place to sleep wouldn't be too bad either but I'll worry about that in a bit."

"I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have," said the excited Enkel, "so come on in and lets talk shop for a bit. And if you happen to have any other types of monster material-."

"Way ahead of you," said the Armory Hero as he conjured some of said material in his hand, "so where should we begin?"

The Next Day

The business with Enkel wound up taking a couple hours, mostly due to Darius trying to get as much information as he could about the world he was in, without revealing that he was from another world in the process. By the end of it, though, he was walking away with what he learned was a fair sum of money for all the monster material he had, including the Itsumade. After that he headed over to the town weapons merchant who he learned was of a race called the Gem, apparently the same race Therese was. But either way he clearly knew his stuff, albeit not as well as Earhard.

It was there that the Armory Hero sold off some of his higher level weapons that both resembled weapons of that world and that he doubted he'd be using any time soon. He used the money made there to purchase some lower-grade weapons that he could make use of until he reached a higher level. He did the same with his armor. After that, he managed to find a local Inn where he rented a room and got some food.

'This go round is definitely turning out a little easier than my first,' thought Darius as he stepped out of the Inn, 'but I guess that's to be expected with a little experience and having an already large stash of equipment to call on.' He took a moment to examine his new armor. Much like his previous armor it was grayish white but with samurai shoulder pads and a more Japanese-style chest plate. His boots were also covered with samurai-like greaves and over all of that he wore a black and white sleeveless vest with a split tail that reached past his waist and stopped at the back of his knees.

It even had a kanji-like symbol on the back that he was told translated to 'conjurer'. That was a little detail he'd personally requested because it was fairly accurate for what he did, though Naofumi would be the only one who'd get which anime he was referencing. 'Alright, equipment's all set,' he decided, 'now to familiarize myself with some of the supplies around here.' In all honesty he still had a fair stash of materials and potions in his inventory, but with the rules of Glass's world being a bit different he figured it was best to familiarize himself with the items here.

With that in mind, he ventured over to another one story building and entered to find a shop with several small barrels full of potions and other odd materials he didn't recognize. "Oh, welcome," said the woman behind the counter. She wore a bluish-white kimono and had a glow about her that Darius had come to recognize as that of a spirit person's, just like Glass. "Is there anything in particular…wait, you're the one who brought in the Itsumade yesterday, aren't you?"

"Yeah that's me, Duo Yamato," replied the Armory Hero with a slight bow, finding the alias easier and easier to use every time he needed to say it. "And it seems word spreads fast in a nice little place like this. Did you also happen to hear that I'm a bit, oh what's a good term?"

"Lacking in knowledge," offered the Shopkeeper as she brushed her purplish hair off her shoulder, "yes, Kazu mentioned that when he came in to get a couple of potions. Fortunately, I do provide samples on the condition that you buy at least something."

"That was the plan," replied the Cardinal Hero with a nod, "so why don't we start with the basics." The Spirit Woman nodded before pulling out a few of her wares. For the potions she got a small plate resembling those the Japanese would use for drinking sake and poured a miniscule amount in for the Armory Hero to try. Darius tried each one, taking careful note of how they affected his Stats, Magic, Spirit Points and other attributes.

Things got really interesting, however, when she started pulling out solid items, many of which were crystals. "These are even easier to use than potions," explained the Shopkeeper, "all you have to do is crush them between your fingers and the effect will activate."

"Makes me wonder how one's able to transport something like these," said Darius as he picked up one of the crystals, a blue one that greatly resembled a rock, and crushed it between his thumb and forefinger. His eyes widened at the notice on his screen: 3,000 EXP! 'WHAT! THIS SHIT GIVES ME EXPERIENCE POINTS!' Thought the Armory Hero as he tried to decide whether or not he should cheer about his good fortune.

"It seems you've found an item you like," noted the Shopkeeper, having seen the surprise in his expression, "since you're a first time customer, I might be willing to part with some of these at a reduced price."

"That would be exceptionally kind of…what's going on out there?" Said Darius as the sound of some commotion was happening outside. He and the Shopkeeper moved to look out the window and the Spirit Woman froze. Outside were a number of men of varying races, all dressed in somewhat worn Japanese-style armor, more foot soldier than samurai, and brandishing their weapons menacingly as they worked their way through the village.

"They weren't supposed to be here for another two days," said the Shopkeeper as she backed away with a frightened expression on her face, "they didn't discover the messenger we sent, did they?"

"I take it those are the bandits who come here demanding tribute or something along those lines?" Asked Darius as he tried to get a look at their levels and assess their equipment.

"They came to us offering protection from monster attacks and other bandits," explained the Shopkeeper, "we'd been getting raided by a small group during that time and readily accepted their help, paying them in money, tools and equipment. But when we discovered they were actually part of the bandit group who'd been attacking us, we tried and failed to drive them out of here. Being from an isolated place I'm certain you understand that it was difficult for us to get word out about our situation. We thought we'd caught them off-guard by sending out a messenger right after their most recent collection of tribute, but-."

"It might not have worked," surmised Darius, "or they might've heard about the guy who killed an Itsumade being here. If that's the case, them being here early is on me."

"Either way it wouldn't be good for them to find you here," said the Shopkeeper, "I might be able to hide you in the back-."

"I appreciate it," said the Armory Hero, holding up a hand, "but answer me this first: that messenger you sent out, it was for adventurers and fighters, right?"

"Well yes but no one has-," the Shopkeeper started to say before the Cardinal Hero cut her off again.

"Then consider your help early too," said Darius as he moved over to the barrel full of earth crystals, "and apologies in advance, but I'm gonna need some of your inventory." He slammed his fist into the crystals then, causing nearly all of them to shatter as XP numbers flooded his HUD one after the other. 'Now that should even the odds a bit,' he thought with a grin. Outside, one of the bandits who was wielding a short naginata moved to the shop's door and began beating on it.

"I know you're in there, woman!" He shouted, "just come out now and the mild unpleasantness can be over sooner!" The door would open to his demand, or so he thought, and he would be greeted with something he didn't expect. "Who in the fuck are-GAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" A powerful, gauntleted punch to the gut sent him flying several feet out into the middle of the road as the Armory Hero stepped out, shifting his weapon to that of a katana.

"There a reason you're coming here to make trouble on such a nice day," said Darius, planting his foot on the bandit's sternum to keep him from moving. As planned, this got all of the other bandit's attention as they started moving towards them.

"You," said the apparent leader, a man wielding an Oodachi sword, "I don't recognize you so I guess you might not be aware, but this village is ours."

"How so," questioned Darius as he glanced at the other villagers, "the other folks around here don't look happy to see you. So I'll ask you the same question I asked him, why are you here making trouble?"

"This village owes us tribute," replied the Leader, "more to the point, we got word that some adventurer came here with the corpse of an Itsumade. I'm guessing that's you."

"Wow, everyone is making a big deal about that," said Darius, pressing his foot down harder on the bandit under him to stop him from reaching for his weapon, "yeah I had to kill that thing before it killed me. Why's it a concern of yours?"

"We're always on the lookout for some good muscle," explained the Leader, "you join up with us and you can do whatever you want to this place. Take money, weapons, items, heck even take one of the pretty girls if the mood strikes ya."

"And should the thought strike me that I want no part of that," replied the Armory Hero evenly.

"Then you have two options," said the Leader as he signaled for his men to take fighting stances, "leave here quietly so that we can get back to business, or become an example."

"Oh I got an example for ya," said Darius as he flipped the katana around and stabbed it through the throat of the man under his foot, "see, this will be the rest of you unless you agree to leave and never come back."

"Guess you only made it this far by luck," said the Leader with narrowed eyes as he signaled the remaining four bandits, "kill him." Darius moved as soon as they did, leaving the katana behind and instead summoning a large dagger in his right hand which he used to deflect the longer kodachi his opponent was using before grabbing his collar and yanking him sideways, right into the path of the spear that wound up impaling his head instead of Darius' Armory Hero then moved back, keeping low as he hit the other bandit, one with a club, in the stomach with a powerful kick before blocking the sai strike of the final bandit with his left band.

He switched his dagger to a short naginata then while blocking another couple of attacks, plunging the blade into the chest of his surprised opponent before yanking it out while pushing him away at the same time. He then blocked the club of the third bandit and maneuvered the head around to block the spear of the second bandit as well, pinning them both to the ground with his own. He planted his foot on the spear to keep it from escaping before quickly slashing the third bandit's throat with his weapon. He barely had time to fall as Darius summoned his own Oodachi and decapitated the spear-wielding bandit, the two bodies hitting the ground one after the other.

"It's clear to me that you aren't used to taking on people who can fight back," said the Armory Hero as he held his weapon at the ready, "so what's it gonna be, tough guy? You ready to leave and never come back?" The Leader didn't answer as he tried to disguise his trembling, his mind clearly racing for a way out of this situation. The solution he came up with was less than ideal.

He raised his sword and charged the Cardinal Hero. "High Quick," Darius almost sighed as he sped past the man, switching his sword to a kunai he'd poisoned the night before that he stabbed into the back of the man's neck. He didn't even bother looking behind him as the lead bandit collapsed to the ground, dead. "Alright folks you can come out now, the annoying douche bags are dea-."

The sound of a surprised yell drew his attention to one last bandit who was coming out of what Darius assumed was a bathroom of sorts. His surprise had already turned to rage as he pulled out one of the sickles at his belt and threw it at the Armory Hero. Darius didn't know if it was instinct or just an odd form of reflexes but he quickly turned to the side while reaching up and snatching the weapon out of midair before throwing it back, almost all in the same motion. The surprised expression remained on the bandit's face as the kama buried itself right between his eyes and he fell over to join the rest of his dead compatriots on the ground.

"Holy shit I didn't know I could do that," Darius thought aloud as he looked at his hand, "thank you Figneria." Oh the things he was gonna do to that woman when he saw her again. But that was for later, right now the Armory Hero shifted his focus to the rest of the village. "Are there any others?"

"Y-You," said the Shopkeeper as she cautiously peered out of her doorway, "you killed them all."

"That was the general idea," said Darius as he stepped over some of the bodies, "so sorry about the mess in the middle of the street, but at least you don't have to put up with bandits anymore."

"But that wasn't all of the bandits!" Exclaimed the Spirit Woman,"you just killed seven of them, there are several more!"

"Huh," said Darius as this revelation was dropped on him, "when you say 'several' more, do you have an exact number?" But the Shopkeeper didn't get a chance to answer as a loud voice cut across the street.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Exclaimed, who Darius now realized, the true leader of the bandits: a large bald man wielding a bisento weapon. He'd just shown up at the village's other entrance with what must've been the rest of his men, a total of presumably eighteen more bandits if Darius was counting right. 'Well that complicates things a little,' thought the Armory Hero as he turned to face the new threat, 'but there's no point in backing out now.' "You, are you the one who did this?!"

"Yeah I'm the guy who made mincemeat out of your underlings here," said Darius as he stepped forward, "was the dude with the Oodachi your right hand?"

"He was," said the Bandit Leader, "I'm impressed you were able to take him on with the rest of the squad I sent. But don't think that'll help you here."

"Guess we'll have to see," said Darius with a sigh, "hey Shopkeeper, is this all of them?"

"Y-Yes," she said, barely peeking out of the door, "that's all of them. But please, they'll kill you if you try to fight them all."

"Not like I've got much of a choice at this point," said Darius as he summoned Itsuki's bow and faced the bandits, "alright, if you want a piece of me then come get it!" The bandits let out a battlecry and charged forward, their weapons bared and thirsty for blood. 'I was really hoping to keep these particular replicas hidden until later in case Kyo had eyes on this place,' thought the Armory Hero, 'but it looks like I can't afford to hold back.' He drew the bow back then, readying to fire as he selected the attack he would use.

But that was as far as he got when he noticed a figure leaping from one roof to the other before dropping down and landing in the street, facing the bandits. "Evildoers who prey on the innocent," said the stranger who Darius now realized was a green-haired woman, "you now face justice in the form of this blade!" She was a blur then as she moved forward, her katana leaving her sheath in a flash as she cut through both weapons and flesh, charging through the enemy formation like a bull. And given the way the bandits were flying through the air with the force of her swings, one might've mistaken her onslaught as a bull's rampage. In what felt like no time at all, the bandits lay defeated at the woman's feet, or in some cases hanging from the roofs, as she flung the blood off of her blade before sheathing her sword.

"Um, okay," said Darius as he desummoned his weapon and rubbed the back of his head, "if you came here to help you had some pretty good timing Miss…" The woman turned her attention to him then, brushing her ponytail off of her shoulder before speaking.

"I am Yomogi Emarl," she said proudly, "a warrior of justice!"

New world, new rules, new hot samurai chick. Not the worst way to start a new game plus. But is this new arrival friend or foe, and what will she think of the ignorant stranger whose come to her world? All that and more shall be answered in the next chapter, so in the meantime 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 by next time as Darius's journey to the capital brings him into more than a couple interesting encounters. And be sure to check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. 'Til then and may Billy Kametz rest in peace.