Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
A fierce wind cuts through Malty's hair like invisible blades, forcing the princess turned slave to pull down her hood. This is the first time she rides an airship. After the initial excitement, she found that it's even less comfortable than riding a regular ship. Of course, if they were allowed to have leisure flights it might be a different story. But right now, since they are going after the Wave boss, every second counts.
"You didn't have to come." Malty turns her head around, and sees Ren walking towards her. The Sword Hero's face is as stern as always. But she had gotten a little bit better at guessing his thoughts after all this time, but looking at the corner of his mouth. Ren is someone who naturally doesn't like to display too much emotion on his face, and unless he is truly shocked to the core (like that time when he found out the dragon he's trying to kill was someone's father), it's pointless to glean emotion from his expressions. But the corner of his mouth, which direction it's pointing is still a good indication to tell how he is feeling. And right now, his mouth is pointing slightly downwards. The Sword Hero isn't feeling very optimistic about the upcoming battle. "We barely beat that Pope guy when we were working together and gave it our all. Now they are saying some powerful demon breached this world."
"I'm a hero of this world too." Malty takes the star wand out of her sleeve. The hero weapon she inherited from her father is glowing purple in her hand. She isn't nearly as calm as she is displaying right now. She was lucky enough to not have her level reset like Naofumi after mother came back (she honestly wasn't sure if she would even survive a level reset with her weakened heart), but she is still much weaker and fragile than a hero of her level. Her specialty is magic, but she can only cast so much with her heart ailment, and the hero weapon (Fitoria and Metatron call it a 'world shard', she wonders if that has some special meanings) she got from her father was an already broken one. Would she even help the other heroes in this battle, or would she end up being a burden to them?
"My Darling Malty! Trying to wrap your fingers on another hero? I'm hurt, honestly hurt that you would dance around such upstarts than spending more time with me. Doesn't our time together mean anything to you?" A voice Malty doesn't want to hear forces her to turn around and let out a sign. Sure enough, the Whip Hero is looking at her with his head cocked to the side. The little dragon and griffin girl standing on each of his sides, and his hand is running through their hair.
Chapter 12: Power of My Veterans
Ren takes a half step forward, not fully standing in front of Malty, but positions himself between Tact and herself. He didn't have to risk himself, but he still chooses to protect his friend's companion with his absence, and Malty feels grateful for the gesture. But she also knows that there is nothing the Sword Hero could do to stop the Whip Hero if Tact wanted to do anything. So she acts as submissive as possible, to not further provoke the arrogant fool. "Prince Tact. I'm not sure if you have heard the news, but I have given up my position as a princess of Melromarc. I am nothing but property to the Shield Hero now. I did not want to indignify your presence with mine."
"Don't sell yourself short, My Darling Malty. You are as sharp as the day I met you. We both know what your mother wanted to do with you when she took you to Faubley for that 'diplomatic trip'. She was going to sell you to my adopted 'father' for her own political gain. And for you to willingly give up your royal status and follow the Shield Hero." Tact raises his hand up from the heads of the little girls he was petting. Both of them glared at Malty, but the adopted Faubley prince paid them no mind. He extends out the index finger from his left hand, and wiggles it in front of the princess turned slave. "Better the property of a legendary hero, than a toy, maybe a trophy for a crusty, old king. Especially when said upstart is clearly head over heel, eating out of your hand. That's the game you are playing, isn't it?"
Malty doesn't say anything. Yes, that was definitely the game she played... at least at the start when she tried to get closer to the summoned heroes. Perhaps deep down, a part of her still feels this way even after growing to care for Naofumi. But her own feelings aren't important compared to what came out of the Whip Hero. He might act as the same arrogant, smug fool like Fuckboy, yet he could instantly figure out what she was thinking unlike the insane reincarnate. Prince Tact is letting her know that he is not a common, foolish and prideful noble scion. "Please forgive me for my impudence, my prince. But why are you telling me all this? I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. You have pointed out what I'm thinking, yet I have no idea what you want, what you think."
"Who knows? Maybe I want to either show off my superior intelligence, or show my generosity by revealing how much I understand you. Or maybe I want to let you know that the upstart Cardinal Heroes aren't the only ones who could offer you protection. Regardless, that's for me to know and you to make guesses, isn't it? Of all the women I met, you gave me the strongest impression after all." Tact walks over Ren, ignoring the way his fingers tighten around the hilt of his sword. He also walks over Malty, and stops by her right side. The Whip Hero places both of his hands on the edge of his airship as he leans outwards to look down at the ground below them. "Hmph. Looks like Lung is ready. You should take the time to observe what she can do. It'll help you know the limits of a fully grown hero."
Malty turns around to look down just like Tact. From the corner of her eyes, she notices Ren coming over to the edge of the airship as well. The Whip Hero didn't leave his own airship at the port like the regular ships, but at some private port inland. Supposedly a special construction for the nation of Faubley since they are the only nation wasteful enough to build these flying death traps. But after boarding the airship and flying for a few minutes, they have finally reached their way back to the battlefield at the northern edge of Cal Mira Island again. The struggle beneath them looks very different now they look down like a flying bird.
The gathered armies have stopped keeping back from the edge of the beach to leave out room to release their ranged attack. Every single formation, except those who were left behind as rear guards (in case the eastern Wave breaks through Menagerie Resort) have pressed north towards the edge of the beach, fighting Wave monsters at close range with their vanguard units. At the very front of them are both the Claw Hero, and Gauntlet Hero from Siltvelt. They didn't leave together with Tact. Out of the two Siltvelt Heroes, Lung is already stepping her toe into the edge of the water. Supposedly, the Princess of All Dragons has a way to bring more additional units onto the northern island without Tact's ship. Malty wonders if she is going to split the ocean apart with her hero weapon, or whatever power she has as an azure dragon.
Turns out Lung didn't split the ocean itself apart. Even for the Princess of All Dragons, such a feat is a borderline act of divinity that can't be achieved by mere mortals. What she did do was dip her claw into the sea, and created a path of solid ice all the way to the northern island. Malty can feel her own lower jaw dropping on the airship's wooden floor. She turns around to look at Ren. Even the normally aloof Sword Hero looks completely shocked by Lung's power. They are both shaked out of their stupor by a snort coming from Tact. "Don't act so surprised. Lung makes it look easy thanks to her azure dragon bloodline, but that's the kind of feat all heroes will eventually be able to achieve. And why does this world still need us even with its countless superhuman champions and mages."
Malty noticed Ren's fingers on the railing slowly coiling into his palm, turning his grab into a balled up fist. The Sword Hero doesn't say anything, but he is the most fiercely competitive out of the four of them when it comes to raw power. All this training to hold back his strength growth to make sure his body can adapt to and control his own power. On the other side, Prince Tact didn't waste anymore time with them, they turned around and Waved his hand goodbye, his two small monster turned girls quickly followed him. "Tell the helm: full speed ahead!"
Naofumi can barely open his eyes as strong gusts of wind blow into his eyes as air seeps through his pulled down face guard. Even with his supposed high defense, he can't control tears from coming out. Once again, he wishes he had a pair of goggles as his part of standard dress before his summoning to this world. The next part of his armor upgrade definitely needs to include some kind of eye protection. But he has to endure it, because he fears what might happen to Malty once she joins the battle against the Wave boss.
All of sudden, the wind in his face stops blowing. He blinks his eyelids a couple more times before opening his eyes fully. The Shield Hero realizes that they have come to a full stop, but there is no sign of battle anywhere around them. There's not even any sign of solid ground below their feet. He looks around, and sees the crimson tear in the sky, and the island underneath it is still... he can't tell how far away from them. But it's still clearly far enough that he doubts he could be thrown onto it even with the enhanced strength this world's people have. So he wonders how the situation changed to warrant this sudden stop. Jeanne, who was flying ahead of them, seemed to notice something wrong. She turns around, and stares at the peacock flying above Naofumi, her face looks stern without any sign of a smile. "What's the meaning of this, Brother Abel?"
"All I have to do to avenge my Father is to lose my grip around you now." The ice cold voice of Abaddon Abel above Naofumi makes hair stand on his back. Considering how violent the peacock acts and the devotion displayed to the dead Pope Balmus, he doubts it's an empty threat.
"You manipulative little liar! I'm not going to let you hurt Naofumi!" Motoyasu turns his head up, spins around his spear, and begins to furiously stab upwards in a completely misguided effort to kill their would-be murderer before they are killed.
"Stop it! Motoyasu! You are going to get both of us killed!" Naofumi can't say he's not afraid. He knows that people wanted to harm him after his false rape trial, and he got a much more intimate brush against death during his first real battle in the slum, and the Three Heroes' Church's betrayal after the Third Wave when two of his companions were killed. But right now, he is still calm enough to know that acting rash will only get himself... and Motoyasu killed sooner. "Calm down and think! What would happen if you actually hit the little psycho? All three of us get dropped into the sea and die!"
Thankfully, Motoyasu calms down and stops trying to stab Abaddon to death. Of course, he is still glaring daggers at their carrier and would be murderer. Jeanne stops right in front of Abel, about ten meters away from the three of them. The crazy peacock gives a self-satisfied smile to the swan. "It was a bad idea to let me carry the Shield Demon, sister. Yes, from a pure strategic sense, I am the better flier of us two with my [Peacock's Flight] spell. And you can focus on acting as the escort. But have you thought about what I would actually do to our Father's killer? You can't stop me if I throw myself into the sea, taking the life of the Shield Demon with my own and avenge our Father."
"Don't do it, Abel. You know this isn't what Father wanted. His goal was to find a way to save humans. He doesn't want you to avenge him, and cause the world's destruction. The death of even one Cardinal Hero would greatly weaken our world's ability to resist the Wave of Catastrophe. What do you think if you kill two of them, while we already sensed a powerful demon breaching our world?" Jeanne didn't try to rush down Abel. Instead, she slowly puts her weapon away, while holding her hands up in a placating manner. Clearly trying to de-escalate the situation and calm down the crazy peacock first.
"What about what I wanted!?" Naofumi looks up at the crazy peacock. He sees Abel baring teeth at Jeanne. Not looking ready to stand down any time soon. "You weren't there, big sister! You didn't see what I saw in that battle! I watched these monsters kill our Father from start to finish, not even allowed to fight for him, or die alongside him! Father is the only reason we are all alive! Not these other humans who only use us like their meat shields, and run us around as slaves! And all of them were fine to desecrate his body, tear his soul apart till the ghost of that so-called saint made his appearance! So tell me, Big Sister. Why should I care about any of them when my father isn't even around anymore!?"
Naofumi can't fully understand what the crazy peacock is going through. He is not exactly... close with his father, or his mother. He's not even that close with Takeru till the last few weeks before his summoning. While he was the first son of the Iwatani family, his parents were always treating him more as a disappointment. And deep down, a part of himself wonders if that's why they had Takeru a few years after. Compared to their good son Takeru, he always feels like an afterthought. How would he feel if someone killed his father in front of his eyes? Would he want to rip the murderer apart with his own hands even if he has to die as well? Probably... not? But he would definitely want that fucker thrown in jail and rot for the rest of his life.
And what about someone who hurts his companions who would be willing to give everything for him? He doesn't even think hard about it. He was already seeing red earlier, and ready to strangle his annoying fan when he started talking trash about Malty. It would be entirely hypocritical if he forces someone to not do what he already did. But this world... and all the people who depend on him... he begins to speak before his mind even registered it. "I can't pretend I understand what the two of you went through..."
"Of course you can't! A summoned hero like you could never understand someone who was told that we shouldn't even be born! That our very existence is a sin to the gods!" Naofumi could feel Abel's piercing glare on him even without looking up. "You think all these so-called 'innocent people' would lift a finger to help someone like us if we are just some common slum rats? They would be throwing rocks at any demi-human not from some gang! Or get strong, and steal enough coins to get their adventurer's license! Father was the only one who treated us like people, no different from a human! And you murdered him! Tell me, Lord Shield Hero. Why should I care about you, or anyone else living in this shit hole of a world?!"
"That is quite enough, Abaddon Abel! Have you forgotten what your father told us before he left with Master Shirou's spirit?! He told us to live the life of the righteous!" Jeanne's voice becomes harsh, no longer trying to cater to Abel's feelings. "Acts of Good aren't always wise, acts of evil aren't always foolish. Regardless, we must always strive to be good. That's the tenant all of us live by, even if we are no longer part of the church! You will be my brother no longer, if you keep going against our father's last wish just to make yourself feel better!"
Naofumi didn't pay Jeanne any attention. He looks up, staring at Abel right in the eyes. There's no backing out the moment he decided to have the two of them fly himself and Motoyasu over to where the Wave opened up. "I can't understand you completely. But I can understand your anger. I can't hold my own anger back when people try to harm my friends, even if they are only 'trying to help'. I can't stop you from trying to avenge your father. I can't even blame you for doing it. But can you do it when the world isn't in danger? Wait till we stop the Wave of Catastrophe. At least wait till we finish this ongoing Wave battle. There's a chance I'll die in the Wave, and if not... you can always try to avenge your father after it's over and we aren't risking everyone else with our personal grudges."
"You... you are trying to postpone it. Because you know how fast your power will grow as a hero! Or you'll have your lackeys protect you!" Abel's eyes twitch. While that's not the real reason behind Naofumi's suggestion, he does agree with the crazy peacock's reasoning. A much later confrontation with Abel would overwhelmingly benefit himself and tip the outcome of their battle in his favor. But before he, Motoyasu, or Jeanne has a chance to say anything, Abel continues moving forward at the northern island where the Wave opened up. "Don't get it wrong, Shield Hero. I'm doing this for my father, not you. You better not die fighting the Wave. Only I'm allowed to kill you to avenge my father."
The airship opens up its cannon, and releases a barrage of broadside blasts at the tide of monsters below them on the beach of the northern island. But a wave of explosions isn't the only thing the cannonballs caused. A wall of fire rises up after the initial detonations, continuing to harvest the lives of Wave-spawn going south. Malty swings her head over to look at Prince Tact. "Enchanted cannons? You found ways to seal magic spells into cannons, without it blowing up in your face?"
"What can I say? I'm a genius." The Whip Hero points his index finger at his own head. For the first time, his own self-satisfied smirk doesn't look completely arrogant. "Not the actual cannons, but it's ammunition. Create a defensive sealing glyph at the tip of the warhead to cut off the circulation of the volatile attack spell work behind it. And as the warhead hits its target, the defensive seal breaks from the explosion inside, and let the sealed off attack spell detonate as the firework starts, easy peasy. Of course, it's a bitch to get the enchantment just right to make sure it doesn't explode in storage, but it also works just right to make the spell go off right after the blast. So they have to be hand crafted by masters, and can't be left to the work of amateurs on an assembly line."
Malty has no words to say back to the self-proclaimed genius. In a way, Prince Tact's smugness is earned this time, for he has solved one of the biggest problems holding gunpowder weaponry back: its low damage ceiling. Unlike most standard weapons that have stats scaling linked with its user and have its highest damage potential literally be 'sky's the limit', firearms rely solely on the amount of explosives that can be stuffed into the pellet and cannonballs, and its resulting alchemical reaction. And in spite of research put into it by different alchemists, this amount is still vastly lower than a prestige level rank fighter, or mage could achieve. Which makes them an inferior weapon for skilled, high level fighters in spite of the countless innovations provided by generations of summoned heroes.
If the only limitation to firearms is its low damage ceiling, it could still have found a niche. Gadget based weapons, such as crossbows and ballista also have a similar problem after all. But they are still useful tools for low level conscripts, especially during siege warfare. Unfortunately for any gun powder and explosion lovers, the trouble doesn't stop there. The volatile nature of their firing mechanism, and ammunition makes them unviable for magical enchantment to grant them additional power, or mechanism-like gadget based weapons such as crossbow and ballista bolts and making them easy targets for enemy infiltrators. And the complex nature of their build makes them much harder to assemble compared to gadget weapons, making them not economically viable to equip large numbers of new conscripts and low leveled soldiers en masse for any but the most wealthy and well supplied nations.
That was how General Isshin defeated the Faubley army at the end of The Great War and saved Siltvelt. The cunning warlord lay down a well fortified defensive line at the edge of Siltvelt border, forcing the bulk of under trained and under leveled Faubley conscript army into a war of attrition to tire them out and lower their morale. And once they were exhausted, he sent in his infiltrators to torch the ammunition depot of the Faubley army, causing major panic among the freshly recruited soldiers before letting loose his elite cavalry unit. Triggering a full rout of the much more numerous Faubley army, and had them trample most of their own numbers to death. The resulting loss of lives ... and more importantly, the loss of resources to equip their firearm based army successfully brought the Faubley nobility onto the negotiation table, rather than embolden them to continue their war to fully invade, and maybe conquer Siltvelt.
Yet somehow, the Whip Hero found a way to break through what's considered the limitation holding back firearm weaponry. Not without making sacrifices on other fronts, of course. The need for individual enchantment and glyph carving onto each and every ammunition would drive its cost even higher. And the enchanted warhead would make it an even more enticing target for enemy infiltrators to detonate. But the former first princess of Melromarc could still see its usefulness soaring into the sky for siege warfare, and target bombardment. At the very least, they would be useful in Wave battles when their enemies are unthinking monsters.
"How would our own troops make it through this field of fire?" Ren's question brings Malty out of her own thoughts. She turns to look at Prince Tact just like the Sword Hero. For his part, Whip Hero's smirk grows wider as he points his finger downwards, as if telling both Ren and Malty to watch and learn. Malty looks down once again, and realizes the figure Tact is pointing at is none other than Lung.
The Claw Hero had created a bridge of ice extending from the main Cal Mira Island to the northern island where the Wave opened up. Hundredth, possibly a thousand Wave spawn were frozen solid underneath the pathway. But many times more were still rushing their way towards the Cal Mira Island defense line on both sides of this passage. So Gauntlet Hero and herself have each walked into the bottom of the ocean, making their way towards the Wave tear underwater, while protecting the side of Lung's ice bridge from the Wave monsters still alive. Right now, both of them are slowly emerging up from the ocean onto the beach of the northern island. It might simply be Malty's imagination, but she could swear that the water on both sides of the ice passage has been dyed a dark shade of scarlet.
Right now, The Princess of All Dragons holds the claw on her right hand upwards. Each blade is as long as a sword. A thin, but noticeable shin of gold glows all over her body, around every strand of her long, luscious dark hair as it begins to flow upwards just like her battle dress, defying gravity itself. All of sudden, the field of fire burning in front of her begins to move towards her claw, as if suddenly grown to be sentient. "Bugs should learn their place and crawl in the dark underwood. Heavenly Dragon First Sword - Flame Dragon Scorching City!"
Lung bends her clawed hand slightly to the back, before pushing her arm forward. The fire coiled around her weapon, condensed into white hot glow surges forward. Growing into the form of an elongated serpent dragon as the fire dragon opens its mouth at the incoming Wave of monsters. Malty quickly closes her eyes, and holds her own arms in front of her. It didn't stop her darkened vision suddenly turning into a field of white. As her eyes slowly recovers, the princess turned slave slowly puts her arms down and opens her eyes again. The horde of monsters in front of her are gone almost as far as eyes can see, and the landscape of the island has been turned into blackened wasteland. She begins to get a solid grasp on the Princess of All Dragon's power, and why Lung would be prideful enough to consider Malty herself a 'lesser being'. That is the kind of power she read in history records - the pinnacle of a hero's power. And why do they still demand respect even when champions of the nation, and the pantheon could achieve their near demi-god like status?
"Our turn now. Don't let Siltvelt look down on the elites from Noble Faubley and Fair Shiltfreeden! Disembark, create a beachhead defense line!" The command of Prince Tact elicited a Wave of cheer from the countless women aboard his airship. Warriors jump off the edge of the airship before it even fully settles down into the bay, mages Wave their hands and magical catalysts, creating fortifications of solid stone out of sand on the beach. Heavy firearms, cannons and crates of ammunition are tossed overboard. They were quickly re-arranged into a defensive line behind the earth barriers. The Whip Hero himself descends his airship once it settles down on water, and deploys the board. Malty and Ren follow right after him. The arrogant prince looks back at the two of them over his shoulder, and gives them one more smirk. "Stay behind my back if things get tough. This is only the fourth Wave. It wouldn't be too much fun if you upstarts get killed too quickly."
Ren's fist tightens around the hilt of his sword. Malty quickly places one hand on his shoulder. This is not a good time to lose his cool. As Tact's female subordinates are still busy themselves building the defensive line, and the majority of their troops making their way over Lung's ice passage, the Whip Hero joins the ranks of Dio the Gauntlet Hero, and Lung the Claw Hero. In front of them over the distance, another horde of monsters make their way over. Unlike the previous one that look like eldritch creatures from the deep, this group is much more familiar looking but not any less grotesque: crimson colored arachnids, shuffling on their eight stilt-like legs. Even the smallest is about the same size as a grown human, the largest easily stands above a castle. Their bodies are like a carpet, completely covering the scorched black earth. Lung opens her mouth, and Malty can hear the smirk in her voice. "Pretty bad odds."
"Yes. They don't stand a chance." Prince Tact lets out a sneer as he releases his hold on his weapon. The star whip twitches as if having a life of its own, and extends out towards the army of spiders. Its tip suddenly split apart into countless strands, each turning into a dark, venomous snake as they collided against the horde of spiders. "[Black Fang Nebula]."
With his ability alone, the Whip Hero managed to hold back a good portion of the smaller spiders. But the giant ones easily walk over the battlefield between the arachnids and snakes, and begin to advance on the beachhead of Prince Tact's subordinates. Some of them quickly man the heavy muskets, and cannons, pouring lines of explosive fire onto their target. They don't look to be very effective as both bullets and shells simply bounce off, or crack uselessly on the monster's thick carapaces. Lung acts first, dash forward and leap onto heads of one giant spider. She digs her thick claws right through her target's thick carapace, making the monster let out a loud screech of pain. Its external armor doesn't seem to offer any protection against Lung's Star Claw. Some of Tact's female subordinates seem inspired by Lung's example. They pull out their melee weapons, and charge forward after her. Their weapons aren't as strong, but they still work well enough together cutting through the joint of the giant spiders, immobilizing them first, before killing them. But in spite of their effort, there are simply too many giant spiders coming forward, and some of them begin to close in on their defensive line, or Lung's ice bridge.
"I'm going in. You stay back, Malty." Ren gives a quick warning to Malty, looking ready to run off and join the battle himself.
"Wait!" To Malty's surprise, the one that spoke up to stop Ren, was none other than Gaelion. The dragon lord, still taking the form of a pygmy dragon, flies in front of both Ren and Malty. His head focused in the direction where the crimson dimensional tear opened up in the distance. The princess turned adventurer doesn't consider herself a good reader of draconic facial expression. But something in Gaelion's eyes looks deeply concerned. "This malicious aura... it reminds me of our father Gaia. I don't think the Wave boss is what we expected."
"Are you saying someone summoned another god like Lautrec from the last Wave?" Ren's body freezes in the middle of him breaking into a sprint. He looks rather funny with the position of his body, but Malty doesn't feel like laughing. She still remembered how Lautrec's goddess tore through some of Melromarc's best fighters, and her desperate scramble to run away from the goddess who tried to kill her. Not to mention all the people who were hurt afterwards... and how Kyubey and Farkas died due to the goddess' actions. She really doesn't want to have a repeat of the same situation. "If we are facing a god, should we tell everyone to run for our lives?"
Malty can't tell if the Sword Hero is being serious, or sarcastic. They really don't have anywhere to run when the Wave of Catastrophe would eventually destroy the world if left unchecked. But considering the power demonstrated by Lautrec's goddess... She doesn't feel optimistic about their ability to triumph over a goddess either.
"No... not quite a god. Not in the truest sense of a being who had carved out their divine sphere and became one with the world. Something more like our father, or the avatar of Alaya the Shield boy and the little princess faced: an earthbound deity. But not one native to our world... strange. Why would an earthbound deity leave their own world... unless they were taken by someone?" Gaelion blinks his eyes a couple of times, his face looking resolute. "Don't give up just yet. If this really is an earthbound deity... they would be facing a severe penalty for breaching into a world they don't belong to. We still have a chance to win!"
Ren didn't say anything else. With one last nod, he runs forward to fight the giant spiders with Gaelion flying behind him. Malty looks around, and sees the vanguard of their army have made about two-thirds of the way through the ice bridge. They need to hold maybe another five to ten minutes before more of their forces would make it through. Of course, it won't be as easy as thinking about it in her own head. Dio the Gauntlet Hero hasn't joined the battle yet, choosing to stay right in front of the ice bridge to defend the pathway for their reinforcements.
Once again, Malty calls to her newly mastered water magic, forming one glob of water over each of her hands. She doesn't know how long this Wave battle will last, and she needs to plan for a battle of attrition. The much more subdued water spell will be the better option here. But before she has a chance to think about directing either of her [Hydro Sphere] forward, a loud rumble suddenly rocks her down, making her lose focus and have her spell crumble back onto the sand. She turns around, seeing Dio holding his hand towards the crater in front of her. Her paranoia of the Gauntlet aiming for her head just like the Throwing Weapon Hero only lasted a brief second when she noticed the crimson blood seeping through the sand, and a dozen spiders burrowing out of the ground. The Wave monsters have managed to go through the Whip Hero's snakes by going underground.
Malty didn't have any time to complain, or even think of a complex strategy. Her body moved before her mind, directing the sea water behind her forward, stringing it like a Wave of thin blades across the faces of the spiders in front of her. They recoil back from her attacks, and are knocked flying back like cannonballs when Dio barrels into them with his fist and foot. The Gauntlet Hero's method of attack reminds her of a certain dead and unmourned battle saint of Four Heroes' Church. Brutal, yet effective. Yet despite quickly dispatching the squad of underground assassins, Dio doesn't look relaxed. In fact, his face seems to look even more grim than before as he bends his knees downwards, and then starts to release punches into the air. The princess turned slave lookup, and saw dark spots falling down towards them. They are only the sizes of a grown man's fist at first, but quickly begin to enlarge, like falling meteors.
That quickly thought out metaphor turns out to be very fitting in the most literal sense, as countless chunks of rocks, and clumps of earth explode midair from Dio's air punches. For a brief moment, Malty wonders if some of the monsters, maybe even demons working for the Burning Legion have used some kind of earth magic against them. But then she takes a good look in the distance, and sees the giant spiders using their webs to fling shot large chunks of earth and carved up stone at them. Dio's words are short and to the point. "They are trying to carve up the island. LUNG!"
Any sense of doubts Malty might have of these monsters lacking organization and strategy raised by Dumbledore is thrown out of her head. Not only are these giant spiders using their natural abilities to bombard their newly established defensive line, they are carving up the battlefield as well, trying to bog down the advancement of their reinforcements, maybe even sink them down into the ocean if they manage to shatter this island. The Claw Hero turns her head around, first to look back at Dio, and then at the direction he is pointing at. Even from a distance, Malty could see her face turning into a snarl as Lung kicked off from the giant spider she was killing to jump back onto the beach. Antlers grow out from the sides of Lung's head near her ears, and Malty notices her eyes turn golden as well.
Something that sounds explosive behind Malty makes the princess turned slave look back. She sees a large tide of water, taller than any tower, and wider than any wall she had ever seen in her life. It makes the former first princess of Melromarc feel small, much smaller than she ever felt even when she was a fugitive running away from Three Heroes' Church's prosecution with Naofumi. It honestly gives her the impression that the world is ending at this current Wave. Lung jumps onto the tip of the tide, and rides it forward like a giant behemoth from the ancient time of myth. The wave of water arcs over the battlefield where everyone is busy fighting the army of spiders, almost like they are all submerged under the ocean, and then crash onto the ground where the giant spiders were throwing carved chunks of the island at them, washing them away like they are no different from their common household relatives.
Lung's attack managed to stop the giant spiders from tearing apart the island and bombarding their line, but with her absence, the giant spiders managed to advance onto the beach and begin to wreak havoc around the newly constructed defensive line. All around Malty, the sound of pained screams are mixed with explosions, the volatile nature of firearms causing more problems than they were worth as the giant spiders ravages both the terrain, and the people. Malty quickly finds that her magic doesn't have as much effect on these giants as their much smaller variance. As her water spell simply splashes apart, and her fire dies out on their carapaces.
A sudden flash of light makes her recoil back, and she feels herself covered in fetid fluids. She wipes the rancid liquid off her face and blinks her face open again, seeing a large, well muscled man with long silver hair standing in front of her. His eyebrows sharp like a sword, eyes large and almost glow with eagerness. He wears a set of loose jackets and pants, showing off his well built and tanned chest. He holds a giant, single bladed saber, and right now he's resting the thick spine of his weapon on his shoulder. The white haired man smirks at her, reminding her of a certain Faubley prince she recently had the 'pleasure' of reconnecting. "Well, would you look at that? It's always a pleasure making acquaintance with a beautiful lady."
"I might have been more appreciative of the effort if you didn't splash me with a rancid bath." Malty narrows her eyes and returns the man with a dry reply. After her experience with Prince Tact (and Fuckboy, to a lesser extent), she had come to know men like this well. Full of themselves, thinking they are the chief god's gifts to beautiful women everywhere.
"Stop fucking around! Tenzen!" For the first time, Dio's voice sounds angry as opposed to merely sounding deep. "This is a life and death battle! If you want to fuck around and play woman, go home! Go grab Lung back, she's weakened after using a powerful sanjutsu like this."
"Tisk~ Uncle Dio can be such a killjoy. Well, duty calls. I'll see you later, my pretty." The now named Tenzen gives Malty another wink as he runs forward, cutting a path of visceral blood and gore with his cleaver. Malty looks at the Gauntlet Hero, but Lord Dio doesn't look like he's going to further explain the relationship he has with this newcomer. Are they truly related by blood, or are they simply a pair of mentors who are close enough like family yet completely unrelated like the one Malty shares with her (definitely not blood related) Uncle Aldrecht? She suppose it doesn't matter in the end, as they are still locked in a deadly battle against the Wave spawns.
Her spells are useless against the carapace of the giant spiders, who she assumes are the mature form of the much smaller spiders Tact is busy holding back. But they aren't unbeatable as shown by how easy Lung had dispatched them. Even Tact's female subordinates can take them down when they work together and focus on attacking the seams between their joints where their armor is weak. What she needs right now isn't unfocused power, but well-controlled precision like Uncle Aldrecht always emphasizes on.
Once again, Malty concentrates on her water magic. Her affinity with this element still isn't as instinctual as with fire, but they are much more malleable by nature. Instead of simply having them gather in a floating globe, she begins to actively shape them. Making the constructed [Hydro Sphere] flat, and then have it rapidly spin like a spinning blade. Hydro disk? Or Hydro saw? She suppose a name isn't the most important thing at this moment either. With the new spell work completed, she guides it forward, cutting into one of the giant spider's joints. It doesn't immediately get torn apart by her magic. The movement of its leg is slightly slowed, but her new water spell clearly wasn't strong enough to cause major lasting damage unlike a solid blade. She needs it to be even thinner, spin even faster... something her fine control of her water element still isn't precise enough to achieve.
What if she throws in her fire spell on top of it? Malty doesn't hesitate as she gathers a bundle of flame over her left hand, shaping it into a long needle and throws it forward like javelin towards her still spinning water blade. The two counter elements hit together, and the water disk and fire arrow quickly turns into uncontrolled steam and heat. This time, the body of the giant spider lets out a twitch and ear piercing screech. Her water blade wasn't powerful enough to cut through its joint, but it clearly did enough damage that it exposed the unprotected tissues inside, letting the uncontrolled steam and heat do its damage.
The giant spider turns around, clearly noticed Malty by this point. It moves towards her, no doubt with the intention to crush her like a bug. But before it reaches her, she hears the sound of something dropping from overhead. She briefly wonders if Lung missed some of the giant arachnids tossing broken chunks of the island at them when a dark silhouette crushes into the head of the spider, smashing its face in with his red flail. "Get away from MALTY!"
End Note:
We are slowly getting into the meat of 4th wave, although for this chapter Malty and the Cardinal Heroes still aren't getting the spot light. As this wave battle is meant to setup the vassal heroes in both showing their power, and showing them have a little bit more depth to them than previously implied, In whipping boy's case. Yeah, Whipping Boy isn't a 100% dickhead and he doesn't have some smarts with him. He's only mostly a dickhead. But anyways, Naofumi and Motoyasu have rejoined Malty on the frontline by this chapter's end.
And of course, I get a chance to once again show Motoyasu's simple mindset isn't good for all situations where in his eager to defend Naofumi, he almost killed Naofumi and himself instead.