Chapter Thirty-Five: Naofumi Vs. Bitch, Part Two, Wrath
Naofumi went stock still.
Myne got back up, laughing into her hand bitchily.
Her laugh faded into the background. The voices of the knights, Raphtalia, Motoyasu, and everyone else faded away. When he looked up, there was no one around him. The weight of the foot pressing down on top of him, the pain in his arm and gut, everything had disappeared. Even the wall and buildings.
"No…" He was alone. All alone now.
...
Crack! "Auhhhhhh!"
He could see it. He could hear it.
The shadows to the front right of him parted. A grown Raphtalia was hung up, her hands tied to shackles she had described to him on a bad night in her teenage days. Besides rags that covered only the essentials, her body was exposed to the crack of a glass-sharded whip. Her exposed flesh was torn and bloodied. Blood dripped slowly onto the stone beneath her.
"Please, Idol, stop-" Crack! "Ah! Nao-" Crack! "AH! Naofumi!" She cried to him in pain as the whip struck across her back again and again.
"No... Raphtalia-" He weakly reached out for her silhouette. He had to stop this. He had to help her...
Crack! "AHHHHHHHHHH!" A large splash of blood hit the ground behind her.
"No-" He reached out, but his hand passed through Shadows. He stumbled to the ground. The scene had already disappeared around him.
"Raph…" Tears pricked at his eyes. "Talia…"
Another silhouette started to appear in front of him to his left.
"Gah! Dad- Daddy!" Filo cried. She had a brace stuck to her ankle, keeping her stuck in her little kid form. She was tied down to a table. Rope bound her feet and wrists together. A creepy old man that looked a lot like Firo stood behind her. Cranking a lever, laughing maniacally as the poor little girl's body was stretched taut by two hooks pulling the rope binding her in different directions.
"PLEASE! STOP! FILO HURTS- AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Without being able to transform, Filo could only scream as she was tortured.
"Yes, this will provide me with excellent insight into your unique species!" Firo cackled maniacally. "Let's see how far you can grow without your magic helping you!"
"No, please-" Naofumi collapsed to the ground. "Please, stop this…"
Filo's pleading was already fading away. Along with Firo's maniacal laughter. Disappearing into the swirling shadows around him.
More silhouettes appeared around him. And Naofumi curled into the fetal position. He covered his face with his hands.
"Sir Naofumi!"
"Naofumi!"
"Help us!"
"Please!"
"HELP!"
He shut his eyes tight, too pained already to want to see what Melty and Eclair were being put through. Too pained to see how they were suffering because of him. Because he had failed.
It was too much.
Far too much.
"Please, make it stop!" He yelled to the shadows around him.
"Sir Naofumi!"
"Naofumi!"
"Daddy!"
"Master Naofumi!"
Stop the pain.
Stop the agony.
He already had no hope left.
He just wanted it to end! He wanted them to stop hurting them!
"MAKE IT STOPPPPPPPPPPP!"
The screams all around him stopped.
…
Naofumi opened his eyes.
The shadows surrounded him. Dark shadows swallowed up everything except the circle of area he was in. He shakily stood up.
Somehow, he recognized it. Even though he'd only been here briefly. Even though he hadn't been in his right mind. He knew this place. This area of his mind he'd tried so hard to cordon off.
He looked down at his shield. It was in its default form. But now, the gemstone on it had red flames coming off it.
It was real. He was finally back here.
"Wh… what's…" Naofumi was speechless.
D̸̬̻͂$̵̖͉͖̤̱̦̉̈́͜͝ ̷̞͕͉̋͘ŷ̸͇͍̳̌̐͝͝#̶͉̈̎+̸̜̩͔̬̺́̀̚ ̴̱̹̤̻̝͖̿̈́̋̃͛̎̚ś̶̠̙̫̘͑̌̓̈̚͘)̶̢͍̮̭̎̌͊͒͠)̸̛̥̭͊̽̄̇̿͘k̷̗͒̂̐͠ ̴̪̰͎̪̪͈̏p̷͖̖͗͛*̵͙̺͂̓͠w̵͕̮̣̟̔̈̾̚ͅ#̷̗̑̀̑̾͋͠r̸͎͍̎́̃̃̅̏͠?̷̬̪̲̀̈́̃
Messed up text, colored in red, appeared in front of Naofumi.
"What, no... no, I-" Before he could finish answering, screens appeared from the darkness around him. On them, images raced across like cutscenes from an anime.
Eclair was placed back in her terrible dark cell to live out the rest of her days all alone. She curled into a fetal position on her hard stone bed. All alone, all forgotten. With no one to save her.
Princess Melty was placed in a room with her older sister. Who 'accidentally' killed her with a fire spell while attempting to remove the brainwashing she was under. She laughed in the image after that.
Melty's large dead eyes stared at nothing.
Filo and Raphtalia were lying on the ground. Raphtalia was covered in whip marks. Filo was missing her limbs. Both of them were lying in pools of blood. Their glassy eyes stared up into nothingness.
"No…" Because he'd failed...
'Again… am I… about to lose it all again?' Were the people that trusted in him going to be taken away by those who hated him?
Ḍ̸̨̝̟̜̯̻̗$̶̩̲̱̠̬̗̤̼̇̀̽ ̷̮̭̲̏̊͒̽̿y̶̫̹̫͍̼͕̱#̶͚̼͊̋̄+̸̨̠̬̝̥͓͉̿͑̀͜ ̸̧͖͓̞̮̜̺͒̇s̷̡̰͚̺͍̭̺̔̂̍)̵̲̺̘̦̞̟̑͊̆̀)̶̮͕̼͚̝̜̬͆̾̏̈k̷̫̣͎̦̙͔̲̲̄̈́ ̵̪̝̤̼̹̘͔̉̈p̷̼̀̾*̵͉͂̓͂̑ẅ̴̧̖͎̥̻#̶͉̤̻̪̮̃͋́͆͌̀ŕ̸̙͉̥̱͎̖̉?̵̧̼́̋̎̂̈̕͝
The messed up text, colored in red, appeared in front of Naofumi again.
The images changed. Now he was seeing everything that had happened since he'd been summoned to this world. Every wrong that had been dealt to him. Every harsh word that he'd heard said about him. Every glare, every suspicious glance, every little thing he'd had to deal with... all because he was the Shield Hero.
...
...
...
Ḑ̴̨̪͙̩̯̻̫͖̮̥͍͓̬͈̲͉̩̱͍̻̻̣̲̩̑͆̋̓̏̅̾̽̓̇̅̏͑̈͂̒̋́̋̈̐͌̏̓͆̔̚̚͘$̸̯̤̙̳͉̭͓̪̰͔̻̲̤͔̮͉̠̯̄̈́̋̾̈́͂̈͛̀̀̀̎̓̂̈́̃͘̚͘͝ ̴̺̲̽͆̎̋̈͌͋̈́̏̒̇͛̕̕͝ẏ̷̧̭̘̙̩̫͖͇̙̳͔̭̥̫̥͓̻̮̤̻̱̻̥͇̭͛̈̽̔͛̈̏̉̉̑͑̏̃̇͆̈́̋̓̇͐̾̑͐͝ͅ#̷̡͕̣͓̟͕̯͇̼͉͉̠̽̀̎̆̈̋́̓̾͊̕͠+̶̢̡̧̧̥͉̺̹̩͕͙̺̲̜̘͉̱̗͙̯̦̝̗̼̦̼̈́̃͌̀̅̓͂́̚͠ͅ ̸̛̳̖͇͈̙̫̠̺͋̍̾͊͛̏̐́͆͐̿̈́̏̐͘͝ṣ̷̢̛͍͉̤̩͕̺̳̣̮͎͓̮̗̪̩͎̖̻̮̜̽̽̂͛́͊̿̓͒͌)̸̨̢̦̯̠̭͎͎͍͖͙͓̖̼̫̗̟̞̦̮͔͒͐̄̀̎͊̅̀́̍̍̀̉̂͋͘͘͘͜͜͠ͅ)̵̧͔͔̞̪͉͍̺͙̩͓̼̗͖̹̺̥̜̗̘̞̣̺̣͉̣̀̽͊̀͘͝ͅk̵̛̜̠̮̯̱̮̝̰̦̹̮̦̭̽̐͌̍͑̔̽̅̓͂͂̒͌͐̄͜͝͠ ̵̢̡̬̫͕͉͓̞̲͓͕̦͙̟̬̅͆̒͐͋̇̓̒̈́͘ͅp̶̨̧̨̡̨̨̡̩̤̬͚̭̦͕͖͈͓̦̞̘̠̼̖͖͈̺͇̩̐̀̈́́͊̒͐̄̿̒͛̄̾̑̇̀͝*̵̨͔̲̩̖͕̮͉̣̠͐͐̄̈́̽̐̓́̌̑́͒́̒̐̏̋̎͋̂͒͌̈́͑̐͒̈͠͝w̵̧̲̹͈̯̞̞͍̘̗̰͈̻͇̗̭͐̔͂͗͛̔ͅ#̸̣̃͌͆̾̽̈́̏͆̈́́͐̏̓̌̋̓͆̒̚̕r̴̢̢̧̢̖̺̩̩̻̝̭̻̟̯̙͔̪̼̱̪̤͈̦̦̠̗̄̃̽͒̀͂̍̉̚̚͜ͅ?̷̧̝̩̞̳̬͎̼̮͔̺͕̲̟͙͉́͗͗͗͒͊̿͘͜͝͝ͅ
...
...
"I… I..." He sounded less sure than before. 'Is this world…'
Shadows condensed into people walking by him. The followers of the Three Heroes Church. Every Church Knight that had called him a devil. Every priest that had tried to slam a door in his face. Every nun that had looked at him harshly. Altara and her fellow cohorts.
He remained silent as these shadows walked amongst him. On the screens, more images were passing by. Images of memories he'd almost forgotten. Images of Firo the Beast Tamer calling him a devil. Images of the Church Shadows who'd tried to kill him and his party. Images of the people he overheard in the villages he helped, even some of the customers he sold medicine to, talking about how horrible the Shield Demon they'd never met was.
All on the basis of a few rumors they'd heard… all because their country's religion had said so.
...
...
D̵̢̧̧̢̧̞̣͓̲̰̟͙̜͍̟̭̮̜̗̣̰̃̀͋̎͑̈́̀͒͗̉͋̉͂̔̈͐̀̚͠$̶̛̭̦̗̗͍̹͚̥͈͕͓̰͈̫̜̭̟̟̘̤͖̲̎͑̉͛̓̈̓̀̌̆͐̄͗̇͗͐̕̕͜ ̷̢̢̡̛̖̜̟͖͔͍̤̪̣͕̞͚͕̩͈̞̼̮̮̹̘̲͐̌͑͋̀̐̾̊̀̔͝͝͝ͅy̴̡̢̡̼̤̬͕͕̗͇̻̣͓̹̭͓̯̱̦͉̦̬͉̑͋̄̀͑͐͋ͅͅͅ#̵̢̧̪͙̤̦̰̞̺̙͔̦̺͓̼̼̩̘̩̰̗͉͙̞̘̤͊́̾̌̆͛̓̈́́͌̄̐͐͆̒͗͋̚͘͜͜ͅ+̷̛͖̠̭̙̣̬̤̼̺̥̤̱͉̝͙̺̪͑̃͒̈́͛̄͊̆͐̔̊̽̀͑͆́̌̌͐̕͘͝͝͝͠͝͝ ̶̲̜͕̰̏̉͂̿̓̂̔͆̊́́̈́̓͛̑͛̾̈́̆̕̚̚͝͝ș̷̢̨̧̲̰̰̟̼̣̮̥̯̹̪͍̏ͅ)̵̮͉̠̝̜̟͈̬̻̠̺̬̪̺̱͖̙̫͒ͅͅ)̸̧̮͈̳̖̘͕͖̻͍̬͖͔̩̰͐̄͋̅̆̊͌̀͛̔̌͋́̊̈́̏̈́͝͝ͅķ̷̡̥̞͍̩̰͎͈̭̯̯̟͚̙̠̳͗̔̋̈̏̀̈́̄̃͊́́̇́̀̎̎̑̍͐̚̚͘͜͜͠͝͝͠ͅͅ ̷̧͙̥̮̼̙̀̌͋̐̈́͒̃̅̾̾̃͗̏̑̄̈͊̅̀́̕̚͝͝͝p̷̨̡̞̤̗̳̖̦͉̪̺̬̖͔̺̺̜̭͕̜̞̰̱͙̲͚̘̃̋̓̔̀̎̆̏̉͊̇͐̏̑̾͊̊̌̆̊͌͘͜͠͝ͅ*̸̼̮̟͔̗̃̄̆́̀̾́̆̔̽̽͝w̶͍͉̣͕̓̈́͌̀̆̃͂̍̀͊̇̈́̈́͗̊̄̍̅̅͛̏͝͠͠#̴̢̨̥̩͍̘̺̼͕̽̊͆ͅŗ̸̛̖̗̺̻̝̮̗̥̀̈́̐̍̒̅̅̍̀̈́́́͝?̷̧̢̛̣̝̖͎͕͙̲̦̤̰̘̲͔̫̥̭̮̰̜͖͎̯̝̾͊͊̐͂͛̂͐͆͑̃̒̈͌̾̿͑̑̈͆̅̅͝
...
...
Finally, came the worst of them all. The last images and one of the shadows around him took the form of the one he despised the most. The one at the center of it all. The Bitch herself.
"Ahahaha!" The Bitch shadow laughed into her hand bitchily.
He hated the way she laughed, the way she breathed, the way she'd tried to have him crushed on his first day in this new world. He hated her. He hated everything about her. And the Church knights, nuns, priests, and all the shadows around him laughed just like her.
'Are they… are they going to try and take everything from me again?!'
The Hope and determination he'd felt so strongly before... what little he had left drained away. Leaving a void of dreams and ambitions that had come to naught. All his hard work had failed.
He had failed.
Those he trusted were already as good as dead. And now, the only thing that could fill this void, the only thing that he had left was…
...
...
D̵̢̧̧̢̧̞̣͓̲̰̟͙̜͍̟̭̮̜̗̣̰̃̀͋̎͑̈́̀͒͗̉͋̉͂̔̈͐̀̚͠$̶̛̭̦̗̗͍̹͚̥͈͕͓̰͈̫̜̭̟̟̘̤͖̲̎͑̉͛̓̈̓̀̌̆͐̄͗̇͗͐̕̕͜ ̷̢̢̡̛̖̜̟͖͔͍̤̪̣͕̞͚͕̩͈̞̼̮̮̹̘̲͐̌͑͋̀̐̾̊̀̔͝͝͝ͅy̴̡̢̡̼̤̬͕͕̗͇̻̣͓̹̭͓̯̱̦͉̦̬͉̑͋̄̀͑͐͋ͅͅͅ#̵̢̧̪͙̤̦̰̞̺̙͔̦̺͓̼̼̩̘̩̰̗͉͙̞̘̤͊́̾̌̆͛̓̈́́͌̄̐͐͆̒͗͋̚͘͜͜ͅ+̷̛͖̠̭̙̣̬̤̼̺̥̤̱͉̝͙̺̪͑̃͒̈́͛̄͊̆͐̔̊̽̀͑͆́̌̌͐̕͘͝͝͝͠͝͝ ̶̲̜͕̰̏̉͂̿̓̂̔͆̊́́̈́̓͛̑͛̾̈́̆̕̚̚͝͝ș̷̢̨̧̲̰̰̟̼̣̮̥̯̹̪͍̏ͅ)̵̮͉̠̝̜̟͈̬̻̠̺̬̪̺̱͖̙̫͒ͅͅ)̸̧̮͈̳̖̘͕͖̻͍̬͖͔̩̰͐̄͋̅̆̊͌̀͛̔̌͋́̊̈́̏̈́͝͝ͅķ̷̡̥̞͍̩̰͎͈̭̯̯̟͚̙̠̳͗̔̋̈̏̀̈́̄̃͊́́̇́̀̎̎̑̍͐̚̚͘͜͜͠͝͝͠ͅͅ ̷̧͙̥̮̼̙̀̌͋̐̈́͒̃̅̾̾̃͗̏̑̄̈͊̅̀́̕̚͝͝͝p̷̨̡̞̤̗̳̖̦͉̪̺̬̖͔̺̺̜̭͕̜̞̰̱͙̲͚̘̃̋̓̔̀̎̆̏̉͊̇͐̏̑̾͊̊̌̆̊͌͘͜͠͝ͅ*̸̼̮̟͔̗̃̄̆́̀̾́̆̔̽̽͝w̶͍͉̣͕̓̈́͌̀̆̃͂̍̀͊̇̈́̈́͗̊̄̍̅̅͛̏͝͠͠#̴̢̨̥̩͍̘̺̼͕̽̊͆ͅŗ̸̛̖̗̺̻̝̮̗̥̀̈́̐̍̒̅̅̍̀̈́́́͝?̷̧̢̛̣̝̖͎͕͙̲̦̤̰̘̲͔̫̥̭̮̰̜͖͎̯̝̾͊͊̐͂͛̂͐͆͑̃̒̈͌̾̿͑̑̈͆̅̅͝
...
...
The images all around seared into his mind. The messed-up text, colored in red, looked all too enticing now.
"Power."
That void in him filled. With a burning, unquenchable...
"Hate."
The shadows around him vanished in a mist of red. The screens disappeared into shadows. The Shield Menu popped up in front of Naofumi. It glitched in and out as if it was surging. More images passed in front of the screen.
"I hate it." He saw the moment he'd learned the Dog monster in the mines had been sent by the Church to kill him.
"I hate it all." He saw the moment when his world fell apart while overhearing Bitch speaking to the nun that fateful night.
"I hate…" He saw the moment Myne talked to Motoyasu at the party. Planning on setting him up to fail.
"I HATE EVERYTHING!" He saw what had just happened during their duel. How he could have killed the Bitch. It would have been just like breaking a toothpick! But he had restrained himself! He had allowed his humanity to spare the Bitch so he wouldn't have given in to this cursed Shield! But now...
"I HATE HER!" Red started to gather in the gemstone of his shield. 'Did I not spare her?! Did I not allow her the mercy to continue breathing!? Is this how she thinks to repay my undeserved kindness!?' Naofumi thought darkly. 'Does she think she can get away with everything because she was lucky to be born!?'
The memory of the Bitch laughing as he lay on the ground filled his mind.
"Hate…"
A red icon appeared in the middle of his Shield Menu.
"Hate!"
The rest of the icons turned red. Surrounding Naofumi in a blaze of red. His eyes turned red. There was only one thing he felt for the red-haired Bitch.
"HATTTTTTEEEEEEE!"
The last of the light surrounding him in his mind disappeared.
Ever since he'd come to this world, he had been called scum. The Shield Demon. The Devil of the Shield.
…
...
C̶̡͓͚͉͕̻͎̟̺̻͊̇́̉͊͐̑̈̍̒̈́̐̏͘͘u̵̢̖̹͕̰̔̆̑͑̄̂r̶̢̬̭̅̄̀͋̔̃̒́́̚s̶̡̡̨̥̺̬͉̮͕̼̯̯͕͉͈͋̂̈́̆͑ę̸͉̦̤̮͚͓̪̬̗̅̾ ̶̟͗̏͂̀͌̀̂͒̅̓̍͌̒͠͠S̷͔̝̥̩̈́̐͗͛̋͌̉̈́̎͝è̸̤́͒̉̿̎́̅̑̾͂͠͠r̵̦̖̮̝̫̓̍̀̿͋͜í̷͍̫͉̠̼̙͖̤̬̤͉̺͓͚͔͋e̶̜͋̈́̈͒̑̔̏̎̊͝s̶̨͈̼̬͛:̵͚͈͔̱̥̑̑͑̓̅̋̉́́̇̚͠͝
̵̧̥̮͍̹̤͗̉̈́̃
̷̛͓̩̮̼̻͇̤͙͚̬̮̮͌̏̋͒̾̐̓̐͌̕͜S̷̡͈̻͔̞̰̺̟͙̥̲̭̥͛̂̀̆͆͝h̵̢̢̢͙̙͖̦̱̘̫͙͉̒͑i̴̢̨̨̘̱̮͖̬̞̻͇͉̱̇̂̀̓̄̑̾́͋e̵̪̅̍̍͠ļ̴̥̞͇̋́̎̾͛d̷͚͐͐̉̔ ̸̢̢̨̱͖̻͎͖͈͓̭̏̑̀ò̸̥̽͆̕f̷̡̳̘̟̲̬̜̱̻̙̭̠̺̩̬͛̔͆́͛̀͊ ̸̡͇̭͈̦̞͚͙͎̳̻̩̎̔R̷̨̬͓̣͇̪̹̦̦̥̙̥̲̰̺̈́̀̔̽̉̾͑a̸̛̞͌̿͒̂g̶̖̞̬̦͔͖͕̝͓͈̹̬̋̇͒̒̈́͐̌͋̑͝ͅͅe̵̢̡̲̪͆͛̋̆̎ ̵͐̆̂̊͠ͅȊ̴̳̋͆̓́͌ͅ ̴̢͖̙̞̻̪͍͕̖̫̺͊͋͂̓͋̈̕U̵̡̟͍͇̽͋͛̐̍͘͘͠n̶̨̖̳͇̘̣̰͙̈́͌͛̈̔͗̉ͅl̵͍̠͓̮͕̯̗̬̥̖͔̈́͑̒́̍o̵̼̲̹̖̒͊͒͒̏̉̚c̶̢̢̢̨̥̗̘͈̘͍̳̫̖̖̮̏̓̒̿͒̏͆̓̆̔̕͠k̶̛̳͕̟̩͔̥̭̅͂̄̓̇̈͋̕͝è̷̦͖͙͐̄͑̾̅̾̈́͠͝ͅd̶̨̨̝͖͕̩͎͙̠̾͗͛̑̓͆̊͋̔̕̚͘͠͝
̵̡̨̱͍̬͚͚̪̘͑̔É̸̢̡̱͕̱̼͒ͅq̷̛̩͔̠̖͔̣̗̑̍̍̎͑̎́ű̵͉͇͓̜̪̭̺͌̆̈͗̄̆͌̍̏̆̚ḯ̷̝̌̅̈́̾̒̐͂͗̆̚͠͝p̵̛̯̐̊̊̀̏̈͌̀͑̏̊͝ ̷̧̛̛̟̳͖̳̩͚̟͖͒̎̌͒͂̃̆B̴̲͑̀͛́̿̊̌̂̀̾̈̎o̴͓̘̩̣͙̜̳͙̩̮̠̓̀̀̀͋͂͝ṇ̴̢͕̫̣̭̮̭̰̤̥̅̈̑̎̓͑̈́̂̇̈́̄̃͋́̕ŭ̶̧̠̳͙̫̗̰̞̟̲̯̜̹́s̶̡̫͚͖̻̲͕̣͖̹̔̒́́́̉͛̍̇̉́͠͝:̵̘̜͈̼̲̬͝ ̵̲͋̈́͂͗͒̿͂̎̊͌̋s̷̢̺̳̉̋͌̒͐͑̉̀̅̓̈͝k̸̢͕͔̩̟̫͔͌̓̃̓͜ͅi̴̛̛̬̫̤͆ļ̵̟̩͚̯̬̖̺̮̠͒̿̿̑̑ͅl̵̺͉̽̾̏͒́̈́̓͒̚ͅ ̸̡͖͚̫̼͙͈̠̼̞̀͂̐̅͒"̷̡̳̬͕̼̫̯͎̘͕̳̆̕͠ͅͅĈ̴̲̖̺̮̗̖̍͗͆̿͗̐͊͆̽͒͊͠h̷͓̝̊̆͑̍͒͐̄̔a̶̭͎̘͈̔̆̆ṅ̵̛͙̎̀̏͆̔̊̓̀̈́̒ģ̵̡̞̣͍̣͉̯̊̎͋̒̅ę̷͉̬̻̹̣̟̱͖͖̖͎̬̰͆͑̀ ̴̢̡͖͉̫͙͈̀͑̑̇̓̌̈́͑̍̏͛͜͠͝ͅS̴͍͉̼͎͎̎͊̈́̏͑̅̕̕͝ͅh̸̡̻̘̤͓͉̞̹͕̗̬̦̐̽̃̌̋̈͜͠ͅi̵̛̞̯̟̖̞̘̘̲̺̭̺̇̄̅̋̅̀́̑̊͂̕é̴̘̙̩̍͜l̵̡̯̹̩̼͎̞͉̿̑̌̄̓͌͌̉͐̈́̕͘d̴̡̡̧͔̱̘̟͎̩̫̫̔͜ ̵̨̯̱͍̝͙̋͐̂̒͌̅(̴͙̹̮̟̺̝̀Ẫ̴̡̢͔̻̺̠̗̮̒̒͗͗̇́̇͒̑t̶̨̢̧̙̫͎͔͚̋̈́͂͘͜ͅt̸̮͇̪͎̹̭̙̯͊͐̈́̄̿̓́͛͘͜͠ả̵̭́̈̊̽̆̀̽̍̇̈́̉̕͠c̴̛̺̾̒͆͒k̷͎̝̮͕͙̰̤̀̌)̵͖͉̘̘̬̘̜̘̞̫̙̱̘̿"̸̖͓̰̝͔̩͙͉͉͍̓͐͒͋̓̍͋͗̀̅̎͂͗̆͜͝ ̸̡̢͖̯̬̖͙̏́̆̆͑͊̑̎̕ä̴̛̻̗́̾͛̏̎́ͅͅn̷̳̐̅͛̉̍̌d̷̛̘̤̯̪̗̯̥͈̭̒̑͆̈͗̾͆̔͌̕͜͠ͅ ̸̭̟̈̂͑͂̊"̸̡͓̖̫̰͓̐̇̈́̓İ̴̢̡̹̱̻̞̦̻̫͍̓̃̔͗̌̉͝͝ͅr̶̨̬̦̺̬̟̯̭̠̹̉̐́̊͑́̋͋̕̕o̵͎̠̝͔̲̟̭̤͉͇̪̎͆̒̈́̐͌͋̓̐̾͗͝͝ͅͅn̸͈̮͔͈͓̲͍̥̭̣͓̆͐̓̉͜͠ ̸̹̤̞̞̞͕͖̳̺̏̐̑̋͛͗̀̂̀̽M̵̝̏a̸̭͓̭̯͍̖͕͎̫̹͕͍̥̎̈́͊̾̐̒̂̾̈́͋͑̂̔̌͝į̷͖̖͇̺̦̳̱̰̼̤̩͎̦͑d̵̡̡̨͎͓̝͓͖̞͕̓̀͆̍͒̏͠ẹ̷͕̞̯͖̦̍̔̀̐͊ͅn̵̢̛̗͚̼͎͉̬̯̦̙̙̕͜"̸̢̪̠͓̳̞̱̳̇̈̏̋̀̈́̓̏̂͜͝
̴̨͓̔͛̐͂S̶͉̤̰̲̳̱̱̮̳̀̾͜p̷̦̺̥̮̈́̈́̿͑̾̃̈́̇͗͝͝͝ě̴͎̝̭͍̮̓͛͆̋c̴̨̧̝̲̭̠̳̖͍̘̣̩̈́͋̎͂͑̄̇̕ï̴͔̒͗͑̈́̀a̷̢̛͉̞̙͕̻̒͊̄̅̋̈͘̕͘͜͝ͅl̶̨̨̙̖̺̖͎͙̩̼͔̙̞̿͑͛͊̒̃̄ ̶̢͈̹̲͒͗̿͆̌̊͊͆̄̄̀̇̽͘͝E̴̯̗͉͍̱̯̫̹̭̪͋̽̍͑̈́̉̏́̕̕ͅf̵̤̲͋̿͛̓̍̇́͌̆̔͜f̶̯͑̔̊͛͗͒̅͗͌̈́̓̊̚ͅę̸̡̨̟̼͔̹̭̹̣͔͈̫͑̌̓̌̽́̂̌͋̿͜͠͝c̵̭̭̲͕̬̔̓̈t̷̡̛̲͍̞̯̣̤̙̳͕̰̙͇̲͒̋̏̍̉̐̚͠:̸̧̪̟̙͓̘̠͍̞̳̫̲̋͊̇̈̄̉́̀͛́̓̍͝ ̷̻̤̞̤̗͇̉͛̃̌̔̍̍̌̏͐̒̃͠͝S̵̛͎͖͊̀͛͑͒͒͝ͅē̸̢̺̤̼̳̩̅ḻ̵̣̤̰͔͓͇̣͒̿̌̈́̆̈́̆́͌͜͝͝͠f̵̢͇̙̬̥͍͉͂̄̓́̎ ̶̨̱̬̬̟̺͈̉͝ͅC̸̛̭͈̆̒̍͐̒́͑͑͌ͅù̴͈̥̗̦͚̠͈̃̒̈́͗̀̅̈́́̕͠͠r̷̡̯̙̫̦̆̋̉̅͐̔̋̐͗̌̕s̸̛̥̗͙̘̏̎̓͂͊̓͐̑̅̈̉̕͝ę̵̤̫͖͙̩̰̹͈̭̒̒̓ ̸̧̧͖̥̥̩͕̘̺̭͑̾̎͐̾́̀̄Ḅ̸̢̺̗͖̘̘͔̣͙̹͒̑̿̈̏̀̇̈́͋͒̈́̀͝͝u̷͉͖̝͎̳̦̰̓̑͋̎̏̆̾̓̕ͅͅr̷̠̓͑̎̀̂̃͌n̷̠̼̟̠͓͕̬̯̠̰͚͒͋͆̋͐̍̄i̵̧̠̮̙̫͉͔̒̏͑̈́͑̍͛͜͠n̴̢̛͈̻͉̭̼͉̼͈̈́̀͒͗́̉̀̌̓g̵̡͍̙̲͆̉̐,̶̯̥͈̖̟̮͎̄͑̆̀͝͝ ̴̛̠̥̭̦̮͕͖̱̙̓̔͒̀̉́̈̒͊̈̏͝S̵̭͈̣̜͖̃̉̃́̽͋̕̕͠͠͝ͅt̸̢̳̳̗̥͇̪̙̗̲̹̱̺̔̎̀r̵̡̛͈̠̮̝̯͎̼̜͇͕̣͍̝̪̎͒̒̉̍̑̾͑̈́͘̕͝ḝ̴͈̤̪̰͈̫̓͒̃͗͊̾̈́̕͝͠͝n̸̡̢̪͙͉̭̫̅̿͆̈́g̷̢̝̮̮̤͉̘̱̞̪̙̐̔̑͊̆́̂̚̚͜͝͝ͅţ̴̛̞̲͎͉̝̭̞̺͒̔̓̍h̶̨̛͉̣̹͍̘͈͉͕͓́́̔̇̋̊̐̓̅̎͘͝ͅ ̸͕̙͍̝̰̰͓̒̚Ứ̸̧̩̣̗̬̲̒͛̿́̈́̂͗̔̇̚͜p̴̪̖͐͆̀
̴̢̡̫͍̻̻̫̻̳͇̟̹́͘͜
...
...
...
It was time these idiots learned what a devil really was.
"And now, it's time I won this duel and saved my precious little sister from your clutches, Devil of the Shield!"
Myne raised her sword up high and then brought the sword hilt down to impact with Naofumi's head. One final knock out that would lead to her victory.
"No!"
"Fast Tor-" Filo started to chant.
"Fast Aqua-"
She laughed bitchilly one last time.
Clang!
Bitch's sword hilt hit against something solid.
Filo and Melty stopped trying to cast their spells in astonishment. "Sir, Sir Naofumi." She said in surprise.
Eclair was wide-eyed. "Did…"
Raphtalia rubbed at her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things. "Master… Naofumi?"
Myne opened her eyes in slight confusement at the sound, and then she stared down in astonishment. She'd hit something solid. But it wasn't Naofumi's skull.
Naofumi's broken arm was raised, blocking the strike to his head with his shield. But it wasn't the Chimera Viper Shield he had equipped. It was something else entirely.
It was like his default Small Shield, but it was black. The gemstone glowed an ominous red.
"What is-" The red icons that had appeared in his mind appeared around Naofumi. With their appearance, a vortex of wind blew around him, knocking Bitch away. "Ahhhhhh!"
"Ah!" Melty gripped onto Filo's back while Filo covered Eclair and Raphtalia with one of her large wings to keep them from being blown away.
"Miss Raphtalia, what's going on?!" Eclair held onto Filo's wing for dear life amidst the storm of wind.
"I, I don't know!" Raphtalia responded fearfully. This had never happened before. Naofumi's magic attributes were Healing and Support. He wasn't capable of any wind spells.
"What, what is this-" The Commander looked astounded as he almost lost his footing. The blast of wind was so strong even from far away, he stabbed his sword into the ground to keep from being blown away.
Motoyasu dug his spear into the ground to stay upright. Behind him, a majority of the knights fell to the ground. Some from the blast of wind. Some in terror. "Myne!" Motoyasu yelled in worry. Then he looked at Naofumi and gasped in shock. 'There's… there's no way…'
Beneath the red icons, red symbols had appeared on Naofumi's skin. He was smiling menacingly. Like he was a… a...
The Church Knights outside the walls and those climbing the ladders stilled. Feeling a chill traveling down their spines. Even Altara felt it. Something was off.
Something bad was about to happen.
"Miss Raphtalia, what's happening to Sir Naofumi?" Eclair suddenly asked. She could feel it too. Just like every other knight in the area.
Raphtalia peaked her head out from under Filo's wing. "Nao-" She gasped in shock and terror.
The dark aura she'd felt before. The dark aura that she had tried to prevent him from falling into. It was back. Stronger than ever. It had consumed Naofumi. It was like Naofumi wasn't even standing there anymore.
Naofumi slowly walked away from the wall. The red icons finally dispersed from around him. Then, a final burst of wind whipped around him as a ball of red energy pulsed out, forming a crater under his feet. His gemstone turned a brighter red. His skin, now devoid of the strange symbols from before, was as pale as a demon's. His pupils were barely visible behind a layer of red. His teeth looked more canine than before. And just when it looked like he couldn't appear anymore frightening, a wave of fire came out of the Shield's gemstone, covering the new shield in dark flames.
It was the Shield of Rage. Under the fire, it had an ornate red and black design surrounding the gemstone. Like lava mixing with brimstone. It had a very sinister aura coming off it. An aura as sinister as his smile.
"What, what is this?!" Bitch yelled in surprise as she stood back up. The blast of wind had sent her flying and rolling a good eight dozen feet back into the square. Only a little more than a hundred feet away from her pole toy and knights.
"Naofumi…" 'He didn't… he couldn't have…' This dark, menacing aura that was coming off him in waves… it couldn't be… the same thing from the Duel Arena...!
As Naofumi slowly approached, the Shield lowered a little bit, revealing his pale face… it took a second to capture the true horror of what Bitch was seeing. Faint red lines ran down both cheeks. The barely-there pupils could hardly be seen under all the red.
There was no humanity in those eyes. And he was smiling like a demon.
No, he was a demon.
It had happened. Naofumi had finally given in to his anger and hatred. The thing Bitch had parroted so much but hadn't really thought was possible. Naofumi had turned into the demon she'd accused him of being all along. And his party stared in shock no more than a few dozen feet away from him by the gates.
Myne recovered her composure. "At last! The Devil of the Shield has shown his true colors!" Naofumi might have gotten a few cosmetic enhancements. But they were just that. For show. Something that could really hurt her.
She charged toward Naofumi again. It took her slightly longer to close the distance between them, and swinging her sword was considerably slower than before. 'I don't care if I've lost the agility enchantment my armor was giving me! I'll still beat this little peon into the ground!' She assumed the rest of this pathetic short duel would be easy.
Her sword was stopped by the fiery shield.
Naofumi said two words.
"Now burn."
And that was when the duel resumed.
"Ahhhh!" Naofumi's shield came alive where Bitch struck it with her sword. Flames, dark cursed flames, leaped up from it, slamming into her. She screamed in pain as she immediately backpedaled away.
"Myne! No!" Motoyasu yelled in worry. Even he could sense it. Something was very wrong with Naofumi at that moment.
Once she'd backed away a few dozen feet, she looked down at her arms. There were patches of black burns, cursed burns as her HUD labeled them.
Eclair's grip on Raphtalia loosened, Filo's wing stopped covering them, but none of them moved. None of the knights outside the duel both outside the square and on the walls moved. They were all watching Naofumi. Filo in worry, Eclair in shock, Melty in confusement, and Raphtalia and the rest of the knights in horror. "What's… what's happened to Sir Naofumi?" Eclair asked.
"What's happened to daddy?" Filo asked worriedly.
'No, Naofumi is… he's...' She thought fearfully. Still frozen in her spot in fear and anguish.
"What the…"
"Is that…"
"The devil of the Shield's…"
"Ultimate form?" The knights behind Motoyasu and the Commander looked very afraid. Some were still getting up off the ground. Those Church Knights who had climbed the wall were frozen in terror. A few were on their knees, praying to their Gods for mercy.
The Commander himself placed a hand on his chest, looking like he was about to hyperventilate from what he was seeing. "No, it can't be… it can't be!" It was like his worst nightmares come to life.
Naofumi's shield was still burning with dark cursed flames on his arm. It was almost like the flames were healing the broken bones. Moving them back into place and welding them together like a welder melding metal. He continued to smile evilly as he stared at the heavily breathing Bitch.
'Hate…'
Naofumi began to slowly walk forward, approaching like an inevitable avalanche. To think he'd shown mercy on Bitch. To think he'd been graceful enough to allow this horrid creature to live when she planned on killing those he cared about.
How foolish of him. He needed to correct his mistake as soon as possible.
"Stay, stay back-" One of the more brave knights charged the distance and tried to attack Naofumi head-on. However, he blocked the strike with his shield. More cursed flames leaped off from it and covered the knight. "AHHHHHHHHH!" He fell to the ground, screaming in pain and agony. Naofumi continued past, not even glancing at the knight.
Myne hadn't realized it, but at seeing Naofumi so easily dispatch a royal knight, without having to do anything more than block, she finally recognized what she was feeling.
Fear, genuine fear, thick enough that she could feel it coursing through her veins.
She was afraid of Naofumi. Deathly so.
She scowled angrily and raised her hand. 'No one can ever be allowed to make me feel afraid! I am above everything as the next Queen! Even fear!' She quickly chanted out the next incantation for her spell as she had that thought. "Zweite Fire Arrows!"
A dozen arrows made of fire appeared around her and flew at Naofumi. They impacted against him and his shield and blew up in a haze of smoke, covering Naofumi. Malty stared at the smoke cloud, waiting to see what damage she'd done.
Naofumi came walking out, looking unscathed by the attack. He raised his shield in front of him. Memories of Bitch appeared in his mind like drops falling onto a burning ocean of hate. 'Suffer.'
"I will not be beaten by some-!" Bitch, for some, stupid reason, tried charging and attacking with her sword again.
"Self: Curse burning."
More dark flames burst from Naofumi's shield when she struck it like a volcano. Malty didn't think she'd need to dodge. The shield was supposed to have no attack power!
Yet, when the flames slammed into her chest, the area around her was covered in cursed dark flames. Painful, cursed flames.
"Ahhhhhhh!" She screamed in agony.
"Mommy! What's happening to daddy?!" Filo asked worriedly.
"What's happened to him?!" Melty asked in fear.
"Nao… Naofumi…" Raphtalia clutched at her chest in pain.
She could feel it like Filo was. The Naofumi Filo knew as Daddy, and the Naofumi Raphtalia loved was disappearing inside of all that hate. It was consuming him, just like the fire covering him. It was taking him away both mentally and physically.
"What's going on over there?!" Altara the nun yelled to her Church Knights. "Report! What is happening on the other side of the wall!?"
Malty somehow managed to back out of the fire. She leaned against the wall of a building on the side of the duel. The outer portion of her shirt sleeves had melted from that fire, and the burnt parts were hurting her chest. She was covered in more curse burns.
"Myne, are you alright!?" Motoyasu asked worriedly.
"Of course I am!" She tried to reply confidently, but she couldn't hide the growing fear in her voice. And Motoyasu, the Commander, and the rest of the knights finally realized it.
Even the Church Knights on top of the wall had realized it.
The First Princess was in legit danger of being killed.
They had to act now.
"The Shield Demon's transformed!" A Church Knight yelled down at last.
"He's finally shed his human appearance!"
"He's going to kill the First Princess!" Another yelled.
Altara was stunned by the news for only a second. "Get those gates open now!" Altara yelled to the Church Knights.
"We have to stop this! Naofumi wins! The duel is over and he and his party can leave-" Motoyasu tried to yell. He recognized Naofumi's transformation. A similar thing had happened the first time he had unlocked a similar weapon.
They needed to get everyone away now, before-
"Ahhhhhh!" Naofumi charged out of his flames towards Malty. Fire cascaded off him like a waterfall.
Myne drank another elixir from her pouch. "As the source of thy power and as the next Queen I order thee,"
"No, Myne, you have to stop-" Motoyasu tried to say.
"Decipher the Laws of Nature, and burn my target away until there's nothing but ash that remains!" Myne continued bullheadedly into the fight despite Motoyasu's pleas. "Drifa Hellfire!"
The charging Naofumi raised his shield up. The blast of fire slammed into him, but it didn't do anything. He continued to evilly smile as he ran through the flames. Until, at last, he came charging out, aiming his shield at Myne's face.
This time, she was smart enough to dodge the attack. Naofumi's shield slammed into the wood of the building behind Myne.
Dark flames leaped from his shield, licking up the side of the wooden structure.
"We have to stop this!"
"He's going to burn down the whole city!"
A few of the knights who knew water magic positioned themselves near the fire outside Naofumi's view. "As the source of thy power, we order thee, decipher the Laws of Nature, and summon a storm to quell these flames. Zweite Aqua Storm!"
A storm cloud appeared over the building. Raining water in thick drops onto the slowly growing green flames.
However, the water wasn't working very well. "These fires are cursed!" One of the knights yelled to some of their compatriots.
"We need light magic over here!" Another knight yelled.
"No! We need to stop the Shield Devil from burning down the city!" A group of knights yelled as they charged Naofumi while he stood in front of the burning building.
Motoyasu looked around whilst grimacing in indecision. What could he do?! This wasn't like Emerald Online! This was far from it!
Did he take care of the fires? Did he try to stop the duel? Did he try to protect all the NPCs while Naofumi was out of control?
What should he do?!
"Zweite Fire Blast! Zweite Dragon's Breath! Zweite Fireball! Zweite Hellfire!" Myne, just like before, began to chant as quickly as possible to launch one spell after another at Naofumi.
Again, he didn't try to dodge them. He simply let them hit against him or pass him. The ones that passed him hit more buildings, causing more fires.
"Protect the First Princess!" The first group of knights finally arrived. A few of them swung their swords at him but he calmly blocked their attacks with his Shield. Letting his cursed flames slam into each one that tried to attack, causing them to fall to the ground.
"AUGHHHHHHH!" The level 30 or so knights screamed as new cursed burns appeared on them. Even those whose armor had enchantments to resist fire damage.
The rest of the group immediately backed away, looking down with wide eyes at their burning comrades.
That was the thing. Naofumi wasn't doing fire damage. It was 100% curse damage fueled by hate. The enchantments needed to resist that kind of damage were rare. And Naofumi had a lot more of it to give.
He stepped over one of the writhing knights on the ground and charged Myne again.
"And give our target a boost! Asgard's Might!"
A light blue glow surrounded Myne as Naofumi charged. She jumped to the side. Avoiding another strike from Naofumi's shield. "Hah!" She struck at his offside, but her sword glanced off, doing nothing. Even with the increased speed and power boost that came from the support spell. She couldn't touch him.
But his flames definitely touched her. As they leaped off his side and covered her again. "Ahhh!" It was only because she was such a high level that his flames weren't putting her down immediately like the lower-leveled knights.
"No, Naofumi, please stop!" Raphtalia finally yelled.
Naofumi was smiling cruelly as he turned to the heavily breathing Bitch like he had all the time in the world. His Shield of Rage was raised in front of him. This Bitch, who had tried again and again to take everything from him. To crush him into the dirt.
"Naofumi!"
"Zweite Fire Arrows!" Myne launched more fire arrows at Naofumi. Most of them hit. But again, a few of them flew off. A couple hit the ground. One caught another building on fire.
Oh yes. This Bitch was going to pay.
The Commander spoke up before Motoyasu could. "All knights! The duel is officially over! Get in your squads and subdue the Shield Demon!"
The knights complied with the Commander's orders. The Captain who'd informed the Commander about the events grimaced, but for once he agreed.
Naofumi was definitely out of control. They had to protect the city.
"Knights! Phalanx formation! Protect the mages!" A Captain ordered.
"Three Eagles Formation!"
"Wings Formation!"
"No, we can't!" Motoyasu tried to yell. But no one was paying him any attention anymore. They were organizing for battle. "Damn it!" He charged into the fray. Equipping one of his better spears in the process. "Air Strike Javelin!"
Raphtalia's face hardened. She couldn't stand by and watch anymore either. Not just because the fight was getting out of hand! Not just because Naofumi was ignoring her yells. Not just because a horde of Church Knights was on the other side of the wall.
She could see it! These flames he was using were dragging him deeper into himself! While each use damaged his opponents, they fueled his own anger and got more powerful, taking him deeper and deeper into the dark abyss consuming his mind.
This was no time to stand around and have a pity party! They had to act. NOW! BEFORE IT WAS TOO LATE!
"Filo! Get up to the guard tower! Keep those Knights from opening those gates and harming Naofumi!" She ordered her daughter.
Filo shook herself out of her stupor at seeing Daddy being so scary. "Okay! Get off Mel!"
"Wha-" Filo nudged a surprised Melty off with one of her wings. Then she bent low and jumped high into the air. Landing on the top of the wall above them.
"Hey, what's- AHHHHH!" Several Church Knights who'd been positioned to send spells flying at Naofumi went flying off the wall onto the other side.
"Stay away from my Daddy!" Filo lashed out with her wing, knocking another column of knights back over the edge before she broke down the wood door on that side and rushed into the Guard Tower itself. More screams of surprise came from inside. The gates had been in the middle of opening. But then they stopped and lowered back into the ground. The few knights who'd been trapped between the gates ran up into the passageway while more knights were launched out of the guard tower.
"No, what's going on!?" Altara yelled angrily on the other side.
Melty got back up, dusting off her dress from the surprise fall. "Eclair, Melty, help put out those fires!" Raphtalia ordered. "We can't let the city burn!"
"Got it!" Melty started to run for where the fires were starting to spread.
Eclair was following when she stopped and looked back. "But what are you going to do Miss Raphtalia?" Eclair asked.
"I'm going to help Naofumi! I have to get him to change out of that shield!" Raphtalia ran towards the duel. That was escalating in ways no one could have ever imagined.
"Hah!" She knocked a knight that tried to attack her to the side. Then she drank a Magic Healing Water.
No one was going to get in her way.
"Fire Arrows!"
A long line of Knight Archers released their strings at a Captain's command. A wave of arrows flew into Naofumi's raised shield. Burning away.
"Mages!" Another Captain ordered.
"As source of thy power, we order thee, decipher the laws of nature, and strike down our target." Several lines of mages chanted.
"Zweite Fireball!"
"Zweite Aqua Shot!"
"Zweite Air Shot!"
"Zweite Earthball!"
Multiple knights chanted the different spells at the same time. Unleashing the different element spells on Naofumi after the wave of arrows. But again, none of them damaged him. All the attacks burned to ash without causing him any damage.
The only upside was that the ranged attacks didn't trigger the counter effect. So the knights had that going for them.
"Urghhhhh," Bitch growled as she drank another one of her elixirs. She was beginning to notice that while her MP gauge was refilling, her injuries weren't disappearing. She still had burns on her arms, hands, and chest where she'd been hit so far. And while the elixir slightly healed her HP, it did nothing more than that.
She growled at Naofumi again. To think he'd had such a power hidden up his sleeve! "I won't let you make a fool out of me! As the next Queen I order thee! Decipher the laws of nature and slash at my target with a blade of wind! Zweite WindSlash!"
A large slash of wind flew at Naofumi. But again, he blocked it with his shield. Grinning evilly all the while.
Oh, how he hated this Bitch.
He had never felt hatred like this before. It consumed him and made him feel like he held all the power in the world at his fingertips. And right now, all this power, all this Rage, wanted to inflict itself against this horrid vile creature in front of him.
"Ahhhhh!" Myne charged at Naofumi again. Since she was still buffed from several groups of knights that were remaining back, she had a major speed boost.
Naofumi punched at her, and she ducked the strike. Giving a quick strike to one of his sides as she ran by. Naofumi took no damage, but the flames that leaped out from him in retaliation failed to hit Bitch. Who got away before they could hurt her. The flames continued on past knights who ducked for cover until they hit a wagon. Bursting it into flames.
"Fast Aqua Storm!"
Melty cast a spell over the wagon.
"I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature, and infuse my target with a cleansing light!" Eclair reached towards the flames. "First Cleansing!"
The combination of water and holy magic put out the cursed fires.
Myne struck at Naofumi again and then jumped to the side to avoid the flames again. He didn't mind that his flames were missing. It was always better when the one you hated struggled for their life. Giving up too soon got rid of the fun of causing them pain.
Well, most of it.
"Ahhhhhh!" More knights charged at Naofumi after Myne backed off from her attack to be buffed up some more.
Naofumi turned towards them. He raised his shield, blocking one strike. Then he put more of his hatred into the flames, causing them to explode outwards around him.
More knights screamed as they fell writhing to the ground. The rest of the group, which included some burned elite knights, backed away to look for another opening. Of the hundreds of knights that Motoyasu and the Commander had brought with them, a few dozen were already incapacitated due to curse injuries. But none of the elite knights wielding Magic Mithril Swords had gone down to the flames yet. Their average level was around 55-60.
"Fire Arrows!"
The archers prepared to fire another volley at Naofumi at the Captain's Command.
"Illusion Blade!" Raphtalia reappeared behind part of the Phalanx formation. All of whom turned around in surprise at her shout. "Light Piercing Slash!" Her sword shined as bright as a star, blinding the knights. And then they were all hit by a long arc of light. The entire right side crumpled to the ground in pain.
"You damn demi-human!" The Commander yelled angrily as he tried to swipe at Raphtalia from behind.
Raphtalia quickly turned and parried the Commander's attack. "You will not hurt my Naofumi!" While he was off balance and surprised, she slashed his chest plate, drawing blood from the strike. Then she kicked him hard. He was sent flying back into the backline of mages that had been casting spells at Naofumi. His slashed chest plate was slightly dented from the force of the kick.
"Commander!" The rest of the mages and the two Captains focused on their bleeding Commander. And on the knights on the ground around them. They started to work on casting healing magic. The other knights pulled back for Myne and worked on resecuring their formation.
'Now that the immediate knights are taken care of.'
"Urgh!" Naofumi tried to slam his shield down at Bitch. But she jumped back, avoiding the attack. But then she retreated further when his flames flared up from the ground like the jaws of hell.
He rushed forward. This Bitch had hell to pay. She had to be-
"Naofumi!" Before Naofumi could continue forward, a hand gripped his arm. A soft, slender one. A familiar one. Raphtalia got in front of his face. "Naofumi, please, we'll fight her together. We'll put a stop to all this." She was looking at him in the eyes. Smiling reassuringly to him. "We can do it. But first, I need you to change off of that shield-"
He didn't recognize her. Whoever it was was in the way anyways. So he grabbed her arm and then threw her away from him.
"Naofumi-" She crashed into the side of a nearby building. "Ahhhhhhh!" She screamed in pain. Not just from the impact, but also because her arm was burned where he had gripped her.
'Hate… hate...' Naofumi turned, resuming his fight against Bitch who tried striking at him again. He hadn't even recognized he'd hurt Raphtalia. He was so consumed with rage, he could mistake anyone for friend or foe if they got in his way.
As Raphtalia got up on one knee, a small cursed fire was already beginning to grow behind her. The leftover cursed flames on her arm had transferred to the wood. Several other cursed fires from where other knights had been flung were also beginning to grow.
"As source of thy power, we order thee!"
"Decipher the laws of nature, and bring forth a mighty blessing."
"Bring forth a torrential rain. A downpour like no other."
"Create a storm! Infuse our targets and rid the world of these flames! Blessing of the Divine Rains!"
A storm appeared over a wide area. Raindrops fell onto Raphtalia, the knights, and the cursed fires. Unlike the other knight's attempts on the cursed flames, the cursed fires grew smaller. Gradually disappearing under the downpour. A black mist came off of Raphtalia's burns, making them hurt less. But it didn't make them go away entirely.
"Miss Raphtalia, are you alright?!" Eclair ran up to check on her. Melty was also hurrying up. Drinking down a Magic Healing Water after performing the combo spell with Eclair. Some of the knights bowed gratefully to the Second Princess before running off to fight more fires.
"I'm fine. But Naofumi… it was like he didn't recognize me."
Naofumi screamed, this time in frustration, as Myne, with the addition of another buff, managed to finally leave a gash along one of his shoulders. The Phalanx formation was back at the head again, with the elite knights charging in afterward to strike at Naofumi's HP bar again.
Motoyasu charged in after they retreated back for a respite from the flames. "Naofumi! Just give up already! You're making yourself look worse by-" Naofumi punched Motoyasu away before the blonde idiot could react. His punch had packed a surprising amount of force behind it.
Motoyasu slammed into the retreating knights, disrupting their formation.
"More support magic! Buff the First Princess as much as possible for her next strike!" A Captain ordered.
"I couldn't reach through to him." She had been right in front of him. She had looked him in the eyes. "I tried… but it was like he didn't recognize me," Raphtalia said sadly.
"As source of thy power, we order thee! Decipher the laws of nature, and strike down our target!" The mages who'd just finished healing their Commander and treating some of the knights focused on attacking Naofumi again. This time they were attacking from different angles. While they didn't do much, if any, damage; their bombardment of spells obscured his vision. The few Church Knights on the wall that weren't trying to deal with Filo also fired spells down at Naofumi from above. And some of the back formations cast more support magic on the First Princess.
Taking on an army really could be hard.
"Then try harder Miss Raphtalia. We're lucky that our magic is enough to work on his cursed magic." Eclair said, looking towards the next set of fires she and Melty needed to put out.
"Huah!" Filo kicked another Church Knight over the wall. His body slammed into one of the ladders, sending it and the small group of knights climbing it backward into the small army.
"If Sir Naofumi's cursed flames get any stronger, then we'll really have a problem on our hands!" Melty said fearfully.
If the curses were even stronger, then their magic wouldn't be powerful enough to put them out.
Bitch left another quick gash on Naofumi's other side. Making him scream in pain again. Bitch was moving quickly thanks to all the different buffs. She had to have at least a dozen of them on her by this point.
She stopped a few dozen feet away from Naofumi. Even without her armor and with black burns covering much of her upper body, she stood arrayed in all her bitch-like glory. "Finally, you're back to the weak and pathetic peon that you were before!" Bitch yelled in triumph.
"No, sister, stop doing this," Melty started to yell at Malty. Naofumi was breathing angrily and gripping at the gash. "Stop before you make him-"
"To think I was afraid of someone as weak and pathetic as you! You're lower than vermin! You're lower than peasants and commoners! You're nothing before me!" Bitch maniacally laughed. "You and your whole party will pay for your sins! I'll see to it myself!" Bitch prepared to run in for another strike.
Naofumi's eyes flared a brighter red. Despite all the spells being launched at him, he focused on her. For once more calling out her intentions to hurt his girl and his kid. 'Hate! Hate! HATE! HATE! HATTTTEEEE!'
What he had now was clearly not enough to properly deal with her.
...
C̸̢̗̣̫̠̞̓̅̊̓͛͋̄͊̚ͅṵ̶̡̢̨̟̫͇̓̒̆̈̀̾̈̈́̕r̵̨̮͉̖̯͇̀ş̷͙̙̙̹͉̇͐e̷̫̞͆̈̿̾̄̽̀̕ ̸̧̧̭̰͙̗͍̭͂̓̄͋̓͝S̸̖̩̭̙̊̂̐̚ͅe̴̞̯̜̱͆̄̏̌̅r̷̼͈͔͂̉̀̈̔͗i̸̛̮̪̪̺̓̈́͋͆̉̇e̷͔̭̝̿̓̑̔͐̇̒̈́ͅs̶̢̛̛̺̦͓͐̽̔͋͘:̸̧̛̤̼͚̤̼̿̽͛͌̔͒͝͝ ̶̳̝̳͍̗̳̰̅͒͝S̶̛͎̻̳̲̘͉̓̊́͂̈́̄̏ḫ̶̦̺̔̌̈́i̸̳̹̭̟͂̈́́̾͑̚e̷̘̫̹̅̄̊̿͊̂͠͝ĺ̶͎͉̗͔̩̘̑̈́͆̈́̃͜͝ḓ̷͚̬͖͖͈̂̊ ̸̢̞̗̲̝̞̘͎̩̋́͋̏̂͂͜ŏ̶̞͓̞̆͒̌̕ͅͅf̶̧̛̮͙̜̬̼̤̀̍ ̴̧͔̝̗͖̖̜͇̱̍̎̃̑͌̃̚R̸͈̣̣͘a̴̬̿̋̍̏̕g̷̲̳̦̫̭̃̆́̀̾̉̒̈́̚ę̵̡̱̰̻̮̟͎̀̒́̌ ̷̪͂A̴̰͐͒̀͐͘͝ͅb̵̺̬̦̦̪̹̈́̎͐́̐̌͌͊͜i̷̩͍͉̟͍̥̗̭̜͚̊̌̈́̽̊̑̕͝ļ̵̛͔̩̬͖̼̪͍̈́̎́̈́̈́͝ͅi̶̛̖̺̦̜͈̩t̷̡̤̪̯͕̮͔͆͠í̸̛̻͓̤͙͚̙̯̿̅̂̓̉̇͒e̷̢̨͉͖̫͕̲̍̀̑̀͐͑̐̀͝ͅṡ̶̛̻́͋̊ ̷̺̹̯̰͚̯̯̪̅͂͐ĭ̵̤͉͓̼̬͎͒n̶͙͕̫̞͒̈́͐̑̓͊̚͠ͅc̶̦̭̱̝͈̙̫̖̐̈́͊̌̔̓̍̚r̶̡̥̪̋è̶̢͓̺̫̠̔̌͆͌̌͝͠à̶͈̍̏̏̈́̂̆̌͝s̵̢̰̤̖̬̑̏̌͑͂͝ė̸̢̹͂͘d̸̛̼̲̾̓̈́̐!̶̛̞͕̹̈͋̔́̀̊̕͠
̶̼͎͙͖̬͔͇̌̒̆͊̏͂̏̓̀̕
̶̱̲̜̓Ś̵̨͎͉͂̈́ḩ̷̡̐̆͝͠i̶̛̟͉͋̈́͑̓ḙ̷̢̢̧̛̲̤̹͌̀̄̈́͒̿͜͝l̶̡̨͕̠̜̳͈̎̓̈́̒̅͂͋͝d̵̨̜͆͂̓̈́͘͘̕͠ ̸̰̠͆͠o̵͇͓͐̈́̈́͌̋̔̾̋̊f̶͕̋͐̊ ̵͈̟̲̤͖̜̯̓Ř̴̡̙͙͕́̉͗͝͠â̷̹̱̗͔͍͔̫͓̘̆͂͊̆̕͠g̶̖̫͍̈̈́̅͆̆͗ë̴̠̖̱́̏͝ ̸̛̫̯̅͛̐͑̔͝͠͝I̵̩͎̼̮̟͌̌̑̇̊͂͘Ȋ̴͇͓͎̘̦͖͜ ̸̗̘͍̮̻̦͚̏̆̿̏̃́̓ͅų̶͈͇̜̭͈̗̊̌͒̕͜͝͝ͅn̴̨͍̪̳͍͊̉̒͠l̸̛̛̘̲͍̳̪̠̒͌͗̉͊͊o̴̰͎͖͎̗̯͇̜̽̎̌͋̓̃̔͒̔͊͜c̸̺̰͖͌̋̇̌͐̇͋́͑̚k̵̤̗̣̲͕̿́̄̌̓̅̊̀̍̕ͅȩ̸̢̝͎͊̽́̕d̸̞̘̖̪̠̻̱̲̖̍̂̈́̊͘͝!̵̟̣̮̈̓̀͒̉̃̿͆͝
̶̟̫̙̬̲̹͙̺̐ͅ
̵̳̤̟̽͋͌̏̀́͒͗͝͝E̸̡̖̫͇̲̘͗̈́͐͂̏q̸͔͍̖̱͖͍̦̫̗̾ṳ̵̦̬̥̂͒́͜ͅi̴̢̞̳͉͇͙̩̯̮̐͂͌̒̑͆͠͠ṗ̶̗̤͕̲̖͐̈́̽͠ ̵̢͖̝̗͐̀̾̓̾̑̓͠͝B̶̪̠̪̤̯̈̅̄ǫ̶̛̠̺̍̾̃͂̆n̵̨̩̖̻̑̅ͅų̸̱̥̮͎͚̳̣̇ͅͅs̸̢̨̤͙̤͇͓̄̕ ̷̮̈́̈́̂̿̒̎S̵̖͕͔͇̳̦͈̩̒͋̊̋̀̌̒ͅķ̴̢̨̘̤͖̼̃̊͋̑͜ȋ̵̢̨̠̝̗̘̻̖̳̋̓̅͊l̷̢̛̥͔̟̜̗͉͔̑̌̂͗̆̈́̄l̴̥͛͘:̷̨̖̦͉̘̪͎͕͕̥́ ̷̧̛̟͍̝̟̳̙͝"̷̪̠͑̃̇͝C̶̛̯͍̫͋̊̐h̸͈̱̠̞́̈́̃̅͘̕͘ͅa̵̢̺̰͊͆͆̂̎̕n̸͉̺̔g̴̢̣̽̊͑͋̌̽̆̂̍̂e̷̠̖̓̀͌̚ ̶̺͌̑̿̃̈́̋̈̈́͊Ş̴̢̛̙̥͉̞̭̘͍̫̿ẖ̸̡̜͎̠̤͑ͅį̸̯̙̝̰͔̅͛͊̍̕͘̕e̶̢̢̜͕̽͒̄̎͘ḻ̴̦̰̼̩̋́́͜d̷̘̝̗̞͓̓̿̀̉̈͐̈ ̵̡̲̺̳̪͚̱͙̜́̇͋̀̃͌͠͝͝͝(̷̧͇̖̥̥̳͇̤̭̩͂̇͒̕̚Ḁ̸̡̼͎̥͓̂̈͘t̷̪̖̺͋͗̂̑͠t̸̙̙͍̫̹̾̓͋̀̌̒̔͠ͅa̸̘͓̎̾̿̿̓̽̅̊͠c̵̨̻̻̯͍͕̬̩̔́̐ͅͅk̵̢̨̢͈͖̙͔̠̙̀͐̇̄́͝͠͝)̴̢̤̙͓̹̤͕͂̀͆"̶̡̡̯̪̩̼͔͉̲̀ ̸̤͍͕̾͋́͒͊͛̋̀ȁ̸̡͙͔̬͙̮͔̅̉n̶̗͉̲͇͈̣̄̊̽́̈́͋͊̓̚͝d̵̜͖̯̙̰͈̏͋͒͗̈́̌̆ ̴̨̧͉̥̩̭̦̓́̅͒̅͂̽͘"̸̜͕̮̖̗͊ͅI̴̬̦̗̥̳̳͐̏͊̈́̑̈̑͜͠ŗ̵͙̣̞̪̖͚͍͊̽́̑͘͝o̴͙̔̒̓̔̃̑͗̕͝n̶͕̈́̏̑͛̉͛̍̐ ̸̨̛͇̘̜̜͐̈͆̽͆̕͝M̶̨̫̹̝͎͚̉͊̈́͊̉̄͐̈͋͝ạ̷͇̤̣͚̊̌i̶̛̯̙͛͋͑̑̿̚̚͠d̸̝͙̰̎͋̈͊̄͆͆ë̶̢͖̣́̈́̔͐̈́̔̑͊́n̵̨̧̥̥̰̗̫͙͋̽̊̉͜͝"̸̢̧̡̘̱̞͈̖͔̖̿̔
̶͖͙̤̓̓̋͑̇̕̚͘͘ͅS̴͙̲̈́̓̔͑͊͊̒̕p̷͍͍̟̙̈́͌͊̆͒̃͛͝e̵̡̥͙̯̠̭͉̓̏͑c̶̡̢̖̹̣̝̥̩̹̖̅̓̓͌i̸̞̻̦͚̞͉̻͝ā̵̪̔̌͑̿̔͑̎̕ľ̶͙͓̏͜ ̵̘̤̼̠͕̫̯̙̘̿́͆͋Ȩ̷̺̰̀̂̿̾̀͂̎f̷̧̪̹̘̭̦̹̺̗̭̉̈́́f̴̢͇͔̺̳͈̜̽͗̀͋e̵͖̯͙̱̥̹͕͎̠̓̈͌c̶̝̗̻̓̈̏t̷̟̱̩̄͆́̑̎̚:̵͚̅̔̓̕ ̵̢̟̹̝̱̯̜̰̭͕͋̄̎̿̑̏͘͠Ś̵̘̫̳̼̫̬̜̳̰̎̿͌͆͝ę̵͈͓̭̩͖͇̫̾͌͛͗̉̚ͅl̸̨̡̟̔̓̈͘͘ͅf̴̡̧̜̼̰͇̟͇̥̈̍̇̽̓̆ ̴̨̛͆̿̒̂̇̏̂͝C̶͓̘͛̉͌̐̃ụ̸̖̇̆r̴̙͕̤̰̰̲̿͒̈̃͂s̷̛͉̯̳̾̓͛̈̎͠ḛ̸͓͉͎̮̺̀̓̈̄̑̓̒̉̑͝ ̶̹̀̐̉̅̒͗B̶̡͝ȕ̸̢͕̮̝̜̳̻͊͗̌̆͋͐r̴̹͇̔͋̎͋n̴̨̹͔̝̣̗͕̊̆̀į̷̢̦̫̱̣̝̗͕͖̇͂̿́̑̆̂̓̄n̸͎̬̥̙͎͕̰̽̏̑̑́̑̕g̵̝̗̝͖̠͈̘̾̑̽̆̎̽̀ͅ,̸̞͌͝͝ ̶̨̛̬̖͍͇̬̒̀̿́͋̎͑̕S̶̩͍̹̘͔̥̺̮̅̃̅ṫ̶̢̲̽r̷͍̳̔̽̏͋ė̶̜̹͇̝̮̱̤̹͐ṇ̵̯̃̽̑͂g̷̫͙̯̙̪̦͈͗͛̊͌͌̅̆̚͘͘t̴̠̹̗̍̔̏͆̅̾̚h̵̢̧̨͈͖͙̳̰̭͋̓̑̋̈͌̏͛͝͠ ̵̨̥͉͉͉̊͂̀͑̈́̀͛͠ͅȔ̸͉̙̒̏͊͗̾͆p̶̼̣͕͓̥͑̏̒͋͐̑̋͝,̸̢̡̭͚̜̙̦͖͎̄͋̊̓͗̈̕̚ͅ ̶̦͕̤̖͎͗̉͊̒̈́̊̈͑͊Ḏ̷̨̧̛̛͕͉̩̭̲̣̆̍̽̆̎̀e̶̤̓̊͆̇͝m̶̺̱͍̜͈͈͊̃̍́̃͂͊͜͝ǒ̴̡̡͉̦͙̲̠̮̼̮̉ṋ̴͇̑̍̎̿͝ͅ'̵̰̘̰͈̑͘̕s̵̯̟̲̦͓̙̟̥̤̀̎̈́̄ ̴̅́̅̊̍͋̊̇̈́͆ͅR̵̟̗͚͕̞͔̬̰̈́̏̀̏͠a̶̧̳͍͑͌̈͊g̵̬̦͍̲̥̀̏͊̏̇̂́͌̾̚ë̸͓͙̮̘̎͜,̶͎̦̰̙̳̮̝̪̈́̽ͅ ̶̺͕̥̟̥͐̈̒̈́̕͜Ŗ̶̨̛̘͚̬͒͊̚ȏ̶͇̮̮͇͖̱͂̿͂̃͊͘͘͜͝y̸̟͙̞̑̎̏̏a̷͖̭̯̩͛ͅļ̶̦̞͇̪͋̄̃̃͋̋̒͜ͅ ̶̢̟͚̲̦̔̐̂ͅṢ̸̰͉̌h̸̡̥̩̜͍̗̗̬͖̆ĩ̷̹̞̤̀́̔͛̔̕͝é̶̺̱̳̟̙̜̰͖͇͍̀̄l̷̦͖̣̱̄̿͊̍͌͆̽͜ḑ̸̹͔͈̜̍̅̈́̽̀͐̀̕ ̵̧̫͚͖̮̣͎́̎̽͌͌̄͘͜͠͝͠(̶̛͇̦̰͎͉͍̘̣̠̙͌͌̽͛͂̕R̸̻͚͑̅ǟ̷̡̧̧̫͖͓̯̤̗͆̋̚͝g̴̛̭̘͇̯̭̙̪̳̀̈́ȩ̷̮̪̝͕̔̓̿̅̽̊̍̔͠͝ ̸͍̭̅͑̆͜c̵̢̩̞͎̍̀̄u̴͇̝̬̟̦͓̯̗̫͛̃̽͒̚ȑ̷̨̨̟̞̗͓͉̳͊͘̚͜͝ş̵̢̫̻̞̤̫̪̈́̇e̸̱̠̣̥̳̓̋̿̈̌)̷̖̺͌̃̇͂̆̕,̵̧̣̣̱̙̼̞̜͖͑̏͒̂̕͜͝ ̵̛̯͔̬̻̗̲̌͆̇̋̽͂͘͜ͅS̷̭͓̙̊͐̈́̄͗̄̓h̷̖̼̤̪̽i̸̊̆̒̌̅̕͜͠e̵̜̳͐̈́̿̐̋̇́͑͠͝ĺ̸̬̪̘̖̜̫͈̜̹̓̏̔͐͝d̷̛͈̖͓̪͈͛̉̿̽̈͒ ̸̳͇̞̣̝̎̅͌̕B̷̠̹̲̘͍̫̃̒̏͑͌̌̆̊ḁ̸̧̛͉̜̂̎̀̇̐́̕ś̸̢̥͍̘̗̗̖̲̤̾̓͒̋̈̚͜h̵̠̜͈̝̟͚͊͒̓͜ ̸̡̜̰̻̓͊̈́̿̾̏͐͌̚͜(̷̫̗̻̼̦͐͂̊͂͆̈́́̕R̷̝͍̞̂̎̑̍a̷̘͖͎̤̝̙̩̟͙̾ġ̴̡̖͖̺̹͇̯̳̮̔͂̽̈́̕͘ë̴̢̢̜͖̮̫̳̦̟́̃͊̄̓̕͜ ̷̮̬̿̏̂͌͗̈́́̀̅̚C̸̡̢͕͉͈̳͉̟̲͍͛̽ư̶̻̹̙͚͓͖͗r̵͎̘̣̖̖͋s̸̨̉͂͆͆̉́͝e̷̡̖͌̐̚)̵̤̗͕̰̯̲̤̠̖͌͐͆̈́̉̂̍̿̕͘
̶̦̬͔̮̤͍͕̅̅́̄̂̀͘
̷̢̢̻̘̭̙͍͇̗̝͎̾̋̐̈͂̂͘͝
"AHHHHHHH!"
To Raphtalia's horror, Naofumi's shield changed again as he screamed. It got bigger. The black design under the bright red gemstone changed. The red lost its luster, while the black was emphasized. The right side of Naofumi's body became encased in… armor? His chest plate changed colors. Black as night, hard as a dragon's scales, interspersed with sharp spikes, and with a black aura coming off just as sinister as a demon's.
All he needed was a horn and tail and he'd have the demon look down.
Bitch charged in for another slash. "Ha-"
"Royal Shield!" However, before she could get another slash in, a burst of energy came off of Naofumi. It slammed into her with the force of a sledgehammer and sent her flying back.
He was now surrounded by a barrier of energy. Instead of gold-colored, it was a light red. The crown crest on it was twisted, malformed, and black as coal. Dark flames flickered under its surface.
"Zweite Fireball!"
"Zweite Aqua Shot!"
"Zweite Air Shot!"
"Zweite Earthball!"
The Church Knights' spells being fired from the wall were dispelled against the more powerful barrier. Not doing anything to it. The Royal Knights' spells, however, to their complete bewilderment, were absorbed into it. Similar to how Myne's spell had been absorbed before. And then while they were still surprised, their spells came flying back out at them. Covered in dark cursed flames.
The Royal Shield (Cursed) had lost the defense bonus when protecting friendly royalty and/or rulers. But it had a higher defense rating thanks to the Shield of Rage II, and, as a bonus, it gained the ability to not only get a bonus facing enemy royalty but against anyone loyal to royalty.
"Ah! Ahhhhhh!" Some of the Royal mages screamed in pain and agony as they collapsed to the ground. Covered in dark burns.
"Mages, fall back!" A Captain yelled to the ones that had managed to avoid their own spells.
Motoyasu got back up, staring at Naofumi in horror. Naofumi in the midst of his fiery skill looked even more threatening than before.
The barrier suddenly disappeared. "No!" Naofumi fell to his knees, clutching at his head. "Stop… stop it…" Flames burst anew from Naofumi, who clutched at his head in pain.
Raphtalia stared in horror. Naofumi was trying to fight his way to the surface. "Naofumi! Please, change your shield before it's too late!" She screamed.
"I… I…" His voice sounded human for just a second.
He looked at her, the girl he loved. And his lips moved.
It was barely more than a whisper.
"Run."
His eyes blazed red. Then he slammed his shield down to the ground. "I HATE IT ALL!" He screamed deeply. "Shield Bash!"
Normally, this skill he'd gotten from copying the Iron Series of Shields in Elhart's shop did next to nothing. It stunned an opponent for several seconds and dealt damage equal to his attack stat, so none against anything except a level 1 balloon monster. It only served to weakly knock an opponent back and stun them. However, under the upgrades from the Cursed Series.
A wave of cursed Fire surged out from the area of contact with the ground.
"Get back! Get back-" Some of the knights, including elite knights, were hit by the flames.
"AHHHHHHH!" They'd thought they knew pain before. But this... this took it to a whole new level. These flames were definitely more powerful. Even the elite knights of Melromarc fell to them.
The upgraded Shield Bash had more attack power. Along with the cursed flames and stunning effect. The best part was that it took only five seconds for it to recharge.
"Get back! Everyone get back!" The Captain who'd helped at Lute yelled in fear. "Drag the wounded back! This is too much for us to handle on our own! Get everyone back!" He ordered the squads under him.
"Yes sir!" His knights charged around the field. Helping and/or dragging their downed comrades back to safety.
"What do you think you're doing?! You're not the one in charge here!"
The Captain turned to the Commander. "I know a fight we can't win when I see it. I'm not going to needlessly throw away the lives of those beneath us!"
"He's right." Before the Commander could argue, Motoyasu approached. Holding a hand to his gut. "Naofumi is out of control. Your knights will only get in the way."
The Captain nodded to him before he looked to the other Captains. "Get every knight who can to pull out the wounded and fall back! Support the First Princess from a distance! Sir Spear Hero, please stop the Shield Hero!"
The Commander growled angrily but didn't counteract the Captain. "Yes, I will," Motoyasu changed spears. The normal ones weren't going to cut it. The only thing he could think of that could stand against a Cursed Series was another one.
His eyes turned green.
"Miss Altara! The Shield Demon is going out of control- Wahhhhhh!" The Church Knight who'd been yelling down to Altara from the wall was sent flying by a kick to the nuts from Filo.
Altara grimaced. "Get that damn gate open! Before the Shield Demon grows too powerful!" She then finally got up off her horse. She'd been hoping to save all her magic power for taking down the Shield Demon. But this monster was proving to be a bigger pest than these men could handle.
'Some humans just aren't capable of getting the job done properly.' She thought in annoyance.
Raphtalia shakily stood back up. Gripping painfully at her sword. Naofumi had told her to run. But she couldn't do that. She had to help him.
"Are you going to be okay?" Melty asked worriedly.
Raphtalia smiled down at the worried princess. "Don't worry… I'll be fine. " Raphtalia charged back into the fray.
"Come on Princess Melty. We're going to have to work harder on these next flames!" Eclair said as she ran for the next set of fires. Melty followed.
Naofumi charged Myne again in his new, deadlier form.
"No, Naofumi! Stop!" Naofumi barely turned in time to block Motoyasu's spear. It was the same spear from before. And had a similar dark aura coming off it. The spear was black, with green highlights. The gem on it was as dark green as a murky swamp. Along with his eyes.
Naofumi's flames activated, but Motoyasu jumped back, avoiding them. He gripped at his forehead like he had a massive headache coming on. "Stop Naofumi! You won the duel! Just take your party and- No he didn't!" It was like Motoyasu was fighting with himself. His eyes flashed from green to his normal bright orange, and then back again.
"It's over! You don't have to- You took everything away from me!" He charged forward again. "Chaos Thrust!" His spear became a blur as he struck at Naofumi repeatedly. A look of clear jealousy on his face.
Naofumi tanked the attack. It was hurting a little bit. And his overall stats dropped slightly for some reason. But on the last hit, his Shield burst to life. This time, his flames successfully slammed into Motoyasu. "Ah!" Like he was coming to, he retreated back. One of his hands clutching at the arm that had taken the brunt of the flames.
"No! Sir Motoyasu!" Myne growled angrily at Naofumi. "As the source of thy power I order thee, decipher the laws of nature, and blast my target away!" She rushed the chant because Naofumi turned and started to run toward her. He was running fast, so she had to hit him now before he got close!
"No, Myne! I've got this! Get out of there-"
"Drifa Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A roaring fire dragon came from Bitch. Her strongest spell. It roared as it flew at Naofumi with deadly speed.
There were at least a dozen different spells buffing her at that moment. The spell had to work. It had to work! It had to-
"Gruhhhhh!" Boom! "Gruhhhhhhh!"
Naofumi slammed the roaring fire spell away with his shield.
It was epic.
In his enraged state. He had deflected the strong spell straight up into the air. Where it continued roaring into the sky until it lost energy and disappeared.
Myne stared up in horror. 'My… my strongest spell…' Even with all those buffs, he had deflected it away like it was nothing… he didn't even have to use the Royal Shield skill.
"Shield Bash!"
The still screaming Naofumi slammed Bitch's face with his Shield.
"AH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The flames she was hit with were much more powerful than what she'd been hit with before. They engulfed her. Burned at her face.
It was a hit that would definitely leave permanent scars.
"I HATE YOU!" While she was stunned, Naofumi slammed his newly armored spiked fist into her gut while she was screaming in agony. With what felt like strength immeasurable, a shockwave came from him as the punch threw Myne clear across the battlefield into the side of a building. Another shockwave came out from the point of impact, along with a dust cloud.
Even with her defense back at where it normally was, that punch had caused damage! The Cursed Series was amazing! He could truly kill with this!
"Naofumi! Please, stop-" Raphtalia took down another knight that tried to get close to Naofumi. One of the very few Church Knights who'd jumped down from the other side of the wall before Filo could stop him to attack Naofumi.
"Rahhh! Shield Bash!" Naofumi turned in her direction and charged for her.
Raphtalia's eyes widened. And she barely avoided where his fist slammed into the ground. More flames erupted like a volcano, forcing her to jump back to avoid being burned.
"Get back!"
"The Shield Hero is too dangerous!" Some of the knights loyal to the Captain yelled. Those knights that were able to started retreating. Those that couldn't retreat on their own received support from the Captain's knights.
"Naofumi! Stop!" Motoyasu charged in again, attacking Naofumi's side. Naofumi grabbed the spear near the tip though and hit Motoyasu in the chest with his shield. "Ah!" Motoyasu stumbled back, gripping at his chest. Black burns covered his armor. He drove his spear tip into the ground to stay upright.
Naofumi looked around. From his perspective, he was surrounded by a horde of Mynes. Mynes dressed in armor. Mynes knocked out on the ground. A Myne leaning on a spear. A Myne or two putting out his fires or was it Myne's fire?
Either way, he was surrounded by Mynes.
"RAHHHHHHH!" He charged another knight. One of the ones who had been trying to drag a friend out of the way. One of the knights who'd fought beside Naofumi at the Lute Village. And one of the knights who were grateful that Naofumi had saved his family.
The Knight turned to Naofumi in surprise. "Sir Hero-" Naofumi's Shield slammed into the Knight's chest. "AHHHHHH!" He screamed in pain as he was sent flying. Cursed fire trailed off him. He slammed to the ground and groaned in pain.
The one-hit had almost emptied his entire HP bar.
"No, Sir Shield, please stop! We don't want to hurt-" One of the other knights nearby was saying in fear. One of the ones who'd been fooled because of his loyalty to the royal family.
"Self: Curse Burning!" Naofumi drove his Shield into the knight's gut. Igniting his shield anew with more dark cursed flames.
"AHHHHHHHH!" The knight fell to the ground. Covered in dark flames that burned him alive.
His HP bar dropped to empty, and his movements stilled while his body charred to a crisp.
"No, Naofumi!" Raphtalia yelled.
Naofumi turned towards her again, growling angrily. "SHUT UP BITCH!" He tried running for Raphtalia who looked like Myne, only for Spear Myne to get in the way again.
"Stop it Naofumi! You're attacking your own party member-" Motoyasu tried to say. "Who should have been my party member! Meteor Thrust!" Motoyasu didn't bother with forming a portal this time. He fired the ball of blue energy out of his spear right at Naofumi.
Boom!
Naofumi was encased in smoke for a moment, but then he came charging out of it. Barely even phased by one of Motoyasu's most powerful attacks. While still screaming viciously, Naofumi tried to punch Motoyasu in the gut, but he jumped to the side, avoiding it.
"Let's see how you like this then!" The tip of his spear glowed an ominous green. "Chain Spear Bind!"
A pair of spears with chains attached to them appeared on either side of Naofumi, and then they rapidly spun around him, binding him in chains before dragging him back onto the ground. The spears then dug themselves into the ground, planting him in place. Naofumi growled angrily as he tried to get out of them.
"Change Spear (Attack)!"
The chains around Naofumi sharpened. Like he was being poked all over with many different tiny spears. Naofumi roared in pain but didn't stop trying to break free.
"Foolish sinner! The time of your retribution is nigh! Suffer in anguish as your entire body is stabbed and lifted to become a feast for the vultures in the sky!
Naofumi freed his bleeding shield arm.
The ground started to shake beneath Naofumi. "Go, Sky Bur-"
"Shield Bash!"
He thrust his shield at Motoyasu, and the cursed flames flew off it. Slamming into him right before he could finish. "Ahhhhh!" Motoyasu backpedaled out of the flames, clutching at his face.
"Rahhhh!" Naofumi broke the rest of the sharp chains binding him and jumped through his flames, punching Motoyasu hard in the gut. His overall stats had dropped again. But Motoyasu still dropped to the ground, coughing from the hit.
"I HATE YOU! I HATE EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!" He yelled at Spear Myne. Naofumi kicked Motoyasu with enough force that he was sent flying through the air into another building. His wounds were already recovering. Leaving him covered in his own blood. It made Naofumi look even scarier.
The real Myne still hadn't gotten back up yet from where she'd been hit.
On the wall, Filo was still fighting. But the Church Knights were gaining ground. She couldn't hold every section of the wall forever. And some of the mages down on the other side were casting magic up at her while Altara, who now held a pair of light swords in her hands, had climbed up to face Filo herself.
"Zweite Lightless Slash!" A wave of shadows came off of her right sword flying at Filo.
"Fast Tornado!" Filo formed another tornado, barely knocking the attack away. This woman, whoever she was, was really strong! And Filo was running low on MP.
She had to jump to avoid more spells cast by the different mages below before she landed on top of another knight.
"Ha!" Filo raised a taloned foot in time, blocking Altara's quick attack. "High Quick!" Filo blurred in and out of existence, striking at the robed nun from all sides. Altara went on the defensive, blocking and parrying all the attacks with her twin swords.
It was only a matter of time before they'd get the gates open and be able to charge in. But a few of the Church Knights on the walls up above wondered after looking down below if that'd even be a good idea.
Naofumi saw Mynes all around him. All of them looked at him in fear. From the wall. From the gates. From the streets and in the buildings. They were all looking at him. All of them were scared of him. More than one laid on the ground dead. But there was still more to deal with. More for him to burn. 'Hate…'
His Rage was strong. Stronger, he'd bet, than the fury of any living creature. Even that of dragons. Why had he ever thought to hold on to that weak feeling of hope when it could be so easily extinguished? He should have relied on his hate long ago. He could always have his hate. And no one could stop him from hating others.
"Naofumi! Please, stop. This isn't you-" Naofumi turned, trying to punch Raphtalia. But Raphtalia wasn't there. Yet all he heard was Bitch.
'Is this another one of that Bitch's tricks?!' He thought angrily. Had she learned to turn invisible just to mock him?!
"Please, Naofumi, at this rate, you're going to kill everyone. Even those who want to help you. Please, just change out of that Shield-" Raphtalia was invisible. Trying to get through to him. Trying to get him to recognize it was her.
'THERE!' Naofumi jumped forward and to the right. Tackling the invisible Raphtalia to the ground.
"Ahhhhh!" Raphtalia screamed. Naofumi's cursed flames were burning her again.
"YOU'VE TRIED TO TAKE EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME FOR LONG ENOUGH YOU BITCH! I HATE YOU! I HATE THIS WORLD!" Naofumi yelled as Raphtalia reappeared below him. But he couldn't see anything anymore. He was becoming too blinded by his own hate. His own rage. His own desire for destruction.
He'd been right to tell her to run.
"Naofumi…" Raphtalia looked like she was crying.
None of the knights were trying to interfere now. They were dragging their injured comrades to cover. Those knights that knew recovery magic were trying their best to heal them. But unfortunately, that meant no one was nearby to help Raphtalia.
"Miss Raphtalia!" Eclair yelled in worry.
"Filo!" Melty yelled. They'd dealt with the last of the fires that had tried to start in the city.
Filo delivered another powerful blow that finally knocked Altara a ways down the wall. She then looked down from up above, and her large eyes widened at what she saw. "MOMMY!" She jumped down from the wall and tried to approach.
"No, Filo, stay back!" Raphtalia yelled at her. "Protect Eclair and-" Naofumi lifted her up, and threw her. Raphtalia flew all the way until she slammed into the large wall by Filo.
"No! Daddy, please stop-" Filo cried as she ran forward to try and stop Daddy.
"Shield Bash!" Filo jumped away, avoiding Naofumi's reckless Shield Bash which launched more flames into the large black iron gates. The metal bent and warped under the heat.
Raphtalia coughed. She had burns where Naofumi had grabbed her. And where his body had been pressed against hers. Naofumi heard her coughing, and approached her.
Melty's eyes widened. "No! Stop! Sir Naofumi, please stop! That's your companion you're hurting!" She yelled.
Naofumi ignored her. He picked up the weak-looking Raphtalia by the throat. She weakly grabbed at his hands. "I hate you!"
'I have to snap Naofumi out of it… I have to save him…' She thought. 'But… how…' He wasn't just burning her. He was choking her.
"Zweite Fireball!"
Naofumi dropped Raphtalia to the ground and blocked the fire spell. Myne was somehow back up again and was still standing. It was, probably, the only redeeming thing the bitch had ever accomplished.
She'd just, in her mad hatred of the Shield Hero, saved Raphtalia's life.
"As source of thy power, and as the next Queen I order thee, decipher the laws of nature, hit my target with a blazing fury, and bring him down to the level of ants where he belongs! Drifa-" Had she not paused to include the part about being the next Queen, she could have released the spell in time.
But unfortunately, her pride in becoming the next Queen was her downfall, as it gave Naofumi all the time he needed. He closed the distance so quickly, she had no time to react. Especially since she was no longer being buffed.
Meaning even if she'd gotten her spell out, it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
"Shield Bash!"
Pow!
He drilled her in the face again with his Shield. Cutting off her spell. The flames activated again, further burning her face.
"Ahhhhhh!" Myne flew backward into the wall. She slammed into it and collapsed to the ground. Briefly stunned from the skill.
Naofumi continued walking towards her. "Wait, please, stop! Have mercy!" Malty begged as she back crawled away from the wall. At this point, she was covered in black burns. Almost all the skin on her face except for around her eyes was darkened from the curse.
Instead of pleasing Naofumi, it only angered him more.
Had he not pleaded for mercy like this Bitch? Had she ever cared to think about how much he'd suffered since coming to this world because of her?! Had she ever thought about how much everyone had suffered because of her! HAD SHE EVER GIVEN A DAMN ABOUT ANYONE OTHER THAN HERSELF!
And yet she still had the balls to ask him for MERCY!?
"I HATE YOU! I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU!" He yelled as he approached the fearful Malty.
"Fast Fireball!" It was a desperate move. She couldn't risk higher-tier magic since he'd interrupt it before she could finish the chant. It had to work. It just had to!
Naofumi hit the fireball with his shield, and it deflected back into Myne. She screamed as her own flames hurt her, along with the cursed burns that Naofumi had given her. Her HP bar was getting low. She only had a couple of elixirs left. Elixirs that wouldn't work on the majority of her injuries.
"I HATE YOU! YOU DESERVE TO BURN! THIS PATHETIC WORLD DESERVES TO BURN!"
Bitch still struggled to use her curse-burned hands to pull an elixir out. If it had the chance of helping her to survive. If there was some way for her to live.
Yes, it wasn't just Bitch at fault here. This whole world was at fault. This world that had summoned him. This world that had caused him nothing but pain! This world had taken Raphtalia, Filo, and everyone else he'd ever cared about away from him, and replaced it with nothing but this whore!
He hated it! He hated the people! He hated the rulers! He hated the religion! But he especially hated this pathetic little bitch cowering on the ground in front of him. Begging for her miserable worthless life when she'd taken everything from him.
He lifted his shield and aimed it at the screaming Malty. Motoyasu was still struggling to get up after the last hit. Naofumi's party was standing back, even his own daughter was watching him with fear. "I HAVE A SPECIAL PUNISHMENT! JUST FOR YOU, YOU WORTHLESS, LOW-ROTTEN BITCH!"
Myne screamed and covered her face in fear at his words. "No! Please! I'll do anything-!"
Naofumi slammed his shield into her chest again, causing her to scream and drop to the ground as flames burned at her again. "SHUT UP!"
Despite it all. Raphtalia stumbled towards Naofumi. She had to help him. She had to get through to him.
"No, Miss Raphtalia! It's too dangerous-" Eclair tried to yell. But Raphtalia tuned it out.
Only she could reach through to him. Only she could bring him back to the light. 'I have to help him… I have to…' She still didn't know how. But, somehow, she had to reach him.
The feeling Naofumi felt going through his body now. Was it… satisfaction? The satisfaction that, at last, this bitch was genuinely afraid of him. The satisfaction that she was on the ground, pleading for her worthless life.
Too bad it was too little, too late. A smirk appeared on his lips, as he selected a chain of skills only someone like this Bitch would be worthy of dying under.
"Shield Prison!"
A cage of plates and chains surrounded Myne.
"No, please! Sir Moto-"
"Change Shield (attack)!" Needles impaled the Bitch inside, damaging her, unlike his normal Bee Needle or Animal Needle Change Shield combos.
"AHHHHHHH!" Bitch screamed in pain and terror. This was it. She was going to die. Her HP bar was almost empty. And there was nothing she could do but scream in pure terror.
'Naofumi…' Raphtalia grabbed onto Naofumi's shoulder, as she almost collapsed from exhaustion. His flames continued to lick at her. "Please, Nao… Naofumi." She said beggingly.
"Foolish Sinner! Within this virgin of cold ore!"
'Burn it all!'
'No.' The dark aura around him was darkening as he prepared to use his execution skill. With how far gone Naofumi now was. With how angry he was. With the amount of hate flowing through him… If he were to use this skill now without being in full control of himself…
"Who shall swallow even your screams in her embrace!
'I hate it all!'
'If he casts this skill…' He'd unlock the next tier of that Shield... and the darkness would take over… forever. She wouldn't be able to reach through to him then.
He'd be this cursed image of him, that would destroy the world, or die trying to. "Naofumi! Please stop!" She hated the Bitch too. She wouldn't cry if the pig died. But she didn't want her to die if it meant Naofumi would be gone forever.
"Suffer in anguish as your entire body is stabbed and skewered!
'I just want this world to disappear! I want-'
'What do I do? How do I stop him? How do I-' The answer hit Raphtalia.
There was only one thing that could counteract his hate. The same thing that had counteracted it back in the duel arena long ago.
"I cast the Iron Maid-"
"Naofumi." Raphtalia leaned her head in before Naofumi could finish the skill and silenced him.
"Naofumi."
Naofumi gasped. As if he had suddenly been dragged from the bottom of the ocean after being submerged for hours. He looked around himself. He was surrounded by darkness. The Shield of Rage II was on his arm. Only, it wasn't covered in flames. The red gemstone illuminated the design of some golden-horned red and black creature.
"Naofumi..."
Did he recognize that voice… but from where? "Who… who are you?" He asked in the darkness of his mind.
...
"Naofumi… You, you don't really hate me, do you?" He blinked as he looked around at the darkness.
"Where, where are you?" He whispered in this dark realm.
Why was her warm voice so… familiar? Wasn't he supposed to hate everything? Wasn't he… supposed to be… a demon?
…
"Don't you remember who you are, Naofumi?... don't you remember me?" He turned around. He was still surrounded by darkness. Yet standing behind him was the shimmering form of a beautiful person.
His breath caught in his throat. "Who… who…" He was speechless.
She came closer to him. Lightly putting her hands over his. "Please… please don't hate me." She whispered. Tears were in her eyes. Falling down like glowing raindrops onto the dark floor beneath them. "Please... don't hate me... don't hate our daughter… don't hate everything good in my world..."
Naofumi's heart tightened in his chest. "H… Hate you?" How could he possibly hate someone as kind and beautiful as her?
Light shone around the two. Lighting up his mind. "I love you with everything I have Naofumi… so, please… just this once… please listen to me." She quietly begged.
He gasped. He recognized her now. The light shone more brightly. Driving away the shadows. "I am your sword. I promised to stay by your side. To always fight beside you through hellfire and brimstone..."
"Ra… Raphtalia…"
She leaned in close, and his eyes locked with hers. "Hero or not, I, I'll always stand beside you... I love you, Naofumi Iwatani, the great Shield Hero. So please, put away that Shield and come back…" Their faces were only a couple of inches apart. He could feel her breath on his lips. "Come back to me... my Naofumi."
Raphtalia's translucent form closed the remaining distance between them.
Naofumi finally blinked his eyes. Regular, green eyes. The Shield of Rage II was gone. He was now wielding the default Small Shield.
He was no longer blinded by his rage. His skin had regained its normal color. His teeth had returned to normal. The red lines on his cheeks had disappeared. Even his black armor had disappeared in a haze of particles. He was wearing the damaged but still functioning Barbarian Armor 1.5.
At last, he could finally see, he could finally feel.
He could feel Raphtalia hugging him tightly. He could feel her body pressed against his. Her hair pressed into his hands. And… the weight of her lips pressed against his.
'What?'
It was his first kiss. It was the first time he'd ever found himself kissing a girl. But instead of moist, her lips were chapped. Black burns covered her body and hair. And instead of something sweet, her lips tasted of blood and tears. His blood and tears, and hers. He was crying… but… why?
After a few seconds, she released his lips. Both of them fell to their knees. She opened her deep tea-red eyes, dried tear tracks running down from each one. "N... Naofumi?" She whispered.
He continued to look at her in surprise. "Ra-Raphtalia?" He asked. Still not sure what was going on. Why was she kissing him? Why was she bleeding? Why was she crying?
She sighed in relief. Trying to call out to him hadn't worked. Trying to hold on to him hadn't worked. Trying to get him to recognize her hadn't worked. But the last resort had. The last of all last resorts had broken through to him. The resort that had allowed her love and care to burn through his hatred.
She smiled, tears still coming from her eyes. "Naofumi… I'm so glad… you're… … okay..."
Her eyes lulled into her head. And then she collapsed sideways onto the ground.
Naofumi was stunned. Finally seeing the terrible condition Raphtalia was in. "N… no!"
Raphtalia was covered in cursed burns. From her boots to the tips of her hair.
Just like in his nightmares.
Reality struck like a bullet. "NO! RAPHTALIAAAAAAA!"
Till Next Time
Allen