Author's Note:

Well, here it is, the first part of the culmination of what I consider to be the first arc of RotSH, the Lute Wave and then the Duel between Naofumi and Motoyasu. This is likely to be the second longest chapter that I've written so far, and the next the longest, but I may be wrong. The three idiots will naturally ignore everything to go do a boss rush, completely ignoring that there's a town in danger. Thankfully for Lute, Naofumi and company are more than up for the task of defending the village. Maybe things will go a bit differently this time, or maybe not… it's not like something could happen that causes chaos… right? evil grin

On a side note, I have a poll up, as I have forever disliked the fact that after Queen Mirellia comes back and puts Malty/Bitch and Aultcray/Trash on trial that even though she sentences them to execution, which considering all both have done, more than warrants it decides to commute those sentences because Naofumi wanted to be petty and change their names to something insulting. The poll is, how many of my readers at the end of the Three Heroes Church arc which is many chapters away, want to see Malty/Bitch and Aultcray/Trash actually executed or how many wish to spare one or the other or both to have one/both of them thrown into the dungeons in chains to live out the rest of their lives?

I want to once again thank Allen Blaster of Virtue of the Shield Hero fame for his comments, suggestions and encouragement and I urge you to read his fanfic as in my view, it is excellent. I also again want to thank Robotech275 of Crafting and Cooking Hero fame for all his help with timelines, Weapon Forms and other comments on this story. He too is a great author and I also urge people to read his and other stories in the Multi World Project like Kampfpanzer. His work Locked and Loaded in Another World is very good and the best example of a Gun Hero that isn't either far too overpowered and a Matrix/John Wick clone or else a try hard and edgelordy type loser. I would also like to let people know that MeTal from my Discord server is now my new beta reader and editor that I rely on for help in crafting this story of mine.

Review Responses:

To MaxPrime: I'm glad you heard it, I was watching Rocky III while I was writing and seeing Rocky and Apollo Creed training together gave me the idea for some of the scenes. Don't worry, Motoyasu will meet Sadeena soon enough, I have plans… keep reading to learn then evil laugh

61 Reviews, 60 Favorites, 81 Follows and over 7500 views and counting. Again, thanks to everyone who is supporting me, you are one of the main reasons that I write and will continue to write. As always, I will try to release a chapter bi-weekly, but it will depend on work and life. Let's dive into the story.

The Struggle of the Shield Hero

Chapter 9

When It Rains, It Pours

"When they ask how I weathered the storm, I will tell them I did not. I was uprooted like the palm trees and shot down like the birds from the stormy skies. I was ravished like the zinc houses and devoured like the soil as it swallowed itself whole. I was ruined. I was disaster. I was dancing in the eye of God's will. "Thank you," I whisper as we ascend into the sky. How beautiful it was to be destroyed."

― Asha Bromfield, Hurricane Summer

We woke up the next morning with around 6 hours to go before the Wave and headed to Erhard's. We knocked on his door and though he grumbled a little and looked like he hadn't slept at all last night, he opened the door and, while taking looking at me, thumbed us inside, saying,

"I should've known it'd be you Kid… c'mon in, I got your armor and gear ready."

He quickly looked around outside and locked up the door again then turned to me and with a stern expression on his face as he said,

"Kid, have you been stirring up a hornet's nest lately? The Castle and the nobles are all up in arms about some sort of powerful therianthrope assaulting and killing a prominent noble near the coast by the name of Idol Rabier. Apparently the King is upset because Lord Rabier was a staunch supporter of his.

I kept my face blank, but unfortunately, I had forgotten to teach my girls how to hide their emotions in their faces and they all looked part triumphant, part proud and mostly relieved that their tormentor was dead.

Erhard put his face in his hands and said,

"That probably wasn't the smartest choice you made Kid, the King tends to hold a grudge and has the Three Heroes firmly on his side thanks to his habit of showering them with praise and special treatment that is only amplified by the Church of theirs. It wouldn't take much if he finds out for sure that it was you that were involved to send them after you."

I shook my head and replied,

"If he couldn't do anything when his own daughter accused me of rape and falsely convicted me of it, because he believed her lies despite all the contradictions I brought up, he won't do anything now. That said, did you know that Idol Rabier was the one that put my girls…"

When I said that, the girls all started to have that smile I knew all too well that said,

"He really does care about us!"

I made a visible effort to ignore their obvious interest and continued on to Erhart,

"And nearly killed them by torturing and breaking them. When we went there to do something about him and to make sure he couldn't do it to any other demi-human or human that he deemed a demi-human lover…"

Here I looked cold and dark as I growled,

"I saw the bodies he left behind. He didn't even give them a proper burial, or at least took them out of the cages. He just left them there and tossed new slaves in with what was left just to show them what was going to happen to them. He deserved death and he got it, the only regret I have is that because of my attack stat, I couldn't do the job myself!"

Erhard glanced at the girls who were looking down sadly and then back at me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder as he said,

"Well… I heard stories, so this isn't that much of a surprise, but it's not nice to hear. Still though, even if the King can't do anything directly to you, aren't you worried that he might do something to the girls?"

I felt a jolt, and my head snapped up, as I glared at Erhard and it somehow made him take a step back as the girls were agape as I growled out,

"If he tries ANYTHING against them… I'll make sure he regrets it, King or no King, they're all I have in this world and I won't let ANYONE try and take them away from me."

I was furious, I have never been that angry before, but just the thought of this kingdom deciding to go from discrimination and harassment into outright theft and worse by separating me from my party? That wasn't going to fly. I would have continued before I felt the arms of three people grab mine and each of them said in turn,

"Master Naofumi…"

"Don't worry Master Naofumi, we won't let them take us away."

"Yeah, that's right Shield Bubba, you taught us to be strong and they won't get us without a huge fight!"

I took a deep breath, and reflected for a moment, this wasn't good. I was too unstable right now, bad things can happen when you let your emotions go out of control. I guess for all my pragmatism over how I was treated in the beginning by the Kingdom and specifically that Trash King and his Bitch Daughter, left me with some unresolved issues. I was human, for all that I slipped a veneer of a typical Japanese salaryman over my personality. I wasn't immune to snapping or breaking down because of stress. Far from it, it made me realize that I was going to have to address the source of my stress and discontent, before it got out of hand.

I closed my eyes and did the exercises that my team leader had recommended to members who were stressed and inclined to have panic attacks because of the sales targets and deadlines we had to meet. One breath in my nose for five seconds, then exhale out of my mouth for ten seconds and then repeat until you feel more relaxed and in control. After about two or three repetitions, I opened my eyes and took a glance at the timer.

00:11:32:56

So just under half a day before the wave hit just after midday, as I checked my date and time display next to the timer from my cell phone effects in my Otherworld Devices Shield. I looked at the girls who were still holding gently onto my arms, looking concerned for me and then at Erhard who was worried as well. Before, I managed a smile and said,

"I'm ok… I just… had a bit of a moment there… I'm fine. Erhart, want to get us our gear so that we can make sure they fit and don't need any last minute adjustments?"

He nodded and went into his workshop and came out with something that made me question whether this was a good idea or not and handed it to me. He grinned and motioned for me to head into the dressing room. I made a face and took the armor set with me and started to put it on. I furrowed my brows when I heard Erhard whispering to the girls, and even though I couldn't make it out yet I had a feeling it was nothing good.

After I finished putting the armor set on, I took a look at myself and then, as vein started to pop on my temple, shouted,

"You've got to be kidding me!"

I stepped out of the dressing room wearing something that could only make my reputation for being a Shield Demon worse as I ground out,

"You made me look like a bandit chief!"

Erhard was laughing with tears in his eyes as the girls all ran up to me with sparkles in their eyes and said as I started to feel uncomfortable.

"So cool!"

"You look like a real Hero now!"

"Yeah! Shield Bubba, you look awesome!"

Erhard just slapped his knee and managed to choke out as he said,

"It's called the Barbarian Armor set, and it was the best thing I could make out of the materials that you gave me. But hey, I think it looks good on you, like you were meant to wear it."

Once again, a vein throbbed in my forehead and I clicked my tongue before I decided to check the stats, it was a really good armor, and would serve me well for the Wave. I couldn't help but wonder if the world was trying to tell me something, like I was always going to be considered the rebel Hero. The fact that this getup was likely going to be my look for the foreseeable future assured that.

When the chaos around my appearance was over with, the girls received their own sets which would be their main armor going forward. Raphtalia was wearing a red dress with a leather belt around her waist, metal reinforced leather on her shoulders and her chest with a pink bow on her collar. She had Usapil fur lined boots and had kept the chain bangles she had when she was still a slave, she also looked like quite the warrior in it. Rifana for her part, was wearing similar armor but it was more geared to a mage and enhanced her mana. Keel was wearing mostly a monster leather cuirass and metal reinforced leather guards on her elbows, knees and shins to protect them. All in all they looked truly ready to take on anyone and anything.

Each of them picked a new weapon that was appropriate to their new level and would last until after their class up, which Erhard had informed me about when we discussed the matter of their weapons.

We were all satisfied with our gear and it was time to make our final preparations for the Wave which would be hitting in under eight hours. I paid Erhard what we owed him and decided that we would head to the tavern that we had gone to with Reichnott and have lunch so that we wouldn't be fighting on an empty stomach. I did keep an eye out for any of the three morons though, just in case I came across them, in order to try and work out strategy with them but had no such luck.

We spent the remaining time with the girls doing some light sparring outside to warm up as I worked as fast as I could to make as many health potions, magic potions and soul healing waters as possible for the battle ahead. I gave the girls two health and magic potions each, while I kept the rest of the soul healing waters to myself as I expected to be draining my SP quickly.

I gave a running countdown when the timer ticked down from an hour left until the Wave as the girls stopped sparring and stood next to me, resolve and anticipation on their features.

00:00:03

"Three…"

00:00:02

"Two…"

00:00:01

"Here we go…

The timer ran out and we were immediately teleported to a cliff and a shattering sound rang out in the air as the sky turned red and indescribable swirls and cracks appeared in the sky. Monsters began to fall from them and I looked around to see the Three Morons immediately head towards the biggest crack and with their parties, I was about to follow when Raphtalia spoke up and said,

"We're near Lute!"

I frowned and muttered,

"Those stupid idiots, running off while the monsters are heading directly for the village…"

I shook my head then and gave up on them, if they wanted to go hunt for glory, then I would just have to pick up the slack. I turned to my party and I said calmly,

"Ok, we're heading into the village, we need to make sure everyone gets out of harm's way. We'll stick with the plan that we discussed earlier. Raphtalia, you and Keel will range out and attack any monsters that threaten the people of Lute, Rifana, you'll stick with me and support with magic and use the potions I have to heal them as necessary. Try to limit your fire magic though, it's pointless if we save everyone only to have them return to ashes.

The girls all nodded and we started running, and we were immediately blocked by zombies, skeletons and other kinds of undead monsters. I could see the people having to run as we were at the outlying farms and the monsters were already in the village. The girls started quickly working to open a path as I used my shield to toss the monsters in front of me aside for the girls to deal with as I rushed and yelled out,

Shield Prison

I covered a woman and her daughter who had fallen on the ground. The shield prison gave us enough time to clear away enough monsters for us to get to them before skill ended. I shouted,

"Get moving, we'll protect you… do you know where everyone is evacuating to?"

The mother looked up in shock at us and then said,

"Sir Shield Hero? Oh! Yes! They told us to head to the mines."

I turned to Raphtalia, Rifana and Keel and said quickly,

"Ok, we're going to change up the plan, there's more monsters than we expected. Raphtalia, you're in charge, I want you three to start heading in the direction of the village and try to get as many of the Lute villagers to safety as you can. I will try to deal with the monsters that are marching towards us and wait for you three to finish before coming back to help me."

The girls looked like they wanted to protest, but there were already people running who weren't prepared for the Wave, didn't hear the evacuation order, or thought that they could fight the monsters by themselves and found out that they didn't have enough strength to pull it off. They looked at me and then ran off as I stood in front of the waiting horde…

Raphtalia's perspective:

I wasn't happy about leaving Master Naofumi alone to deal with the monsters, and said so to Keel and Rifana,

"Keel, Rifana… let's do this as quickly as possible… I'm worried about Master Naofumi."

My two best friends nodded with me as we took a glance back and saw Master Naofumi running along the path of the monsters, engaging those who were the closest and drawing their attention in order to get them to chase after him, away from the village and the villagers that we were in the process of protecting. I then said,

"Let's split up, we'll cover more ground that way, we get everyone we find to the mine and then make our way back."

"Right/You got it!"

Keel and Rifana each took a different direction as we killed a small group of Interdimensional Hornets that were attempting to get past us. We had reached the center of the village. I went forwards and attacked a Giant Zombie that was smashing through a house as I heard screams. I moved some debris that was blocking the way of a pair of siblings and got them on their way in sight of the militia who were helping to lead the survivors.

I looked up into the sky and the monsters were still falling and glared in the direction of where the Spear, Sword and Bow Heroes ran off to. What were they doing? The Wave will continue until they kill the boss. I turned to rush back to save more people as I briefly saw Rifana and Keel do the same.

Naofumi's perspective:

I looked up into the sky as I used an Air Strike Shield to block an Interdimensional Skeleton from slashing an elderly farmer that had been caught by the Wave and refused to leave their farm. I waved over a couple of men that I had saved along the way to grab the elder and drag him to the mines by force if necessary and unknowingly echoed Raphtalia's thoughts.

"What are those three morons doing? This is taking too long, at our level, the monsters are more annoyances than threats but we have people to protect. What's their excuse for not killing the Wave Boss?"

I didn't have enough time to dwell on that thought as I retreated into the edge of the city, if there were more people who were out in the farms, it was too late for them, and I had already seen bodies laying around. The horde was increasing and heading straight for the mines where hopefully my girls had evacuated most of Lute's survivors and were heading their way back towards me.

I needed to make a distraction and try to bar their way in order to give the Three Morons more time to kill the boss and for my girls time to regroup with me. Checking their status bars on my HUD, I could see they were fine for now. I saw a watch tower in the distance and found a bottle of oil for the lanterns that acted as the lights in the middle of the village and grabbed it. I needed to get past the vanguard of the horde first so I used my Rope Shield in order to attach to myself to the roof and then swung over to the tower and began climbing the ladder as I muttered,

"I'll kill those morons if they're wasting time trying to look heroic instead of doing their jobs."

I opened the jug and poured the oil all over the tower and down the supports as I grabbed a torch, watching and waiting as Wave monsters gathered around the tower and were nearly climbing up to get me. When I judged it was time, I climbed over the side and tossed the torch behind me, setting the tower on fire and making it crash down onto a good portion of the horde and blocking the rest from getting past. I quickly used Shield Prison on myself and crashed through the roof and ceiling of an already damaged home and thanked god for my defense stat which allowed me to tank that much damage.

Raphtalia's perspective:

We had gotten as many survivors as we could to safety and mourned those we couldn't reach in time. We had killed a lot of monsters but more were still coming. We rushed back towards where we left Master Naofumi and I said to my friends,

"Where's Master Naofumi? I don't see him anywhere?"

Keel said cheekily,

"Shield Bubba's probably doing something outrageous as usual."

Rifana for her part was as worried as me as she said,

"You don't think he's in trouble do you?"

Just then, we hear the roar of fire and the cracking of timbers as we saw one of the guard towers in the direction of where we were going to up on flames far too fast to be an accident and as it fell, our Master in the distance get encased in his Shield Prison skill and crash into a house. We looked at each other and ran towards him, intent on helping him.

The Three Heroes perspective:

The Three Heroes, on the other hand, weren't having as hard of a time as Naofumi was. They had completely ignored all the small fry to try and race each other to the Wave Boss, a Wave Chimera, that they remembered where it would spawn from their games. Motoyasu looked around and said,

"Where's Naofumi, I say? He should be here too?"

Itsuki simply snorted and said,

"That criminal? I saw him running towards the village, like the cowardly man he is."

Ren narrowed his eyes and said,

"Why worry about him, he's a Shielder anyways, he's too weak to make a difference so let him deal with the NPCs while we do what we were meant to."

The other two simply nodded to the fact that, in their minds, Naofumi was worthless and worrying about him was pointless. If he happened to show up, then fine and if not, well, that was more loot for them anyways and it suited them just fine.

They simply killed whatever was in their way as they competed to see who could get and kill the Chimera first. Ren was the first to reach the boss with his party lagging far behind and having difficulties reaching him. Motoyasu was next and his own party was simply cheering him on, while occasionally tossing out some spells in support. Itsuki on the other hand was staying at range, using his Bow skills to great effect while his party at least was competent enough to deal with the enemies. They all quickly launched their strongest skills and within moments it was dead, as the three looked at each other and started to argue over who would get which head. Ren said,

"I want the Dragon head, I won the race, so I should get my choice first."

Motoyasu then exclaimed,

"What! It should be whoever finishes it off, I say! I was MVP!"

Itsuki protested,

"I did the most damage, it should be me that gets first pick!"

They argued for quite some time, before settling on who would get which head before one of Ren's party tapped him on the shoulder and said,

"My Lord, the Wave… hasn't ended yet…"

The Three Heroes blinked and looked up at the sky which was still red and then heard a roar and turned around one hundred and eighty degrees as the sound was behind them and saw a creature much larger than the Chimera land in the center of town and their eyes widen as a message popped up on all their HUDs, including Naofumi,

HIDDEN WAVE BOSS SPAWNED:

Interdimensional Catoblepas (LVL 60)

All three of Motoyasu, Itsuki and Ren freaked out as this WASN'T a part of their game. They immediately turned and started running towards the village as they shouted at each other, in anger and confusion,

"What the hell, I say, Hidden Wave Boss? That never happened in my game, did it in yours Ren, Itsuki?"

Itsuki shook his head and quickly drank an SP potion to regain his SP for more skills as he said,

"No, in my game, the Chimera was the Wave boss and killing it ended the Wave. I've never heard of a Hidden Wave Boss before. Maybe it's like a bonus round or something? Either way, killing it will give us a LOT of EXP and more materials to strengthen our weapons right? So what does it really matter?"

Ren ran ahead and called back,

"Either way, let's just kill it, at least Naofumi will be useful for something by keeping it distracted so we can get to it."

The three of them nodded to each other as they made their way through the horde towards the creature which was huge.

Naofumi and his party's perspective:

The girls had just managed to regroup with me, and we had managed to take out enough of the horde to be able to take a break. All of a sudden, I was near the center of the village and heard a loud roar from above. I looked up and saw a massive buffalo fall and land in the exact center of town, as the horde surrounded it and caused an earthquake and forced all four of us to try and keep our footing. A notification popped up onto my HUD,

HIDDEN WAVE BOSS SPAWNED:

Interdimensional Catoblepas (LVL 60)

My eyes widened and I unintentionally swore, of COURSE the three idiots were nowhere to be found. Even with them, I wasn't sure that this "Hidden Wave Boss" was able to be beaten. We had all reached around LVL 40, and I was LVL 43 but the girls all had * beside their levels and their bars didn't go up anymore with any kills they made. Even Sadeena didn't scare me as much as this thing did, and she was scary in her own right. I got myself set and looked at my girls and gave them each my remaining potions and antidotes and said,

"Girls, be careful, we're in trouble here. We need to try and do as much damage as we can while holding it off until the three morons get here. I'm sure they must realize what's going on, that this isn't like their games, and this is different."

I would have said more, but then I noticed something in the sky and yelled,

"GIRLS, GET CLOSE BESIDE ME!"

I yanked them underneath my cloak, held up my shield as I switched to my strongest one and used the same combination of skills I did against Sadeena, hopefully this wouldn't get past them,

Air Strike Shield

Shield Prison

Shooting Star Shield

A huge fireball broke into dozens and took out the horde surrounding the Catoblepas that roared in the direction of it although I could see that the fireball had done negligible damage to it. Thanks to my shield and skills, we were unharmed, the fireballs barely broke through my Air Strike Shield. I looked up and I saw the mustached Captain of the Guard and a platoon of knights, as the Captain clicked his tongue and said,

"Huh, The Shield Hero, eh? You're quite durable aren't you?"

I was just in time to see Raphtalia fly out from under my cloak and slash at him, but was blocked by his Vice-Captain who had a scar across the bridge of his nose. I heard Raphtalia say as Rifana and Keel growled and were ready to attack themselves,

"Did you know that Master Naofumi was there? I'll have your head depending on your answer!"

The Vice-Captain was having major trouble blocking Raphtalia's sword and the Captain sneered and said,

"You're with the criminal Devil of the Shield is it?"

Raphtalia snarled back and Keel and Rifana spoke up as well,

"Yes, I'm his sword, show him the respect he deserves!"

"That's right, he's the only Hero that actually tried to protect the village."

"Shield Bubba is a real Hero, unlike those losers over there."

The Captain drew his sword and smirked,

"So the little demi-human wants to fight us, huh? That can be arranged."

I had been watching this and with an eye on the Catoblepas and the horde and then I placed a hand on Raphtalia's shoulder and said,

"That's enough, we're fine, but I don't think they are going to be…"

I said this ominously as a shadow passed over them and they turned and almost screamed in terror as three Giant Zombies were about to attack. I moved in front of them and yelled,

Air Strike Shield

"We'll keep the horde at bay and give you time to get into formation! Where are the other Heroes, the REAL boss is here and it's going to be too strong for my party and I and you to fight."

The Captain clicked his tongue for the third time in five minutes and said,

"Fine, Phalanx formation, we'll deal with this rabble until the REAL Heroes arrive…"

I ignored the dig at me, his comment didn't deserve to be given any credence, and I once again put my hand on Raphtalia's shoulder to prevent her from doing something rash. We had a horde to battle and a Wave Boss that was likely far beyond our capabilities to fight against. I started to block the attacks of the horde as my party joined up with the knights to take down the small fry as the Catoblepas started to sniff the air and its head turned towards the mine, where the survivors of Lute were. My eyes opened wide and I shouted,

"NO!"

I used Shield Prison to try and keep it from moving, but it shattered the skill easily. It did, however, bring its attention to me long enough for me to hear behind me.

Buster Shot

Lightning Spear

Crimson Slash

Three skills from three idiots sailed overhead and hit the Catoblepas and while it did do damage, more than what the fireball from the knights did, it still was only a few percent of its life bar. Still, I was never so relieved to see the three morons come up with their parties and join me, my party and the knights. Motoyasu looked at the Catoblepas and blinked,

"I say, I wonder if this is an event battle that we're supposed to lose? I'm level 53 and I barely scratched the thing."

Ren and Itsuki made similar statements and I almost put my hands in my face. If I didn't do something, and quickly, they might end up dying and that would put the whole of Melromarc and Castle Town at risk, not to mention my own death. I turned to them and said sharply,

"Listen up, this is NOT a game, do you really believe that when we're facing something like this? If we die, we're dead, that's it. No respawn, no resurrection, no nothing. Use your head Motoyasu… not the one below for a change. We need to beat this monster somehow, or the whole kingdom will be in danger!"

Motoyasu really didn't like that, nor did Itsuki and Ren, and Motoyasu said to me,

"Shut up, I say! Why should I listen to you anyway! You made slaves of these beautiful girls while you raped Myne! I'm of a mind to do something about you!"

I was starting to get angry again, this was pointless, hopeless. These three idiots were going to get us all killed because they refused to listen to me. They were stuck thinking that this world was a game, a story designed for them to be the main characters. Where everything would go just as it did for them in the games they played provided they did the right things, talked to the right NPCs and made the proper choices. I started to feel despair, as the Catoblepas smashed into us and sent us all flying. I crashed into a house and it fell into rubble, the village was a wreck, the knights had set a good amount of houses on fire and at this rate there'd be nothing left by the time we were finished.

I looked at my HUD and noticed that my girls were hurt, they were drinking health potions and recovering, but they were finite. I got up and yelled at Motoyasu as I got back to slam again the horns of the Catoblepas, trying to keep it from goring a young Knight who looked up at me with shocked gratitude,

"Motoyasu, do something! People are going to die! This isn't a game!"

Motoyasu wasn't listening but he at least attacked. I turned to Ren and Itsuki and yelled,

"You too! We have to find some weakness, some way to hurt it, this village isn't going to be standing if we don't defeat it quickly!"

Itsuki growled at me, but pulled his Bow back, and yelled back,

"You aren't our leader Naofumi! But fine…"

Ren for his part just completely ignored me and then started slashing it with skills. All three of them were probing it with attacks, trying to find a weak spot. But nothing was coming up, their attacks did take it down about ten percent of its health. But I could tell that they were running out of SP and for all their levels, were just way too weak.

I was barely hanging on myself as all our parties and the Knights were doing their best to distract it and help us find if there was some point where the monster was vulnerable. The problem was that the fur and hide of the Catoblepas was just too thick and strong and that was the result of its level and stats.

My despair kept growing as the fight was going badly for us. Many knights were getting seriously injured and were being knocked out of the fight. Even some of the Hero party members were getting injured or burning out of magic to fight. Even Rifana, Keel and Raphtalia were hurt and were out of MP and potions to replenish their health and magic. I screamed out,

"Goddamnit! Why did this have to happen? I hate this! I have to win, but I can't see a way to do it!"

I was running out of SP to use my skills and they were being overwhelmed by the Catoblepas every time I put it up. Suddenly, I was stuck in a cooldown for all my skills and that's when it struck. It hit Rifana who wasn't fast enough to dodge and I saw her blood fly along with her body as it crashed through a wall and out the other side.

"Her health meter on my HUD… it's… empty? What? No! Noooooooo!"

The world suddenly started to go dark on me and I fell to my knees. I just wanted to go home, I was so tired, this place had taken me from everything I had ever known. Why was I even fighting for it in the first place? As soon as I thought that, I felt a thump in my chest and strange words appeared in my HUD,

D̴̨̘̹̣̞̈o̶̦̜̭̠͚̍̔͌͋́̓͗ ̸͈̱̀̒́̅͋̈́͠ý̷̧̺͇̗̻̯͙o̷̘͗̓̾̚ͅú̵̺̤͔͕͓̤͎͠ ̴̡͗w̶̮͆̅̉̐ă̷̱̫̈́̀̀ͅn̸̨̪̟͙̖̪̣̈́͌̀͐t̴̲̦̝̽͂̃͐ ̸͓̼̭̑̒̈́̃p̷̞͉͔͛͐o̸̡̺̫̲̭̺͒͊͂̈́̔ͅẇ̶̢̬̍̈́̾́͐̇e̸̗̘͕͐́́̀̍̆̏r̶̛̳̻͐?̶̮̤̖̠͜͝

My eyes looked up and I whispered,

"Yes… I need it… I need to be able to win."

T̴͈̫͓͇͆͂̕͝͝ͅh̶̥͎̰͎́̐è̴̮ ̵̼̝͖̄ṕ̸̢̢͇̬̟̪̪̇ō̸͎̰͍̙͇͚̭̊̑̾̄̈́͑w̴̥̺̜̃̍̚͘͘͝e̶̛̼͓͖̱͒̎̄͜ͅr̴̲̯̲̜̠̙͖͑̓͛ ̸̜̤̊͒̍͘t̸̖̔̈́̈́̈́̅̅͝ͅo̶̥͎̪͎͂ ̵̱̗̦̗̍̉̿̊̕͠d̸̨̜̰̓̆͜͠e̴̡̳̩͔̺̒̀̀̑͝f̷̨̙͑̑̃̈́̉ê̵̳̲̠͔̋͌̀̀͝à̵̝̟͘̚̕̕t̴̩̫̎͂͝ ̸͓͓̥̜̗̞̪̌̋̂̏́́ą̸̫͔͕̈́̀̂̓l̴̡̟̬̹̩̻̄̑̈́͆̈̍͛ͅĺ̴͍̙̹̯͔̺͑̆́ͅ ̷͉̙̼͖̟͙̗̋͗̂͆̏͊͒ḙ̸̣̰̗̟̯̼̇͆̉͆n̵̡̳̓͛̕̕͝ę̷̢̪͔͒m̴̛̱͓͙͊̀͑͝͠i̸̙̫͑̃͛͋e̸͙̋̚͘s̴̥̗̘̜͇̻̉̽͜

"Yes, give me it! Let me taste revenge!"

S̵̛̙̽̒͐o̷̬̬̖̞̅͊̋̾̓ ̶̧̢̰̤͓̗̍̂̈̑b̷̧̫̬̟͔̥̈́̆̃̒ȩ̸͕̟̰̋̀ ̷̡̤̙͕͂̓͜͝í̵͔͚̿̋͠͠t̴͍͕̙̚

Curse Series.

That phrase ran through my mind quickly. There was one shield listed on the tree that was shining.

Curse Series:

Shield of Avarice: conditions met:

Shield of Avarice II: conditions met:

Shield of Avarice: ability locked:

Shield of Avarice II: ability locked:

Equip bonus: skill "Change Shield (attack)", "Blutopfer"

Special Effect: Self Curse, Blight Strength up.

Born from the heart: Shield of Covetousness…

The shield came with its own description and instruction. I must have willed it so, or else it was involuntary. But I followed my heart and discovered that the shield was already in my hand. I noticed that there were golden lines like tattoos running up and down my body and arms and even my face. I smiled, I looked at the Catoblepas, and saw it not as a monster, but as a source of everything I ever wanted… Money, EXP, respect. If I could beat it myself, nobody would ever be able to touch me again, I'd never lose. I stepped forwards and I could hear something, but it didn't seem to matter as I raised my shield towards the creature that was goring the knights and sending people flying left and right.

Shield Prison

Change Shield (Bee Needle)

The Shield Prison seemed to be much stronger and much more durable as the Catoblepas smashed against the edges of it. When I changed my shield to the Bee Needle Shield, stingers came out of all the parts of the inside of the cage and stabbed the Catoblepas, making it unable to move and roar in pain. I received an incantation and then the world seemed to dim into a golden haze,

"Let this foolish person feel the loneliness of poverty. The sound of gold spilling! Let him lament and pierce the sky! May molten gold born from my Greed burn him from the inside out.

BLUTOPFER!"

The girls' perspective:

We were being overwhelmed, Rifana, Keel and I had wounds all over us from fighting the horde and trying to deal with the catoblepas, who's breath we found out was toxic, and it's stare could paralyze you long enough for it to either gore or trample you. We were down to our last potions that Master Naofumi gave us and we could hear him argue with the Three Heroes.

They didn't realize it, but we, who had been with him the longest, could hear the desperation in his voice and knew that he thought that this fight was just too hard for us right now. The Three Heroes tried to use their strongest attacks on what we thought was its weak point, but its hide was just too thick and strong and it wasn't hurting it enough.

I could see Master Naofumi's eyes farting around as knights, Hero party members were thrown aside like dolls, and I knew he wanted to call for us all to retreat. But the fact that the only reason it wasn't going after the survivors of Lute, was because of all of us occupying its attention. Retreating meant condemning Lute to death and total destruction and risked other villages nearby, including Castle Town just in the distance.

Rifana was in trouble, she had gotten pushed from the back row by that… thing, that accused Master Naofumi of a terrible act he never did, and as soon as she was, the catoblepas turned and hit her full on with its horns, sending her flying through a couple of houses. Her blood flew and Keel and my eyes widened as we shouted,

"RIFANA!"

We sighed in relief when we noticed that she still had a sliver of health left and still had a potion left and was moving. The problem was, Master Naofumi must've thought she died because I heard him scream in despair.

That's when I felt something dangerous, something that shouldn't be. I stared at Master Naofumi as he started to laugh in a way that scared me. He had a grin on his features that looked grotesque on him, like a mask. His shield changed to something awful. It was golden and had an ugly face in the middle of it, like an idol and the jewel was a dull red in the middle of the face's forehead.

I saw him lift up his hand and point at the catoblepas and heard him say in an ominous tone as gold lines appeared all over and up and down his body,

Shield Prison

Change Shield (Bee Needle)

"Let this foolish person feel the loneliness of poverty. The sound of gold spilling! Let him lament and pierce the sky! May molten gold born from my Greed burn him from the inside out.

BLUTOPFER!"

I watched in horror as the shield cage appeared around the true Wave Boss and then the cage suddenly sprouted bee stingers inside that stuck into the catoblepas and immobilized it. Master Naofumi then clenched his hand after uttering those horrible words and…

Molten gold began being injected into the catoblepas from the stingers as the entire cage started to close in and turn gold until finally it shattered, leaving the catoblepas encased in gold before it too shattered. Keel and I were too horrified to do anything but stare.

The sky turned back to blue and silence reigned once again in Lute. The last few monsters were taken care of by the knights still upright and the mages in the Hero parties that had it quickly used Water magic to try and put out the fires. However, even with that, Lute Village was badly damaged and may not be able to be recovered. Just like Lurolona.

We should have been happy that we had won. But not like this… we heard a thump and Master Naofumi collapsed to a knee as everyone, from the Three Heroes to their parties to the knights looked at him with horror.

I heard Sir Bow Hero sputter,

"What the hell? What is that cheating shield?"

It was as if him saying that undid everyone's paralysis as I heard the Captain who had disrespected Master Naofumi say,

"I was right! He is a devil! Only a demon or devil could have that sort of power!"

Sir Sword Hero looked a bit put out and muttered,

"This is a waste of time, I'm going to get my Dragon head that I earned."

Sir Spear Hero looked upset and the THING that was hanging all over him along with her two cheerleading friends looked livid as she sniffed,

"How barbaric! But then he looks and acts like one so I suppose it's only natural."

I so badly wanted to slap her at that moment, and Sir Spear Hero didn't make things better by saying,

"You know, you're right Myne, after what he did to you he is a barbarian."

I ignored them all as they turned away, I dimly heard the Captain of the Knights letting the Three Heroes know about a banquet in their honor of their victory over the Wave. Keel and I first ran to Rifana and helped her out of the rubble. She was in bad shape, but alive and one of the mages in Sir Sword Hero's party used healing magic and healed her. We thanked her profusely and once Rifana was up we headed over to Master Naofumi who looked drained in a way that was frightening.

Naofumi's perspective:

The skill went off perfectly, molten gold poured into the body of the catoblepas through the stingers in the cage that stabbed it and as I clenched my fist, the cage started to constrict around the screaming Wave Boss and turned gold itself. After a moment, it shattered and the catoblepas was exposed, completely encased in gold before it too, shattered.

I felt the rush of victory for only a second before I suddenly felt weak and noticed that my level and EXP were going down. I had been at LVL 45 at the start of the fight, but I lost at least 10 levels and I suddenly fell to a knee, exhausted and drained.

I vaguely heard the conversations going on around me as I tried to get up. It wasn't until Raphtalia, Keel and… Rifana! I blinked and then started to sob and grabbed onto Rifana and said,

"Oh god, I thought you were dead… Thank the gods that you're alright. I couldn't stop it, all my skills were on cooldown."

I patted her body down as if to make sure she was alright and she looked extremely happy at this and said a little embarrassed,

"Master Naofumi… everyone is watching, I'm alright, I promise."

I saw Raphtalia glaring at Rifana and I, but I didn't care, Rifana almost died and I wanted to know that she was still alive. I finally let her go and with all the girls' help, managed to get up.

Raphtalia then looked at me and said,

"We're all ok, Master Naofumi, you're the one we're worried about. What was that skill you used… it's dreadful and… your armor seems to be looking degraded for some reason."

I blinked and looked at it in my HUD and then muttered,

"It's Blighted, and suffers durability loss every 60 seconds. It seems that my EXP and level loss are the side effects of using that shield."

I noticed that in the meantime after I used the skill it had changed back to the default Small Shield. I looked at the girls and said,

"It looks like I've lost 10 levels and the equivalent EXP, plus my armor is Blighted and will degrade slowly over time. I'm fine otherwise."

Raphtalia looked at me with distrustful eyes and even Rifana and Keel didn't look all that convinced. To be honest, I wasn't all that convinced myself that I was ok, but I had to be strong for the girls. So I changed the subject,

"Let's go, I want to absorb some of the monster corpses and see what they left of the other Wave Boss."

The girls nodded as we started picking our way through the rubble of Lute and I looked around and sighed,

"It's going to be really hard for Lute to recover from this. That's also if the Trash King decides to send supplies and help to rebuild. It might be best for the survivors to pack up and go elsewhere as there's nothing left here."

Raphtalia and the other girls started to soon and Raphtalia looked up to me and said,

"We saved them though… didn't we Master Naofumi? Did we prevent the tragedy of Lurolona?"

I gathered the girls carefully in a hug to avoid the Blight from getting into their armor and said,

"You did your best, and we saved as many as we could, you stopped children from losing their parents. You did good…"

I patted their heads like I used to when they were small and Raphtalia pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes, sniffed and smiled and said,

"I'm glad, then it wasn't a waste, you made us strong Master Naofumi. We couldn't have done this without you."

I managed a smile and said to all of them,

"Well, we're a team, aren't we? Isn't it only natural? You three are my sword, spear and magic. You attack and I protect and as long as we do our jobs, we'll be fine."

The girls nodded and then Raphtalia blinked and then said,

"Oh right, I forgot, I heard from that… self-important windbag of a Captain of the Knights that there's going to be a banquet tonight. We should go, we've been invited and we can eat a lot of delicious food!"

I laughed and teased Raphtalia and the other girls a bit,

"So that's your angle, you want to eat the kingdom out of all its food huh?"

Raphtalia puffed out her cheeks and stamped her foot and said,

"Master Naofumi! That's hardly true!"

I laughed and patted her on the head as the other girls agreed with Raphtalia and I said,

"Oh fine, but we need to clean up first and I need to go to Erhard's and see if he can do anything about my armor before we go. Let's get our spoils from the Wave monsters and then we'll go to Erhard and see if he'll let us use his apartment to clean up a bit before we try and show up at the castle."

The girls nodded and we headed towards where the Wave Chimera was, as I fed monsters and materials from them into the Shield, unlocking more of them. We arrived at the Chimera and noticed that three heads were missing with only the Serpent head left. It seems the Three Idiots didn't want it. I cut up the remains and fed it and the head into the shield and was pleasantly surprised when I got:

Chimera Viper Shield: conditions met

Chimera Viper Shield: abilities locked:

Equip bonus: skill: Change Shield, Antidote Compounding up, Poison Resistance (medium),

Special Effect: Snake Venom Fang (medium), Hook

That would be great to use going forwards, another shield that I could use to counter and attack with. I looked at my girls and said,

"Ok, ready to head back to Castle Town and to Erhard's before we eat the Trash King out of house and home?"

I laughed as the girls all shouted in unison,

"Master Naofumi!/Shield Bubba!"

I left them there sputtering as I went to find a carriage that was heading to Castle Town and arrange a ride for us. We got on and the hour's ride was a chance for the girls to close their eyes and rest a bit. The fight was long and hard and we weren't done yet. I was getting tired of the three morons and their attitude towards me, my party and the world in general. But I knew that until I did something about the false accusation by the Bitch Princess, none of the Heroes would listen to me.

I debated simply letting it go and continuing to train the girls and bring Sadeena full time into the party. But that was only a temporary solution, even if she were here during the Wave, she was only one person and not a Hero. Ultimately, I would need to have the four of us all working together to have a chance, if the Waves were going to be like this from now on.

I also needed to do something about transportation. I couldn't keep renting and relying on Reichnott's cart and Filolial. I needed to get one of my own. Maybe Beloukas might be able to help me, I remember he did say that he was also a Monster Trader, perhaps he had Filolials, whether adults or eggs to hatch which might be better, that we could raise. I'd go to him tomorrow after I got the reward owed to me by the Trash King.

I dozed off as the carriage continued on the road to Castle Town. I just hoped that what was waiting for us at the castle wasn't going to end up destroying us in the end. Knowing the Bitch Princess though, she probably was planning something annoying and malicious, for me and the girls. If she did though, I had a plan that would wipe her selfish, entitled smirk off of her face for good, and get a little revenge on the Trash King as well.

And there we go, that was the Wave, I hope not it becomes clear that in my AU that Naofumi isn't going to be that OP even though I've given him things that either came later in canon or else never happened. I hope I did ok on the big set piece battle. Battle descriptions aren't my forte and I can only hope you'll forgive me while I try and improve. Next up is the banquet and then the Duel, which will NOT happen like in canon, nor for the same reasons. I feel like turning things on its head, so do look forward to it.

I am starting a new job which will likely take up a good portion of my time that I normally use to write, so I may not be posting as frequently as I used to. I will try to keep posting at least a chapter a week, but bi-weekly might be a stretch unless I'm posting a main story chapter plus one that will go up on my Interludes spin-off. Speaking of, please do check that story out, I will have an Interlude detailing the points of view of each of the Three Heroes and what they were doing after the trial and all but abandoning Naofumi after the first arc is over with.

Also, I have a question of my readers, who would like to see me do another spin-off that deals with Kizuna and what takes place in her world with meeting Glass, L'Arc, Therese, Ethnobolt and the rest and defeating the Dark Dragon Emperor before she is imprisoned in the Infinite Labyrinth and then meeting Naofumi and Rishia there? I might start it once we get past the Lafan Wave and stalemating with Glass. It wouldn't be updated NEARLY as much as the main story as that will be my primary focus, but I'm curious as to what sort of appetite for it might be.

I have created a Discord for those who want to follow along with my story. I will have a channel for discussions of my fanfic with myself and others as well as a channel where I will post my W.I.P. documents so that people can be spoiled if they like future storylines and events. Invite link is discord . gg / Rx8UkJQwM7 (without the spaces)