Chapter 8: The Wave: Part Two

Everyone was left shocked as they saw Naofumi not only enraged but also being surrounded in fire with a new threatening looking shield.

Ren noticed that Naofumi was going to target Mai, prompting him and Motoyasu to stand in between Naofumi and Mai.

Motoyasu had noticed that Mai's shot hurt Raphtalia, causing Naofumi to be in a state of rage.

Although that is what was seen, he believed that she wasn't trying to hit anybody but Glass.

"Naofumi! Stand down!" The Spear Hero spoke in a serious tone.

Ren looked at Motoyasu with a blank facial expression, viewing what he said as foolish, knowing full well that it won't work on a pissed off Shield Hero.

Ren turned towards Mai to question her,

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"What?! It's not my fault that demi human scum got hit by my attack. She should've moved out of the way!" Mai shouted with a bit of frustration, defending herself.

"...I don't believe you." Ren spoke in confidence. "You did that on purpose."

"And what proof do you have, Sword Hero?" She spoke in an angry tone. Ren would've responded back if it wasn't for Motoyasu telling him:

"Um Ren, we should probably focus on Naofumi."

"..." Ren turned towards the angered Shield Hero though while he did this, he noticed that Glass was no longer where she was last standing.

"Wait...where did Glass go?"

As Ren said this, everyone started to look around until Itsuki managed to spot her above the ship. He pointed towards her location while saying:

"She's up there."

Everyone but Garfiel looked up and noticed that she was just observing them, looking curious on what would happen next.

Before anyone could react to her observing them, one of Ren's party members alerted the Sword Hero and the Spear Hero of Naofumi's attack.

The two quickly went on the defense as the enormous amount of heat coming from Naoufmi's shield hit the two of them.

"Tck!"

"hk!"

Both Ren and Motoyasu were barely able to block the attack with Motoyasu being the only one sent flying while Ren was barely holding his own.

'What is this...power...?'

Ren felt an immense heat which caused him to feel nauseous, as if he was being affected by some sort of curse.

'This power isn't normal...'

With Ren having noticed this, he jumped away while warning the others to be careful.

"Careful everyone, Naofumi's power is abnormal!"

As he gave the warning, he was suddenly kicked in the face which caused him to be sent flying off the floating boat.

"What was that?!"

As one of the party members of Motoyasu's group said this, everyone saw Filo in her filolial form having a purple glow on her stomach while also having red eyes.

"Wh-What's wrong with Filo?" Motoyasu said while he was being assisted by Mai in getting back up. As Garfiel was healing Raphtalia's injury, he had noticed what was being asked by the Spear Hero.

'Th's situation s'not good. Damn. Sword guy fell. Bow and Spear idiots aren't gonna do shit. And Talia injured...Damn it! What would Cap'n do here?'

Garfiel thought back to his captain, how he was a badass since he faced a hopeless situation that was the situation with the Sanctuary and the impending threat in the mansion happening at the same time.

This isn't the exact same situation at all but it had the same pressure. He turned towards Motoyasu and Itsuki, trying to think which of the two heroes could he trust.

He knows that the two are weak, meaning that he can't trust either of them to hold back Naofumi, especially when he's out of control.

'Which of th'two can my amazin' self trust with Talia?'

He thought carefully before making a choice he wouldn't regret. He turned towards the four members of Ren's party to ask them:

"Can ya please keep her safe?"

"What will you be doing?" Tersia questioned. The other members were also thinking the same thing. Garfiel got up and approached the four before patting Tersia's shoulder while answering with:

"My amazin' self'll buy y'all some time. Just get Talia out of here."

"Wait, what about you?" Farrie spoke out in concern.

"I'll be fine. Now go."

As Garfiel said this, he charged at Naofumi with everything he had with his remaining right shield ready for both offense and defense.

As he was getting closer to Naofumi, Filo charged at the demi human boy and prepared to land a strong kick only for Garfiel to swiftly change focus.

He stopped himself and quickly managed to avoid the first kick before blocking the second kick.

The others were surprised by this for a moment before Farrie, Tersia, Bakta, and Welt turned towards Raphtalia to get her out of the floating boat.

While they did this, Motoyasu and Itsuki both decided to help Garfiel by attacking Naofumi with long range attacks.

"Lightning Spear!"

"Thunder Shoot!"

The two heroes combined their attacks at their maximum capabilities in hopes of doing something to Naofumi, wanting to slow him down at the very least.

Although the two are strong, their attacks were in vain as the Shield Hero didn't even put up his shield to defend from their combined attack.

He just continued walking while the attacks hit his body.

This caused both Motoyasu and Itsuki to pause for a second, caught off guard by such display.

"Th-That's…impossible. He has to be cheating…"

"Y-Yeah…"

Motoyasu and Itsuki spoke with such disbelief, not sure how Naofumi was just that strong.

Mai was also dumbfounded by this which prompted her to cast her most deadliest attack at the enraged Shield Hero.

"Die Shield Demon! Zweite Fire Arrow!"

She summons an arrow of fire, throwing it towards the Shield Hero's direction, confident that her flames could do damage.

Naofumi wasn't fazed by the attack in the slightest though having noticed that this attack came from Malty herself caused his fire to grow even brighter, symbolizing his hatred having doubled.

"Shit!"

Garfiel cursed as Filo suddenly stopped trying to attack him and went straight for Malty.

This prompted Motoyasu to change his focus from Naofumi to Filo. He attempted to block Filo's attack only for him to get sent a few feet back.

'Tsk. I hesitated for a moment.'

Despite how things have gone between himself and Naofumi, he is still fond of Filo. Seeing her in rage had made him slightly hesitant.

'I don't wish to harm Filo…but I can't let her harm Mai.'

He got himself back into his fighting stance as he prepared to face off against Filo only for him to notice Garfiel pass by him and Itsuki.

The two heroes turned towards Mai's position, seeing Garfiel grab her by the throat.

"Wha—?!"

"Are ya fuckin' stupid?! Yer th'reason th't Shield guy's actin' all pissed off! Yer th'reason Talia's hurt! I honestly aught t'kill ya!"

As Garfiel shouted this with anger, Motoyasu and Itsuki were left shocked since they can't handle three separate issues on their own.

Their party members had taken a step back since they trust that their respective leader could handle the situation.

Mai looked angrily at Garfiel, preparing to try an attack on the demi human boy only for him to slam her to the ground.

As he did this, he turned around and started to walk towards Naofumi.

"Ya better start leavin'! All of ya! I won't be responsible fer those th't stay'n get hurt!"

Once Garfiel finished speaking, he cracked a few of his knuckles as he prepared to face a friend.

'I hope ya know th't th's ain't personal…My amazin' self can't just allow ya t'lose control and kill under th's rage.'

Having these thoughts in his mind, he got himself into his fighting stance before charging directly towards the enraged Shield Hero.

With their clash beginning, Motoyasu and Itsuki's party members began to leave the floating boat.

Itsuki despises Garfiel and yet he was forced to listen to his words since he's taking on Naofumi.

Motoyasu was tempted to listen yet he couldn't leave Filo in this rage state, prompting him to get his Spear ready for battle.

"I will free you from that damn Naofumi's control! I promise you that, Filo!"

As Motoyasu made such a promise, Filo looked at him with those red eyes at first before ignoring him, turning her attention towards Mai.

This made Spear Hero aware that the target is still on one of his teammates, forcing him to find some way to get Filo's attention.

"Please forgive me about this, Filo. Lightning Spear!"

Using this attack once again, his lightning attack almost hit the filolial only for her to dodge the attack with ease.

Once this happened, Filo looked at the Spear Hero with discontent before charging at him.

'Got her attention now.'

Motoyasu barely managed to attack one of Filo's kicks, prompting him to go on the defense.

While he was doing his best to keep Filo busy, Garfiel threw his first punch towards Naofumi, not holding any of his strength back.

The Shield Hero could sense that the demi human boy wasn't holding back any of his strength, prompting him to use his rage shield to block the attack.

As Garfiel's attack landed on the shield, the shield itself increased the fire around them both.

Garfiel felt the fire intensify around him, causing him to quickly jump away for a second to not get consumed by the flames coming from the Shield Hero.

While doing this, he looked at his hand to see that it was burned, prompting him to quickly use some water magic to heal himself for a couple of seconds before charging again at Naofumi.

As he once again closed the gap, he landed a kick on the rage shield to see that the fire once again increased all over the area.

He forced himself again to back off, understanding the issue he's facing.

'Damn, I'll have t'beat him carefully.'

Being aware of this slight issue, he attempted to use much stronger force in hopes of possibly pushing his opponent back.

He took off his right shield before transforming his arm into its beast form to do as much damage as possible.

Once the attack connected, Naoufmi was slightly pushed back despite having his defenses up.

Naofumi's rage only increased when this happened, his mind corrupted with rage assuming that somehow he was being overpowered by Malty.

"DIIIIIIEEEE!"

With Naofumi shouting in rage prompted the fire coming from his rage shield to increase more than before, slightly overpowering Garfiel's strength.

"Fuck! Th's burns!"

The demi human boy shouted as he jumped back, reverting his arm back to normal. Once it returned to normal, the boy could see his entire arm burned.

"Fuckin' hell! Yer definitely amazin', Shield Guy." Garfiel smiled as he said this, finding Naofumi impressive despite him currently being on a rampage.

Naofumi did not comment to Garfiel's complement, instead he just slowly approached him in a menacing manner.

The Shield of the Sanctuary only smiled with confidence as he put the shield over his injured arm before charging at his opponent again.

This cycle repeated for a bit, meanwhile Motoyasu was eventually overpowered by Filo's attacks.

A part of it was because he didn't want to fight her but another is due to him being overpowered by her brute strength.

As Motoyasu was on his knee, he looked up to watch Filo preparing to knock him out.

Before she could hit him, two people suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Huh?"

"Get ready to move, Motoyasu."

The Spear Hero looked closely to see that it was a recovered Raphtalia with Ren.

The two somehow managed to get themselves back onto the flying boat with the raccoon girl managing to get back onto the fight.

"Wait how did—?"

"Raphtalia, now!"

"Got it!"

She charges at Filo to get her attention while Ren puts away his legendary sword in order to help pick up Motoyasu.

"Come on, we have to go." Ren spoke with urgency.

"Wait, how did she get back up? She was injured, wasn't she?" Motoyasu questioned, remembering the raccoon girl's injury was fatal. Ren paused for a moment before responding with:

"Garfiel did something that helped her recover enough to fight again. You'll have to ask him if you want to know more."

"…" Motoyasu remained silent.

He didn't want to speak with someone that follows Naofumi and would side with someone like him so he would rather just not know.

The two looked on at Rapthalia's fight with Filo, watching how the female warrior was keeping up with the filolial.

Raphtalia was on pure defense, knowing that receiving one hit would be fatal for her since her injury wasn't completely healed.

Despite this, she was determined to do her role to keep Filo busy until they can get Motoyasu out of danger.

'I can do this!'

These positive thoughts allowed her to stand her ground for as long as needed before joining Ren and Motoyasu in escaping the floating boat.

As the three escaped, Garfiel turned towards their direction for a moment, smiling since this means everyone is finally out of the boat safely.

'Aight, time t'go all out!'

As he said this, he took his remaining shield off his right arm before roaring, causing his eyes to turn red.

As he continued to roar, his body not only began to change from human to its beast form but also he was beginning to glow all around his body.

As he was growing into his true beast form, everyone that wasn't on the boat anymore could hear the intensity of Garfiel's roar.

Malty was disgusted by it along with a few of Itsuki's group. Itsuki and Motoyasu were mainly concerned that whatever Garfiel's doing won't benefit them, prompting the two to prepare to face Naofumi once again.

Ren's party along with Ren and Raphtalia were a bit concerned by this, worried that the demi human boy was pushing himself far beyond his capabilities.

This even attracted Filo's attention, causing her mind to slightly return to normal.

Naofumi watched as Garfiel was a giant beast, perceiving this as his final obstacle to reach and kill Malty.

"Out of my way!"

The enraged Shield Hero spoke out, seeing everything in red as his rage continued. Garfiel in his beast form was starting to lose sense of self.

'I'll…I'll beat ya! Naofumi!'

He roared loudly as he charged again towards Naofumi, ready to be the one to beat him.

As the large beast that was known as Garfiel Tinsel closes the gap between himself and Naofumi, he swung his large arm and with all his force threw a large punch.

This punch landed with extreme force, managing to send Naofumi back.

As the beast was able to push back the Shield Hero, the rage shield once again started to increase the flames it produced, attempting to harm the beast.

Although the fire was harming him, Garfiel did not care and just grabbed the rage shield with both his large hands before managing to lift up Naofumi.

The Shield Hero was surprised by this, causing his mind to snap out of his rage for a moment only for him to be slammed onto the boat with excruciating force.

This was enough to return his rage tenfold, now throwing all of his focus on Garfiel.

As their fight started to get intense, Filo swiftly attempted to help her master fight against Garfiel only to get knocked out with a swift hit by the beast.

This only helped to anger Naofumi more, seeing someone close to him get hurt.

Glass observed these events and was honestly amused by it.

She could've finished them all had she assisted the Shield Hero.

The only reason she didn't was because she was curious to see how the 'Heroes', Ren, and Garfiel handled the situation themselves.

She was overall impressed by mainly Garfiel, seeing that a demi human boy that doesn't have any of the cardinal weapons is somehow doing much better than the Bow hero and Spear hero despite the two having a powerful weapon.

She's also very interested in Naofumi's current power, seeing it as intense for most.

"He truly is a worthy adversary."

Glass spoke out to herself, acknowledging Naofumi as a worthy opponent for her.

Just as she was about to join in on the fight, the floating boat suddenly exploded.

This shook the boat before having its trajectory be towards the ground where the others were at.

Everyone was left shocked by this, causing them to start running to safety.

Mai wanting to save her own skin started to trip some of her party comrades, viewing their lives as forfeit compared to hers.

Raphtalia and Ren notice this, angering the two for a moment before going out of their way to help them get back on their feet.

As they all barely manage to get out of range, the boat crashes onto the ground, causing the entire thing to collapse on itself.

"Naofumi-sama! Filo! Garf!"

Raphtalia shouted with worry, knowing that the three were on the boat before it crashed to the ground.

She, with Ren by her side, goes to investigate, wanting to check on the three.

Before they could close in on the ruined boat, a bunch of broken pieces began to fly all over the place as a large beast emerged from the ruble, roaring violently.

As this happened, a surge of fire began consuming half the rubble to reveal Naofumi himself still standing.

"He's still standing?! After all of that?!" Shouted Motoyasu, surprised and angered by Naofumi's state.

"Is that…that annoying demi human boy?!" Itsuki questioned with some fear in his tone, shocked at just how strong the boy truly is.

This angered him and made him tempted to fire at Garfiel with a powerful arrow attack, rather wanting to deal with angry Naofumi than beast mode Garfiel.

Before he could fire his bow, Ren had noticed him which prompted the Sword hero to say:

"Don't! He's the best chance to beat Naofumi in this state!"

"And what makes you think that best won't turn on us?!" Mai jumped in at the opportunity to try and convince everyone to attack Garfiel. She was still mad at how he easily grabbed her by the throat without any consequences.

Motoyasu was in agreement with Mai, fearing that Garfiel won't be in control of himself when he's done beating Naofumi and still harbors some resentment towards the demi human.

Itsuki was gladly on board with attacking Garfiel while the opportunity was open, with his party members telling him to take the shot.

Tersia, Farrie, Bakta, and Welt got in front of Itsuki, preparing to fight the bow hero to protect a friend.

"What are you imbeciles doing?!" Mald spoke as he pulled out his sword, ready to kill the four members of Ren's party should they try to do something to Itsuki.

Ren caught wind of this, prompting him to quickly go and diffuse the situation.

While he did this, Raphtalia watched as Naofumi with the fire around him increased all the while Garfiel landed an abundant amount of punches with enormous strength behind them.

She felt hurt watching the two people she cares about fighting once again, this time in a more deadly situation.

This made her feel extremely sad since she wants the two to get along like before.

'Naofumi-sama...Garfiel...'

As she was thinking of the two, she noticed Filo moving a bit of the rubble on top of her human form.

"Filo!"

Raphtalia shouted as she went to approach her, concerned for her safety.

As she approaches Filo, she carries her to safety while the rest start to see that Garfiel's aggressive offense was starting to pay off.

He was pushing Naofumi to his limits, showing that his brute strength was somehow overpowering the rage shield.

With each punch thrown and connecting to the shield, the weaker the grip Naofumi has though the stronger the flames become.

Itsuki and the others noticed this, making them stop their conflict and to watch carefully as the battle seemed to be coming to an end.

'You can do it!' Ren thought to himself, believing in the boy.

'End it already, you fucking demi human!' Mai thought to herself, having some satisfaction that Naofumi is going to lose to a demi human, meaning the Shield Hero's reputation can be damaged even more.

'End it already!' Both Motoyasu and Itsuki thought as they wanted all of this to end already.

As Garfiel continued to hit and hit, he eventually managed to punch Naofumi's shield to the side, leaving the Shield Hero open for one final attack.

Everyone was anxious to see what'll happen next.

Garfiel with everything he had in him swung what seemed to be one final strike though as he did this, he suddenly stopped.

"Hm?"

"What?"

"What's going on with him?"

Everyone looked confused as they all saw the beast stop mid attack.

Garfiel remained like this for a moment, with even enraged Naofumi being slightly off by this.

After a few seconds of this, Garfiel's beast form slowly started to reverse itself back into his human form.

"What is that stupid demi human scum doing?! He was about to finish the devil shield!"

"...Something's wrong..."

"What do you mean?" Tersia asked at Ren, having noticed him say those two words with such a worrisome tone.

They all looked closely as Garfiel returned to his normal form with the same stance he was in his beast form.

At first he looked normal until they saw that Garfiel's entire body was completely covered with curse marks and burn marks.

"Garfiel!"

As a few shouted the boy's name, Garfiel felt his mind returning back to normal though only for a moment before the pain consumed his thoughts.

'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Everythin' fuckin' hurts!'

This pain was enough to cause the demi human boy to collapse to the ground, unable to move.

While this happened, Naofumi's mind was able to process that Garfiel was extremely injured.

He was angry at Garfiel at first before being concerned for his well being. Before he could even approach his ally, a voice spoke out to him.

"Burn. Burn everything!"

"Wh-Who are you?"

As Naofumi spoke out to the voice, his entire body was suddenly engulfing itself in rage.

"They will pay!"

This voice spoke deep into Naofumi's subconscious, making the Shield Hero to visualize Ren stabbing him with his legendary sword in a similar way he did to the undead dragon they had dealt with. This caused the Shield Hero to be in great pain.

"They will pay!"

"Sh-Shut up!" Naofumi struggled to keep his rage in check.

As he made the attempted, his mind flashed back to the most damaging moments: The betrayal of Malty which resulted in him being shunned by everyone, Filo getting hurt by the undead dragon, Garfiel siding with Melty and punching him, Raphtalia getting wounded by Malty's attack, and now Garfiel possibly dying right in front of him due to their fight.

"This…is all…Her FAULT!"

The rage Naofumi already had for Mai only doubled, viewing that a miserable death to the bitch that started all this will be the only way to make him feel satisfied.

"I'll…Kill…HER!"