Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems and help expanding this chapter (and the next), and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
The ride towards the north wasn't as tough as Raphtalia feared. They didn't encounter any wave monsters after leaving the Menagerie Resort area. The hotel had truly been turned into a fortress by Naofumi, and its defenders, stopping the second horde of wave monsters cold in their path, making them unable to attack the army gathered at the north from the back. Aside from dodging through the foliage of the tropical forest, there's no obstacle between their small group and the army gathered in the northern edge of the forest. They occasionally see a few animals among the trees that immediately run away when they are noticed. And they're the only living things around them.
"Faster, FASTER!" Atla's urgent sounding voice makes Raphtalia turn to look at her. The younger sister of the white tiger sibling is riding on top of Kou ahead of everyone with her brother. Katarina's maid Anne is in front of them both, taking control of Kou's reign. Even Kuro is lagging behind her. But the little white tiger girl doesn't look content. She turns around and gives a slap to Kou's back every few seconds.
"Hey! Don't bully Kou!" Katarina's furious voice can be heard besides Raphtalia. The young lady of House Claes has graciously lended Kou to the white tiger siblings. And right now, she's clearly not happy that her steed is being mistreated by the people she's helping.
"I wouldn't have whipped the dumb bird if he wasn't so slow!" Atla turns around and glares right back at Katarina. She even spits at the young lady of House Claes. Privately, Raphtalia found the young girl to be kind of selfish... and insufferable. It's one thing to not be grateful towards someone else's help and treat it like some kind of obligation, but to demand more on top of it... Was this young girl not properly taught by her parents or something?
"Don't act so disrespectful, Atla. This isn't what our mother taught us! We need to be grateful for someone's help." Fohl's response breaks Raphtalia out of her own admittedly malicious thoughts. So they did receive some good teaching growing up. Maybe it's only the little sister because she was spoiled due to her being younger. The white tiger boy turns his head around and gives an apologetic bow towards Katarina. "I'm sorry, Lady Katarina. Please forgive my younger sister. She can be a little … exuberant because she was ill when she was young."
That's certainly a way to describe Atla. Then again, it's clear the elder brother is in the habit of pampering his younger sister even when he is scolding her. Raphtalia suppose she can't fault him for trying to take care of an ill younger sibling, even if someone really needs to teach Atla better manners. Katarina lets out a soft 'hmph', and resorts to continuing her glaring contest with the white tiger girl. At least Atla is now properly distracted to not abuse Kou, or trying to pick a fight with someone.
Their peace didn't last long when they finally reached the group of fighters gathered at the northern beach. The size of the army is smaller than Raphtalia expected, especially compared to the thousands of men gathered to fight in the Third Wave. But then she noticed the giant ice bridge stretching north, and the tail end of an army still at the halfway point. It seems like the majority of the army had left for the island toward the north to take the fight directly to the Wave boss. And they only left a comparatively smaller group to protect their back. Unfortunately, the small group of defenders is exactly who is causing problems.
Firo is already crumbled on the ground, and the one who proclaimed to be Naofumi's biggest fan (Raphtalia gets the sense Naofumi didn't agree with his own assessment, neither does she for that matter. Since he tried to kill Malty) is fighting against a woman with long, gray hair... That's the same crazy woman who nearly whipped Naofumi to death after the queen forced him to reset his levels! Raphtalia doesn't like her to say the least, but she still knows she's someone from one of those big name noble families in Melromarc. Why did the Throwing Weapon Hero pick a fight with her?! And even though he is a star hero with a hero weapon like Naofumi and Malty, he's being pushed back step after step by the crazy woman.
"What's going on here?! Why is the Throwing Weapon Hero fighting against Lady Mordred?!" Katarina leaps off Sakura and screams at the soldiers who lined up behind the ensuing fight. They all grip their weapons tightly and stand in some kind of battle formation, with heavily armored warriors holding shields in front of them. The tip of spears pointing outward between them, and archers behind the defensive line. Raphtalia didn't need her own (admittedly minimalist since her father didn't believe they would reclaim their lost 'empire') imperial princess training to realize they are ready to receive some kind of enemy, and it clearly isn't the Throwing Weapon Hero considering none of them bothered to join the fight.
"Atla! Fohl! Help me kill this villain!" The Throwing Weapon Hero awkwardly blocks another attack from Mordred as she kicks him down onto the ground. "She took Firo away from Naofumi-sama! We can't let a villain like her live!"
"Yes, Master Tairou! I'll help you!" Once again, Atla charges straight at Mordred like an arrow before Fohl has a chance to grab her. Her brother lets out a pained grunt, and quickly follows after his younger sister. Raphtalia feels the same as she covers her eyes with her own hands. How would she even explain this to Naofumi and Malty? Things have gotten way worse for them while they are risking their lives trying to put a stop to this current Wave.
Chapter 14: Heroes in the Goddess' Web
"Did a young girl just come out of that huge spider's head?" Motoyasu asked the question that's ringing in Malty's head. And to be honest, it's neither a smart, nor a good question. They already witnessed filorial monarchs, dragon lords, and royal griffins turning into humans (or the other way around), so the idea of a demonic spider demi-god invading from a foreign world having a human form really shouldn't be that big a deal. But the point remains that the giant spider didn't simply miniaturize and turn into a human. The young looking woman crawled and dug out of the titanic arachnid's head, which suggests that she and the giant spider might be two separate entities. That, or she has some kind of ability similar to the flesh crafting taught by the Seven False Heroes: foul sorcery that constructs a flesh golem shell around her real body.
On that thought... she came from the same world as the Seven False Heroes might be what's happening. It is well known they are dimensional invaders that came from another world after all. And the Wave of Catastrophe is apparently a phenomenon where different worlds bleed into each other.
"Don't let your guard down. She may look like a young woman, but Gaelion told us she's an earthbound god. I saw what an earthbound god can do. A griffin king was helpless against Fitoria." Naofumi's warning makes Malty refocus on the woman in front of them once again. It's easy to overlook the short battle King Waerjak had with Fitoria since Malty was merely an observer. And it's followed up by Fitoria and Metatron's revelation on the nature of a hero, their world, and the Burning Legion. But now she thinks about it, that battle was completely beyond her abilities. The king of Griffin's Spine mountain range already had enough power to reshape the landscape of his domain, yet he was treated almost like a child by the avatar of Alaya. How strong would this invading earthbound goddess be? Will the gathered heroes be enough to resist her? Malty feels paralyzed by the power the woman could have, even if she's doing nothing but standing on top of the titanic arachnid for now.
"Don't lose your will to fight yet. If she truly is a goddess, even an earthbound one. She would be subjected to 'Divine Limit Fifteen Thousand' when she goes to a foreign world not part of her domain." Lord Dio takes a few well measured long strides forward, till he steps over all of them and they can only see his seemingly increasingly large backside. "It's a limit to godly beings collectively placed down by the divine court of multiple pantheons. To protect worlds from the invasion of malignant foreign invaders."
"Well, well, well... What do we have here? The giant spider that's been giving us troubles turns out to be a beautiful woman?" By contrast, Prince Tact's posture is so relaxed he's letting out an aloof whistle. He exchanges the handle of the star whip into his left hand, and holds out his right towards the white goddess almost like he's inviting her to a dance, or to a fancy dinner. "Maybe you should give up on invading worlds and join me- join us instead? I'm sure we can tickle whatever it is you fancy."
"Hey! Don't try to grab another beauty for yourself while I'm not around." The sound of an equally foolhardy voice draws Malty's sight briefly away from the still unmoving goddess. She sees Tenzen and Lung landing on one of the severed spider legs. Tenzen leans his body back a little, showing off his admittedly well toned muscles on his tanned chest as he rests the back of his great saber on his shoulder. "Not all the women of this world and next belong to you, Tact."
"You honestly think you even have a chance to compete against me, little kitten? You are nothing without your Uncle Dionysius. A little kitten borrowing the power of a grown tiger." The Whip Hero clearly doesn't show the same respect... or caution towards Dio's nephew as he does to the Gauntlet Hero.
"Aren't you two forgetting someone? Beautiful women don't have to belong to arrogant, lecherous men like you two." Lung brings her free hand up to the side of her face, and brushes away a strand of her luscious dark hair like she's trying to recommend some hair care product. Malty has to admit that the Princess of All Dragons certainly has good hair, even without Naofumi's hair caring potion... no! Don't get involved with their nonsense! Focus on the battle!
"Stop fooling around, you idiots." The sound of metal and bone crack draws Malty's attention away from the three idiots flirting at the invading outer goddess while snapping at each other. The princess turned slave looks towards Dio and sees him squeezing his fingers tightly together. Blood still drips down from the seams of his golden gauntlet. "We are fighting against an outer goddess. This is no time to think about your lecherous thoughts. We have to kill, or find a way to banish her to stop this Wave."
"But I live my life fighting for the pretty ladies. Why do you always have to be serious all the time, Uncle Dio?" Prince Tact and Lung instantly go quiet, but Tenzen still whines at his uncle. Probably less due to him being stronger than the other two, and more on he is related to Lord Dio. His long, blade-like eyebrows twitch in the most irresponsible playful manner. Malty doesn't know how strong this young white tiger noble is, but he had clearly never faced enough hardship in life to know when to stop his filorial dung and get serious. She knows people like Tenzen well, she was just like him before her journey with Naofumi.
"What the hell is wrong with them... they are acting dumber than Motoyasu." Naofumi lets out a low groan at those who should have been his allies. Malty can't exactly blame him for such feelings, since she's also highly annoyed by them. But clearly he wasn't being quiet enough with his own complaint. Not that the other heroes heard him, but Motoyasu certainly did.
"Do you still think I'm dumb, Naofumi? I thought we were friends." Motoyasu makes a whimpering sound that reminded Malty of a kicked baby filorial bird. Perhaps he had spent too much time with his birdies.
"Well... you aren't the smartest among us. But don't worry. You are getting better." Naofumi instantly looks regretful at his own words. He reaches his hand out, and gives the Spear Hero's shoulder a few light taps. His backhanded compliment instantly made Motoyasu's face light up.
While all of this farce is going on, not all the gathered high level heroes and nobles devolved into their own tomfoolery. Besides Dio, Lady Rias is also one of the defenders that treated this new threat seriously. The long, worm-like formation of the coalition army slowly approached the white goddess with caution. The warriors at the front holding up their weapons, or shields as they take measured steps toward their new opponent.
The unnamed goddess in white, after curiously touching the ash-filled sands with her toes, seems to finally acknowledge those around her as she slowly turns to look at the approaching fighters.
Her face looks young, someone that has not yet lost the naive, boundless energy of teen years and reached full adulthood. Her immaculate white dress, silver hair, and soft skin sets her apart from the hardened, crimson carapace of the titanic arachnid she emerged from. To many, they were never expecting such an ethereal beauty to grace the beachside, let alone one as voluptuous beyond their wildest imaginations, with large, soft breasts, supple hips connected to thick, meaty thighs and long, graceful calves. There was a reason why degenerate lechers like Tact and Tenzen would forgo all reason and attempt mating with monsters like her.
The only thing that seems to connect her with the colossal, beastly body she left behind are her eyes. A pair of large, but still human enough looking eyes, are surrounded by three pairs of additional, smaller eyes that come to a total of eight just like the giant spider. And all of them are a bottomless pool of crimson sclerae just like the carapace that covered the arachnid, or the tear hanging over the sky, soon obscured by the formation of large landmasses floating above the darkened waters from nearby.
Rias Gremory, for her part, is unamused. She knew the head of her Great Clan was a prideful hedonist, but she still underestimated how flippant the Claw Hero carries herself in front of an invading outer goddess during a wave battle. The red dragon turns to her peerage to take advantage of the lull now before them.
A short-haired, handsome blonde boy armed with a longsword (in a well-dressed tunic), a short girl with a stoic expression, and what appeared to be a perpetually smiling Oriental woman with a large ponytail (possibly bustier than Rias herself), were among her entourage.
"Kiba, Koneko," Rias calls out to her peerage, "head down to the front and be ready to attack on my signal. Akeno, start your spells and provide support. I want her struck down this very instant."
The two complied and jumped down behind the frontline troops on the beach. Yuuto Kiba himself drew his sword with a two-handed guard.
"Why certainly, Mistress," Akeno Himejima cheerily complied with her facetious smile and closed eyes. "But are you sure that we can't use them? We have two expendable weapons we can deploy against a mere obstacle like her. Why send our most reliable members?"
"I have my role to play in the Wave," Rias stoically muttered, lost in thought. "I can't afford to show my hand too early. This world is due for countless more Waves in the future. We'll unveil our masterpieces in due time, when the time is right."
"If you say so," Akeno replied as bat and bird wings sprouted out from the back of her house's tunic, taking up position above the Gremory rank and file, with her dazed and lucid eyes, ready to send a thunderbolt down with a snap of her fingers.
Koneko Toujou bent her knees and leapt up above the army masses, followed by Kiba, whose speed was near incalculable.
For a short, petite girl with a childlike frame, she had quite the punch on her, as she forced the goddess to block with the shaft of her scythe.
However, Koneko's punches were rather predictable, as the goddess nonchalantly bobbed and weaved away from the various left and hooks aimed towards her face. Not even the following roundhouse was enough to misdirect the goddess, let alone land a successful hit.
"See ya on the flipside," Koneko muttered.
What the goddess didn't expect, however - was Koneko grabbing her by the waist, and attempting to suplex her into the sands. Then, hurling her high above in the air, forcing her to safely land on her two feet …
… which led the goddess vulnerable to a gut punch that sent her a few yards back, and bent her midsection in the process. The goddess responded in kind with a backhand that sent the pint-sized powerhouse skidding across the sandy beach.
Malty could see the sheer force of the backhand in spite of her lack of visible wounds. Credit where it's due - that Koneko must've been a lot sturdier than what her child-like frame implied.
"Kiba!"
The swordsman instantly appeared in front of her, and with one draw, aimed cleanly at her upper torso, though the goddess simply arched backwards without a single cut.
"Damnit," Kiba muttered. The swing would have cleanly sliced her arms apart had she not dodged.
Snarling, Kiba then concentrated. Perhaps it was time for him to show off more of his power.
"Sword Birth!"
Instantly, hundreds of blades of various shapes, and sizes emerged from the ashen sands, too dense to count. Any foe foolish enough would be impaled by these long and improvised spikes.
The goddess, however, simply leapt on top of the various blades, with nary a cut on her bare feet, with Kiba following suit by landing on the hilts of the swords instead.
Leaping on top of the blades, Kiba sprang into action, trying to swing his blades on top of these deadly spikes, trying to catch her in a game of cat-and-mouse. His double handed style was insufficient to actually catch the goddess, who simply landed on her dainty toes as Kiba struggled to catch up with each careful jump. Kiba even had to duck under one horizontal swing of her scythe while maintaining balance!
One swing, two swings, it didn't matter how many swipes Kiba hurled at the goddess - she narrowly parried just by shifting the shaft a smidge to the left or right, or even her body, presenting a lower target. Kiba had to constantly jump forward on the swords he unleashed, as she proved too fast to anticipate.
She kicked some of the entrenched blades away, snapping them into projectiles, which forced Kiba to deflect them away.
Landing back onto the sands, the goddess then kicked up a massive dust cloud headed Kiba's way.
"Repression Calm!"
Conjuring up a different sword, he quickly swung the blade at the dust storm, which absorbed the wind, letting the sands stay still.
However, a stream of fire was hurled at Kiba, some of it fusing with the still-dispersing sands to form shards of glass. If Kiba tried to dodge the fire, he would be cornered on both sides by the glass projectiles headed towards him.
"Flame Eraser!"
Wasting no time, the second sword immediately grew a large blade of ice. With one swing, the glass shards were parried by icicles ricocheting in their direction, and the fire was dispersed by the cold temperature of the blade itself.
The Goddess wasn't done, however - a beam of light immediately shot towards the Gremory knight.
"Holy Eraser!"
The blackened sword immediately began absorbing the beam of light, devouring it whole, until the light magic vanished.
Boulders, orbs of water, and poison were next in the goddess' magic barrage, as Kiba finally decided to press forward instead of playing defense.
"Freonic Evaporator!"
Running forward with two swords, a scimitar enveloped by a burning flame detonated the boulders, destroyed the poison, and evaporated the water orbs, forming into a smoke cloud, obscuring the goddess' vision.
If Kiba would break through the smokescreen with a frontal charge, the goddess was surely mistaken, as he appeared to teleport behind her, his sword swings still blocked.
There was no mistaking it - the goddess was just too skilled, fast and could defend against any sword skill unleashed against her. The V-shaped Vertical Arc, the 4-shaped Savage Fulcrum, the triple slanted slash combo Sharp Nail, and one-handed thrust combos such as the four hit Quadruple Pain … every move studied from Kirito's repertoire as a Sword Hero of old, that could beat experienced fencers such as Weiss Schnee from long ago, was effortlessly blocked and parried by a scythe's shaft with minimal effort.
And that wasn't all - once the Goddess started retaliating, Kiba had to duck backwards against the wide reach of the scythe against him. The white-haired maiden wasn't even trying anymore, if she could merely twirl the scythe blade on the ground parallel to where her feet stood, and her body with it. The crimson scythe kept sweeping towards his midsection, then his head, before Kiba had to roll to the sides in order to tumble away from the overhead swings.
Thrusts and jabs were insufficient as the scythe became a whirlwind, the goddess naturally moving her body with the momentum of the blade. Kiba lost count of how many one-handed swings nearly clamped onto his neck, ready to decapitate him at a moment's notice. Vertical swings, horizontal sweeps, and diagonal vectors of attacks continued to overwhelm him.
Lady Rias raises her hand, looking ready to give some command to the army under her. Maybe it's an order to charge, or perhaps it's something more cautious like holding their position and testing the strength of the red eyed white arachnid goddess with weapon arts. Malty would never know unless she asks House Gremory's Crouching Dragon, as she didn't have a chance to let out a single syllable.
The white goddess beats her voices with action. Her eyes light up in purple, and the army that has been acting like a single unit suddenly turned into pandemonium. Those who stood at the front suddenly turned around, and began to swing their weapons at their comrades in arms behind them.
"Damnit," Kiba grunted, muttering as he blocked a swing from the possessed army. "Losing an entire army of our best men …"
"It's a moot point," Koneko sighed as she lifted one of the foot soldiers and tossed him aside into the rest of the turned, knocking them aside. The two were now surrounded by their own men, who have lost all sense of reason. Friends were now turned to foes as they converged on the Gremory Clan's strongest soldiers.
"Akeno," Rias called out, "... you have my authority. Collateral damage is permitted."
"Coming right up," Akeno sweetly cooed as she snapped her fingers, and generated a stream of lightning that electrocuted the troops.
"Seems like a waste," Kiba snarked as he swung his sword on another puppet, slicing him in half.
"Don't look at her eyes, Naofumi, Motoyasu!" Her eyes... she can clearly use some kind of foul magic with her eyes! Malty quickly looks away, fearful of being inflicted with whatever ailment the army under Lady Rias is in. She takes a brief moment to look at said army. And noticed the Battle Cloud above their heads are gone. What stood against the full body charge of a gigantic spider that would stand over all the castles in the world didn't survive a single stare from the earthbound goddess.
The white goddess doesn't seem content to merely disrupt the army and let them kill each other. She brings her hand back, and then points it forward in a wide arc like she's trying to slap someone. A scarlet wave of fog blows towards the army in chaos, anyone who was touched by it quickly becomes covered in red boils like they are being flayed alive. And then they turn into ash once they are fully engulfed.
What's more, as the ashes fall onto the ground, they slowly reconstruct themselves into the dead fighters. Their eyes glowing with the same red light of the dimensional tear in the sky, and they raised their weapons at anyone around them who are not the same ash creatures as themselves.
Thankfully, the Gremory servants were wise to step back, and maintained their faculties … and allegiance. Kiba wasted no time against the shambling armies that stood in front of them.
"Sword Birth!"
And soon, Kiba's many blades impaled their rank and file, emerging from the ashen sands. Armor and clothing were torn asunder as ashes emerged from the wounds on their skin.
"It's not going to work, Kiba," Koneko dryly remarked. "They're just going to pull themselves back together. They're made of that stuff."
"Seriously?" Kiba sighed. "How are we supposed to fight them!?"
"Yoo-hoo! With me, silly!"
A bolt of lightning electro-shocked the undead horde as their limbs and synapses spasmed. It wasn't strong enough to obliterate them entirely, but it did lock them into place, sending the horde into a tortured scream.
And that voluptuous Akeno was quite the sadomasochistic fiend indeed, giggling and licking her lips at a challenging opponent. The screams of pain were ecstasy to her ears.
"Malty! That's the same ash creature we fought in Gallia!" Malty shares a quick look with Naofumi. They nod at each other. Any doubt of Fitoria and Metatron's word about The Burning Legion leaves their mind. Naofumi quickly whips his head away to the panicking fighters around him. "Use ice magic to freeze them! They reconstruct if you destroy them! Ice is the only effective method to deal with them!"
"Take the army and retreat, Gremory! This is a fight between an invader god and us, the champions of Medea! Anyone not a hero or at the top of prestige levels, run! You'll only get in the way." Lord Dio didn't waste time while giving command to the army. He pushes his hands forward, countless purple hands appear all around the converted ash creatures, wrapping their fingers around these puppets of The Burning Legion and holding them in place. Dio was apparently smart enough to catch the most important point behind Naofumi's instruction even if he doesn't show signs of being able to cast ice magic: the important part is to contain the ash creatures, as trying to destroy them only lead to them reconstituting themselves.
"Acknowledged, Lord Dio. May fortune smile upon your conquest!" Rias gritted her teeth before she sighed. Perhaps she's trying to use this wave fight to gain some prestige for her own hall. Regardless, it seems like her contribution would stop here. Rias hollered out, before turning to her subordinates. "Kiba, Koneko! Form our rearguard. Do not maintain eye contact with the enemy, and do not destroy the enemy troops! Disable or incapacitate them, but they will regenerate and attack again. Akeno, I want a barrier and a containment field against the troops immediately."
"Certainly, Mistress," Akeno sweetly smiled, as a wall of lightning descended from the crimson skies, blocking the undead's path, while a dome formed nearby trapped more of the ashen troopers.
And with the snap of her fingers, Kiba and Koneko leapt back, maintaining a fighting retreat.
The red-haired warrior lady quickly reorganized the men under her command. Thanks to Dio stopping the ash creatures, they were able to detach themselves from the chaotic fight without being chased down. Their rearguard quickly become vanguard and the other way around, and begin their retreat from the battle between the champions of Medea and a single invading outer goddess.
Tact, Lung, and even Tenzen had all jumped into action around the same time as Dio. Long sword-like claw teeth, broad spined war saber, and cunning thorned whips all fall towards her slender and dainty looking body. The Whip Hero being the loudest among them. "Who told you that you could harm my girls?!"
Right... because the first few lines of the army Lady Rias commanded were entirely made of Tact's (wo)men, who happens to be the one that suffered the brunt of the white goddess' attack. He lost the most manpower and resources in this battle, and judging from the way his face scrunched up in anger and pain, high-leveled fighters as well. He has the most reason to hate this invading goddess, even if he was flippantly flirting with her a moment ago.
As for the goddess under attack, her serene face showed no emotions and she merely raised her right arm holding the crimson scythe a degree higher. With one loud snap, the weapons of Tact, Lung, and Tenzen all fall onto the teeth of the scythe, almost like they choreographed their exchange with the white goddess beforehand. All three of them let out a single unbelieving cry in unison. "WHAT!?"
Lung's reaction was the fastest. She immediately grabs Tenzen with her free hand, and jumps away from the white goddess with the young white tiger man in hand. Tact was only a second behind her, but he's already too late as the invading goddess fixed her glowing purple eyes on him.
The Whip Hero's body suddenly and unnaturally freezes on the ground, his body posture looks like he's ready to leap away, yet unable to break through some invisible hold. The white goddess' mouth twitches at the corner, almost like she's breaking into a smile. But then she opens her mouth impossibly large, like her lower jaw had been cut off from its hinges and about to fall onto the ground.
With the sound of a loud crash, Tact was pushed out of the white goddess' grasp by a woman in maid uniform. He blinks once, and sits up from the ground. His usually cocky look is replaced by a face that belies genuine shock... and fear. "Ellie?! ELLIE!"
"Master Tact, run-" The young woman in maid's uniform barely finished her words as red boils started to cover her body, from the crimson fog that enveloped her. Tact lets out a scream that sounds like a wounded animal as he jumps up from the ground and tries to throw himself at the white goddess. But Lord Dio takes a few strides forward and grabs him by his neck just as the woman crumbles into dust. The Gauntlet Hero lets go of the Whip Hero, letting the young man crumble onto the ground in a heap. For once since Malty knew Prince Tact, he looks genuinely disturbed and devastated as he lets out a few choking sounds as his body shakes on the ground.
Lord Dio encases himself in his protection bubbles and steps forward as she is being reconstructed out of ash. The newly reborn ashen puppet is quickly wrapped around in one of his purple, energy-constructed hands. The white goddess turns to stare at him with her glowing eyes, and then cocks her head slightly to the side when Dio doesn't get affected the same as Tact before him.
She brings her crimson scythe forward, and the Gauntlet Hero meets her head on with his own hands … emitting shockwaves everytime they clashed, sending everyone (Malty included) stumbling behind on their feet.
"Tsk. I guess she's a genuine goddess after all." Lung snorted, sneering from the corner of her eyes. She turns her head to look at Tenzen... and then presses her lips on the mouth of the tanned white tiger man without any warning. Malty briefly wonders if the Claw Hero had lost her mind after the shock. Why would she decide to play around a man while her enemy is right in front of her, and clearly more powerful than her? But then she notices how Tenzen's cheeks... and bulging muscles begin to visibly deflate while he is locked in a kiss with Lung. The Princess of All Dragons is apparently a genuine maneater in the most literal sense - someone who practices the foul sorcery of sucking out the life force from another man (and possibly woman). By the time she lets go of Tenzen, the previously strong young warrior looks like a refugee whose skin is loosely hanging off his bones. Lung wipes the corner of her mouth off with her sleeve. Her previously dark eyes glowing a menacing shade of gold, a pair of golden antlers sprouts above her ears, and she's also covered in a shine of light aura as she glares murder at the white goddess. It seems like Lung didn't save Tenzen earlier out of any sense of kindness, or even affection towards him as she leaps forward at the invader goddess a second time, joining the fight alongside Dio. "Round two, and I'm not holding back on you anymore, INSOLENT WORM!"
This time, Lung didn't immediately swing her weapon at the white goddess. She lands a fair distance away from the battle between Dio and the goddess and proceeds to... glare at the foreign invader. Before Malty has a chance to question the point of this action, both the heads of Lung and the white goddess recoil back like they are hit in the face by a powerful hammer strike. Malty can't see what's going on with the Princess of All Dragons, but she could see trails of blood dripping down from all of the goddess' eyes. She wonders if the Claw Hero had managed to damage her enough to stop her from using the abilities of her eyes. Dio didn't take a break, or lose himself in his thought as his opponent was briefly put on the back foot.
Every scythe was too wide, or required wind-up time for Dio to simply raise his elbows and block, or weave within the scythe's reach over and/or under the blade to close the distance. The shorter reach of his arms was enough for him to maintain a consistently fast defense.
The Gauntlet Hero, who had been fighting defensively to block and parry the goddess' scythe strikes, finally saw the opening and reached out with his left hand. He grabs the goddess' hair... and proceeds to furiously punch her right in the eyes with his right hand. "MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA-!"
For the goddess, she's simply taking Dio's endless assault without letting out any noise. Aside from the sound of fist meeting flesh... and bones, of course. But the way her face becomes progressively bloody and worn, with skins and flesh peeling off suggests that the Gauntlet Hero isn't simply wasting his strength. His attack method might lack any sense of grace or skill, but it appears to be brutally effective even against an earthbound deity.
"Master Tenzen! Here!" A red haired fox woman wearing a pair of glasses, and a girl with white quills sticking out of her black hair run over to the barely alive, almost skeleton looking tenzen. She pulls her sleeve down, and hands her exposed arm in front of Tenzen's mouth while the quilled girl holds onto Tenzen. Malty manages to focus her sight on the woman enough to notice some biting marks on her skin, and that's exactly what Tenzen did next: sinking his teeth into the young woman's exposed arm.
The woman's face scrunches up, visibly biting her own lips from inside as Tenzen's body slowly inflates once again. By the time the red fox woman collapses on the ground, Tenzen had recovered his previous stature. His skin still looks eerily pale compared to its previous tan, but he doesn't look like something that's on death's door anymore. Tenzen shakily stands up while holding onto the unconscious woman in his arms. "Ink. Take care of Karin. Your ability won't be useful in this fight."
The one he's referring to is also a woman with fox ears just like Karin. But unlike the fair skinned young woman with blazing red hair, she has deeply tanned skin with black hair. Perhaps that's why her name is Ink. And she gives the air of more maturity compared to Karin. Ink bends her knees slightly down, and takes the unconscious red fox from Tenzen as she gives a concerned look to the white tiger warrior. "You can leave Karin with me, but should retreat to a safe distance with us, young master."
"I'll come to you when I know Uncle Dio is safe." Tenzen shakes his head. His legs are shaking, and he's using his great saber like an impromptu cane holding himself up, but he stands defiantly and steadfastly watching the ensuing battle. It seems like even as a playful lecher, he still cares about his family... or maybe he's only using Dio as an excuse to watch over Lung. Regardless, Ink gives a respectful bow and leaps away with Karin in her arms.
"Sala! Ashi! Get over here! Nobody gets to kill MY GIRL without paying a price!" The animalistic scream of Tact brings Malty's attention back to him. Salamander and the griffin girl jump over to stand on his sides. Each of them offering their hand out to the Whip Hero, like a noble lady allowing a male scion kissing their hand. And that's exactly what Tact does one after the other. As his lips leave the little dragon girl, a pair of red horns spread out atop of his head. As does a pair of scale covered leather wings looming over his body.
And after he kissed the griffin girl, his ears became more furry looking, and a second pair of white feather covered wings sprouted underneath his first, dragon-like wings. The two young-looking girls, on the other hand, seem to lose their beastly features and become indistinguishable from a normal, human girl. Prince Tact stands up to his feet, his bloodshot eyes emitting nothing but pure hate towards the outer goddess as he shoots himself back into the battle once again.
The empowered Whip Hero isn't the only one who has some grudges to settle against the invading outer goddess. Lung had recovered from her earlier flinch and removed her hands from her face.
Trails of blood still drip down from her eyes, her nose, the corner of her lips and even down her ears. But her haggard looking state doesn't diminish the fury on the face of the Princess of All Dragons. In fact, she looks much more angry than before, to the point that her previous delicate looking nose had grown much taller and wider, making her look more like a ferocious looking serpent dragon.
She jumps into battle right after Tact. With Lord Dio still having full monopoly on the goddess' head, thorned whip, and sword sharp claws begin to fall on the goddess' body from her side and back. Her previously immaculate white dress gets ripped, torn apart, until it becomes specks of ash flying off her bruised body as all three veteran heroes descend on her without any sense of mercy.
"[Barrier]." Naofumi quickly puts up a golden, miracle barrier in front of them. The force emitted from the clash between the three veteran heroes and the invading outer goddess is becoming strong enough that they could barely stand on their feet. Surely under such a furious beating, even a goddess can't simply take it and not suffer any harm? Her body seems to be breaking apart under Dio, Tact and Lung's combined assault, after all.
And that's exactly what happened next. Red veins begin to emerge through the white goddess' skin, as her body bulges and contorts itself in different ways. The goddess panted and roared her head back, and hissed out a scream so vicious, as her body exploded, blood, organs and crimson mana leaking from the vessel now torn asunder - probably an implosion thanks to the relentless barrage the other heroes unleashed. Or she couldn't control her mana reserves/regeneration through this supposedly unstable body.
But the physical destruction of the goddess' mortal vessel didn't stop the wave over the sky as Malty expected. In fact, countless strands of webbing seem to erupt out of the goddess' broken body and restrained all three veteran heroes, making them all fall on the ground in various states of disarray.
"What the hell!?" Motoyasu screamed as he struggled to break free of his restraints. "Isn't she dead!?"
"Must be one failsafe," Ren retorted. "She's not ill-prepared. Keep … your eyes peeled."
It's a sign that the goddess wasn't banished from their realm, but willingly discarded the current vassal she's using just like her previous gigantic arachnid body. Which begs the question... where is the goddess right now?
What's worse, was that this was no longer a mere beachhead, but countless more large pieces of island bedrock from nearby land masses began to swirl and gather in the skies and the waters away from them. And the webbing itself connected the ashen sands to the floating islands, creating a wide, large net that could reach even the dimensional tear itself.
"Uncle Dio!" Tenzen stumbles forward, making his way over to the Gauntlet Hero with the assistance of the girl with white quills in her hair. He brings his saber down, and tries to see the webbing off Lord Dio. The girl is much more... enthusiastic. She pulls out the sword hanging by her waist, brings it high above her head... and starts to furiously hack and slash at Dio's body like she's trying to kill him. She doesn't seem to be particularly smart, but she's doing as much damage to the Gauntlet Hero as she is doing to the web wrapped tightly around him: none.
"Everyone stand together, the goddess isn't done ye-AH~!" Malty didn't finish her warning as she suddenly feels a strong pull around her ankles. The next thing she knows is a wave of pain and dizziness around her head while her bag is dragged across the sandy ground beneath her. By the time she somewhat recovered her faculties, she realizes she's being pulled towards a white spider about the same size as a grown man, with glowing, crimson leylines covering her carapace like a chaotic web.
"MALTY!"
Naofumi saw with terrified, saddened eyes that for some reason, the goddess was attempting to capture Malty for some reason as she sped across the ash-filled beach, and began to leap across the broken pieces of island strewn across the skies. There could be only two reasons as to what could happen with her - either the goddess would eat her as food, or escape out of sight with her in tow, probably at the behest of her masters, the originators of the Waves themselves!
The goddess was no longer a woman, nor a feral beast, but a horrifying fusion of both. She still retained her beautiful, bare human torso, but everywhere below the navel ended up like a smaller version of the titanic arachnid they faced earlier, complete with crimson carapace and bulging veins on her exoskeleton and legs.
And he did not want to lose his oldest friend … no, his beloved, to a goddess, as she began to scurry up the extensive webbing that held both beach and floating landmass together. He had to get her back at all costs, and surely that's what anyone would do in his shoes!
"Give her back, damnit! I want her back!"
Ren can barely hold back Naofumi with Motoyasu's help. Forget about his supposed lower level, or him lacking attack power because he's the Shield Hero. A panicking Naofumi is the strongest among them all.
But he still does not dare to let his friend go face that spider goddess on his own. Three high-leveled, veteran heroes had already tried to fight her head on, and right now they are writhing on the ground, tied up by webbing like mummies.
"You stay where it's safe, Master Shield Hero. We'll get Princess Malty back!" The two winged demi-humans leap towards the spider goddess. Even from a distance, they have already prepared their attack. A bundle of golden lightning collects in the white winged woman, surrounding the spear she is holding. And the young looking... boy, or maybe a girl with peacock tails, has all of their tail feathers folded together over their head like a halo and shoots out a giant purple eye shaped energy sphere at the white spider, as the demi-humans try to fly towards the webbing.
"Sunlight Spear! Cosmo Illusion!"
However, the spider goddess turns around, aims her abdomen, and shoots out two more strands of webbing from its abdomen. Ren didn't expect something like spidersilk would carry a lot of force, but that's what it apparently did when they pushed right through both of the demi-human templars' attacks, dispelling the magic energies themselves.
The two strands of webbing didn't stop after overpowering the spear of golden lightning and purple energy sphere, as they hit both demi-human fighters right on their chests, puncturing their armor and tunics in one shot each.
Instead of wrapping around and restraining them like Ren expected, both of them spit out a gust of blood from their mouth, and are sent flying back on the ground, their faces pale as they writhe on the ground. Ren knew these two former church members are stronger than himself, how would he end up if he had tried to do the same? Would he even be alive if he's hit by the same attack?
While he is being distracted by the goddess' strength, Naofumi has managed to break his hold and charges straight toward the white spider.
He begins to try and steadily climb the net of webbing, struggling not to stay tangled, with his foot dangling in one of the open spaces. No matter what, he would do whatever it takes - he would snatch his woman back and kill the spider goddess himself!
Motoyasu lets out an intelligible yell as he quickly gives chase after Naofumi. Ren doesn't have much time to hesitate as he follows after his two friends. He's not sure what he can do to help keep them alive, but he's not about to let these two get themselves killed without doing anything.
"How do you even climb on these things!?" Motoyasu screamed, as he dangled on the threads. "Are you a competitive rock climber or something!?"
Motoyasu, for his part, is still helplessly tangled in the webbing, just hanging on for dear life, while Ren, with his expert footwork, can easily balance himself on the strands with the soles of his feet, without much struggle.
"Stop wasting time, Motoyasu," Ren snarked as he quickly increased the pace, gradually running towards Naofumi and the spider goddess. He had to sprint on the strands, since rescuing Malty from being spider food was paramount.
Naofumi himself didn't waste any time of his own to clip his shield into an iron ball - but instead of tossing it at the spider goddess, he held it right in front of his balled up fist like an extra fist grew over his hand as he frantically sprinted, charging at the goddess and willing his entire body to do so, no matter how much he stumbled on the strands to awkwardly chase after her.
Just like before, the spider goddess hisses and shoots out a strand of webbing at Naofumi from its abdomen, but the Shield Hero seems prepared for it.
He tosses a concussive blast below himself, and 'rocket jumps' over the goddess' attack at her body as he swings his balled up [Crown Shield] at her head even as droplets of red rain down from his mouth. "Don't you dare hurt my WOMAN!"
In a split second, the body of the goddess flashes for a brief moment, almost like she had stepped into a thin layer of fog. And when the invisible 'fog' cleared up, she became the pale woman in her white dress, holding her crimson red scythe once again as she stands daintily on the webbing. She swings her weapon up at Naofumi's coiled Crown Shield. With a loud crack, both weapons met in the air.
Cracks begin to form on the Crown Shield where the two weapons collide, but instead of simply crumbling into dust, it explodes like a miniature sun, sending a wave of heat and firestorm onto the goddess. For the first time since she took this humanoid form, she actually lets out a voice from her mouth.
"A–AAAAAAaAAaAh~!"
It's a faint, almost silent thing, but she is showing something she didn't even display when the three veteran heroes were beating her down: a visible sign of pain.
That wasn't all - the patch of webbing they were on immediately snapped, sending them falling back on the ashen beaches. As for the goddess, she turned her head around as she tried to shoot new strands to repair the improvised net, and stay afloat, with the bound and unconscious Malty precariously dangling from the webbing, something Naofumi could be thankful for, as his body falls and tumbles on the ground.
The goddess, however, doesn't seem willing to leave him be. She opens her mouth wide once the flame from the destruction of his Crown Shield passes over, and blows a wave of red fog at Naofumi. That's the same move she uses to kill the Whip Hero's maid ... and Ren knows there's nothing he can do to save his friend since he is too far away.
But something travels much faster than the wind of scarlet plague blown out by the white goddess. A white, glowing chain shoots out from Motoyasu's wrist, connecting to Naofumi's arm as the Spear Hero pulls his body back with all his strength, flinging him away from the beachhead, and onto a different part of the spider's web. That's when Ren noticed another chain extending out from Motoyasu, and connected to his own wrist. That was the ability Motoyasu had to 'link up' with some of his own companions, wasn't it?
"Hold your Dovah Sword up, Skykid!" Gaelion's voice rings in Ren's head, he doesn't have time to hesitate, or get annoyed at his new nickname. Wyndia's father can be a bit silly at times, but he wouldn't fuck around in a life or death situation like this. So he must be planning something with his instruction. As Ren holds up the sword of Gaelion's choosing, he sees the dragon lord fly towards his hand in his miniaturized form like a bat. The tiny dragon lord lands on his hand, and begins to wrap his elongated neck and tail around his sword. Gaelion disappears with a purple flash and the sword in his hand changes form once again.
Before, the Dovah (Dragon) Sword already had a draconic look. But with it being made of dragon's bones, the resemblance is in a more primal form. Like some kind of decoration a caveman would build with limited tools. But now, the guard and hilt of his new sword look like a well crafted piece of art that resembles a delicate replication of Gaelion's body. His torso and tail make up the hilt and middle of the sword guard, his wings literally become the two wings of the sword guard, and his head connects to the blade, which now has a dark purple shine like the lightning he spews out of his mouth. And he can hear Gaelion's voice echoing in his head. "Don't get distracted! You have sixty seconds - make them count!"
Ren doesn't need to be told twice as he leaps off his strand of webbing, rappelling into the air into a flying charge towards the white goddess - even over Motoyasu, who just caught Naofumi's body. He feels it from the current of air more than he saw it through the flight. And the youngest hero suddenly became very aware of his enhanced senses. He could sense every spec of ash falling on everyone around him, like he somehow gained 360 degree vision over miles, yet also has the sudden brain power to process all the information. Is this how Gaelion sees the world, or is it some kind of combined effort thanks to his dragon power, and the legendary sword? He remembers Gaelion's warning, and focuses on himself - no, immersing himself in the battle ahead.
Malty has regained her clarity even as she's being bound and dragged through the ash-filled beach and up towards the skies by the invading foreign goddess. This is the second time when she's being targeted by an invading goddess, and she honestly can't say she enjoys this dubious 'honor'. She's tentatively aware of Janne and Abel trying to push the white goddess back, only to be badly injured by her.
And then Naofumi threw everything he had at the goddess, even exploding his own [Crown Shield] in an effort to push the goddess back. He didn't seem to have done much more than the three veteran heroes. And now Ren charges forward, wearing some kind of dragon armor on him while holding a new sword. Motoyasu charged up behind him, while Naofumi quickly scrambles on his feet and cupping his hands, likely trying to bring his [Crown Shield] back out again.
All while she's helplessly dangling off the web, unable to move or even contribute. The only thing she could do at this point was watch.
Ren seems to have completely given up on defense, focusing on clashing weapons with the white goddess instead. His purple sword meets her crimson scythe, each blow releasing lightning bolts and red mist between the two of them.
Motoyasu uses a spear form she doesn't recognize from before, something that breaks into three segments with chains connecting the two short sticks and the short spear together. Was that a replica of General Anderson's Conqueror's Spear? He brings his spear out from behind Ren, helps block the goddess' strikes against his comrade in arms, and swings around the tail segment like a flail at the same time to catch her off guard. Both men have managed to maintain their balance on the webbing as they continue to run with great speed towards the enemy.
The goddess seems to get annoyed at Motoyasu's constant harassment as her eyes begin to glow purple again, but she doesn't have a chance to use her eye ability when Naofumi's body is swung forward by Motoyasu as the Shield Hero's feet smashes into her face. Right... because that astral chain the Spear Hero connected out to his companions isn't only a physical chain that binds them together. It also shares their life, and combines their strength together so even the Shield Hero could deal damage without bringing out his saiga.
Malty doesn't know how long the three cardinal heroes could keep up their assault that has the white goddess on the back foot for now. Whatever the state Ren is in, she's willing to bet it had something to do with Gaelion just like how Tact took away Salamander (and that royal griffin)'s power. His body most definitely can't keep the power for long.
She tries to move her arms, to loosen if not breaking the webbing around her body. So she can give them some help and hopefully banish the goddess out of their world before it's too late. But it's no use, all she managed to do is have them digging deeper into her flesh. Even the veteran heroes who have broken through the ceiling of prestige levels and into epic (lv 100+) range were helpless against the goddess' bind. What could someone like her, a pampered princess who only recently got into the prestige level range, with a half broken hero weapon could do?
When was the last time she felt as hopeless as she does now? When the Three Heroes' Church betrayed them at the end of Third Wave after the rampage caused by that fucking goddess summoned by Lautrec? No... Naofumi might have lost his shield. Raphtalia and Firo might have been enslaved by Fuckboy, Kyubey and Farkas were killed. But she hasn't given up trying to survive the desperate situation they were caught in.
Or how about that time when they were caught by Fuckboy's trap outside the wall of Melromarc Castle, thrown into the dungeon and waiting for their death? Yes... she had given up all chances of fighting back, and was mired in regret for dragging Naofumi down alongside her. But deep down, she also knew it was mainly Fuckboy's fault. She was suddenly reminded of the one time in her life, when she truly felt defeated from the depth of her bones.
The ember of fire sitting in Malty's hand exploded, nearly splashing into her face, her nose, her eyes... a gust of wind wipes them away, before they have a chance to hurt her. Malty turns her head around on instinct to look at her magic teacher, and almost instantly lets her face drop into her own lap from shame. There's no sense of chastise on Uncle Aldrecht's face as he looks up from his own parchment, only surprise. She might have felt better if he looked more upset with her. "You are distracted, Malty. What's wrong?"
"My younger sister, Melty. She has her magic affinity tested today." Malty throws her arms up, and then wraps around her own body. She hates how whiny she is sounding, but she can't stop herself. "Melty got our father's water affinity from his Tristan bloodline. And everyone's talking about how she'll be a much better princess than I am. Water can heal people, can create mists to distract, can bring rainfall for our peasants... and they have more ways to hurt monsters and invaders even when Melty has to fight. All I can do is burn people... and the first person I ended up burning was my nanny."
"Ah... I see you are exposed to that foolish debate on which one of the Founder Brimir's four prime elements is the best again. Didn't I tell you it's a waste of time that only utter fools would indulge themselves in. And you should treat such pointless gossip as wind?" Uncle Aldrecht stands up from his chair and walks over. He bends down, and runs his finger around the corner of Malty's eyes. She belatedly realized that tears were dropping down from her eyes after the fact.
Uncle Aldrecht gently wraps his large hand around Malty's, and brings her over to his table and lets her sit down across from him. "In spite of what most foolish peasants, and even some of the pretentious charlatans pretending to be mages to gain favor from the rulers like to debate, there is absolutely no element of Founder Brimir's four prime elements that stand above the others. Water can put out fire, yes. But a strong enough fire source would burn out water as well. In the end, it depends on the mage who wields them. That's why I have been hammering home the point to you that your strength as a mage will always only be as good as your control. At least, that's the principle we are working with if you take Found Brimir's wizardry school at its face value."
"Are you talking about your own theory on the Founder meant to have his four elements represent the state of the matter in our physical world again, Uncle Aldrecht?" Malty's attention is successfully led away from the mean gossip of the servants to the much more fascinating topic of magic theories. She can't help her excitement as she begins to bump on top of her chair. Who cares what those uneducated servants think, if someone like Uncle Aldrecht would have a different opinion? "Do you think my fire affinity is actually stronger?"
"Well... I don't know if fire is the strongest with my own theory. But I do know the state of plasma would be the purest form of energy from our physical realm, therefore being the closest to the essence of magic itself: pure energy." Uncle Aldrecht lets out a chuckle escape his nose, as he lets a small bundle of orange flame rise up from his hand. Like a warm bunfire, selflessly distributing its warmth. "And even if I'm wrong, heat is still one of the most prime forms of energy. With it you can fuel, create, and destroy. If you can fully unlock your potential to gain its control, you will become one of the world's best mages with it alone."
Malty sits up from the ground while the white goddess is distracted by all three cardinal heroes around her. With an almost ethereal sounding clank, a glowing chain connects between her and the Spear Hero's wrist. It doesn't matter her hands and arms are bound tightly by the goddess' webbing - she opens her mouth, and blows out a steady stream of fire.
End Note:
Alternative title to this chapter: [Isekai protagonist VS the world]. Since it's corrupted Shiraori fighting some of the strongest fighters (but obviously not all!) of Medea. In case anyone wondered what most of Ace Triad's contribution to this chapter is, it's mostly the part with Rias and her own retainers fighting corrupted Shiraori.
Motoyasu gets to extend his chain link ability to his fellow heroes, and Malty gets a better understanding of her magic by remembering an old lesson from her teacher (and Aldrecht gets another scene in flashback, of course). Next chapter will be the end of this wave battle.
And yeah... Throwing Weapon Hero gets into another pointless fight again while his idol is fighting for his (and the love of his life's) life against an invading outer goddess. The lesson to this story: don't be a brainless fanboy.