The Insightful Gun Hero

by Ghost of Halo

SI OC AU Story: Misato dies only to wake up in a world that looks like the show he watched. He appears, not wielding the Sword, Bow, Spear or even the Shield. For he wields a different weapon, a weapon that once belonged to a Legendary Hero from another world, a world destroyed by the Waves. For He is... The Gun Hero. Witness his journey as he tries to change the Future.

15. Justice

Disclaimer

The following is a fan-based Fiction.

Rising of the Shield Hero belongs to Aneko Yusagi

Please support the official release

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Justice

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Before the Shield vs Spear duel, Misato was level 46, his companions were around 35. Because they went hunting for the remnants of the Second Wave.

Then while the Shield Hero's Party went to level up Filo and Sakura with low level monsters, the Gun Hero's party went for high level monsters. Increasing Misato's level to 51. Meanwhile the others got stuck or close to level 40, so they had a quick trip to Zeltoble to advance Keel, Rifana and Ace's levels. Misato used illusion magic and stayed inside the carriage to avoid trouble from his last visit.

After that, they grinded a bit nearby Zeltoble, they found higher level monsters thanks to Ace being able to sense and track stronger monsters. Of course Fitoria was there to make sure Ace was going the right direction and to ensure the Gun Hero Team wouldn't die. After some slaying, Misato's level increased to 55 and the others were around 45.

Then after a heartfelt goodbye, their strongest teammate, Fitoria, was gone, attending to duties she could no longer postpone. They had no safety net to catch them from death, so Misato thought it was important to continue increasing their stats and focus on monster hunting. They might be a little late to meet Itsuki but they have a narrow window of opportunity to start cracking the Heroes' delusions early, rather than later like canon. So, they might not have time to grind more before confronting the next Hero. Fortunately the monsters in the path to Rikert's territory were almost as tough as the monsters near Zeltoble.

Misato Morgan: Archer (Gun Hero) Level 60

Ace: Royal Filolial Level 54

Keel: Axewoman Level 53

Rifana: Spearwoman Level 53

Misato sighs in satisfaction at their levels. Earlier, on their way to Rikert's territory he made sure his companions got to kill most of the monsters for more EXP, he only killed a few and weakened the monsters for others to finish them off. Leveling them up to a more comfortable range to his level.

The Gun Hero looks at his overall stats, his defenses have moved up significantly, thanks to the Gun-Shield Hybrid Series. But after grinding for a long time, now Misato is certain that the rate of attack stats he is gaining have decreased, not at an alarming rate, he is still the highest damage dealer.

However, it's not the pace Misato got when he first came to this world. His build is certainly slowly becoming more balanced. Misato isn't in immediate danger of anyone lower level than him anymore. It would take someone almost equal or more levels to critically hurt him. That's if Misato fights before he could gain the other methods from other heroes to increase his stats.

If he were to grade his stat growth rate with E- being the lowest and A+ being the highest from then and now…

Attack: A+ → A

Defense: E → D-

Strength: D → D

Dexterity: B+ → B+

Agility: C → B-

Defense growth rating without the Gun-Shield hybrid series would probably be a E+ rank.

If the pattern of growth remains the same, the attack growth might drop even more in exchange for defense. Something like…

Attack: B+

Defense: C

Strength: D+

Dexterity: B+

Agility: B

The Gun hero frowns at his weapon, looking at its gemstone. "What is going on with this thing? First it made me a glass cannon and now I'm becoming more durable at the cost of firepower. It's a little weird and inconsistent."

There is also the new series he can't even read.

▇▇▇▇ S3rI3s5: 14% C0m913te

Passive Effects: Active

The passive effects are active. However Misato hasn't figured out what the passive effects are. He hasn't felt anything strange on his body quite yet and Ace hasn't felt anything either. Speaking of which, the percentage seems to increase whenever he is fighting, or maybe something else? What is going on with this thing?

Misato sighs rubbing his head to prevent the migraine from forming, to stop that long train of thought about the weapon's somewhat inconsistent capabilities, he reloads his M1 Garand rifle, he hums at the satisfying ping of the magazine's ejection.

"Big bro, I sense Dusk and Dawn." Ace says pointing at a rock. Misato turns to see somewhat hazy human size figures that look almost exactly the same as the trees and fields, slowly appearing from behind the rock. The haze disappears revealing the two shadows that were assigned to Misato.

"So what are you here to report about?" Misato asks.

"Our Mistress's ally, Matilda, has successfully got herself recruited by the Bow hero and has reported back about the Bow Hero's party. You are correct in your prediction, as Mald has left the party unharmed." Dawn says

"Unfortunately…" Keel quips, rolling her eyes, remembering how the big guy looked down on her before. Just like the rest of the rotten people in Melomarc.

"Indeed it is unfortunate…" Dusk agrees with Keel, as Mald is with the faction that goes against his Queen's goals. "Mald left unharmed mostly out of the Bow Hero's respect for him during the battle of the Second Wave, but..."

Dawn continues the report. "The Spearwoman Gisela and the mage Welst have stayed in Itsuki's team. Both of these adventurers are nobles, with families that have shown some support for the Church."

"They aren't neutral about the power struggle are they?" Misato 'asks'

Dusk and Dawn both shake their heads. "No, considering they were selected to join the Heroes in the first place." Dusk says. "Unlike Mald, Welst and Gisela have shown some cunning capability, remaining silent about Itsuki's proposal to save the slaves. Matilda suspects they are ready to betray him or continue to lead him astray somehow."

Dawn chimes in "Our fellow Shadows have reported that soldiers have been gathering at Rikert's territory, while it makes sense considering the strength of these monsters in the area, it is possible that they are preparing to make a trap for the Bow Hero."

Misato groans. Crap if that's true, then certain events with the church's goal to take over might happen sooner. Hopefully his warnings to the Queen might help.

"Might be Mald or the other two pricks warning Rikert…" Rifana ponders, frowning. "Why didn't the shadows watching him get rid of Mald the moment he is vulnerable?" She asks. Misato nods in agreement, with what he knows, Mald is just as bad as Malty but more self righteous and has that annoying 'I'm better than you' attitude that would make Misato want to punch Mald in the face.

Dusk shakes his head "It would gather too much attention to kill a mere noisy brute, it is more important for a Shadow to send messages without being seen, killing Mald, no matter how quietly, would only cause the Church to be alarmed."

Misato raises his eyebrows at Dusk's surprising comments to Mald. He sighs "They got a point, it's better for Shadow to not be seen ever. We should get moving now, and get to Itsuki before things go wrong, we have some time left to warn him about the soldiers gathering."

The Gun Hero hopes Matilda can prevent Itsuki getting his pride swelled up by Welst and Gisela.

---

At the peak of the hill, Misato lays in between the tall grass, his hand on a large sniper rifle, propped on top of a rock, he tweaks the knob, adjusting the range of the scope. Seeing several caravans filled with mercenaries, adventurers and soldiers within Rikert's hometown, which is surrounded by stone walls.

Misato frowns. "This amount looks so much more than what Idol Rabier had… Did my assassination of that pathetic man have to do with this?" He briefly ponders the thought until he shakes his head, dispelling the 'what ifs'. It doesn't matter, they just have to adapt to the situation, hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

The Gun Hero crawls back to his party, and informs them of the situation.

"Any word on Matilda?" He asks Dawn.

Dawn looks at the crystal orb. "None, she might be preoccupied, the only thing we do know is the Bow Hero's party resting place but that was a few hours ago." She answers.

Dusk disables his illusions. "There are rumors within the town that Rikert has gathered these people to hunt down some dangerous monsters."

"Did they say what they were?" Misato questions.

"No…" Dusk replies "This situation is suspicious, our intelligence has no information about particularly strong monsters roaming nearby Rikert's Territory.

Misato sighs. "Okay, suit up, we're going in." Keel and Rifana groan, grabbing wigs that match their hair.

"Ugh… I hate these wigs, why can't you and the shadows use illusions to cover our animal traits?" Keel complains, lowering her ears and placing the wig over her hair.

"I learned that it's always better to use any practical real objects to create the illusion rather than something artificial like magic. Illusion magic, especially invisibility, always leaves some haziness on the person's body, making it stand out compared to the real environment." Misato says, adjusting Keel's wig. Kind of like film making, to make fictional things look real in movies, use real objects in the scenes and then use CGI to fill in the parts that can't be made in real life.

"Is that true?" Rifana questions the Shadows.

Dawn nods, helping the Weasel girl with her wig. "Indeed, we Shadows have been trained to use real objects as much as possible to hide, and use illusion magic to enhance it." She says. The Blonde hums at the answer, putting on her cloak.

Misato closes his eyes, channeling his mana to change the appearance of his jacket, changing from black and gold to plain dark brown. Then puts his magical cloak over his body to hide his wyvern armor and the Gun. He finishes the final part, wearing a dark brown wig with an easy to remove helmet.

Ace transforms to a normal adult filolial, attaching himself to the carriage.

Misato turns to see his team, the two demi-human girls give him thumbs up, while the Shadows and Ace simply nod.

The Gun Hero's party slips through the gate with little issue, heading straight to the Inn to meet with Itsuki.

---

Misato and Keel enter the Inn, Dusk and Dawn were observing the area around the Inn, Rifana was outside with Ace, watching the carriage.

Matilda's last message said this was where the Inn the Bow Hero's party was staying at. Misato observes the main room, lots of adventurers and mercs were in the room. Wearing armor that is made for effective protection, not style, unlike the Heroes' party members.

Misato doesn't like the way the others are looking at him though, maybe it's his paranoia towards 'tough' looking men and women, due to his experience in Zeltoble…

The Gun Hero walks to the front desk, where he sees a woman in her early 40s with some wrinkles on her face, her brown hair had some strands of gray wrapped in a bun. "Welcome Adventurer, how may I help you?" The lady greets with a smile.

"Ya, we're here to meet up with the leader of a party. His name is Robin." Misato says, trying not to chuckle at Itsuki's naming sense, recalling his conversation with Itsuki, telling him to ask the Inn Owner for that name instead of Itsuki.

The lady's skin turns pale, "O-oh…" She stutters. Misato frowns at her reaction, and did the room just get colder?

"Ah well, h-he is in t-the room on the fir-second floor all the way to the end t-to the r-right." The woman stutters. Misato's eyes narrow, something is wrong.

"KWEH!" Ace cries from outside, briefly getting everyone but Misato and Keel to look out the door.

The Gun Hero's eyes widen, understanding what Ace is trying to say. "Bad guys are near."

Keel scoots over to Misato, facing the other people in the room, covering Misato's back. "Before Ace cried, everyone was glaring at us…" She whispers, clenching her hand axe from under her cloak.

"How many?"

"About thirty."

Misato slowly moves his hand inside his cloak, pulling up a single silver coin.

The Gun Hero places it on the counter. "You look like you could use some fresh air, here." He says, sliding the coin to the nervous woman.

The woman's hands shake, grabbing the silver coin.

"Go." Misato says urgently and the lady walks out of the Inn with haste. His eyes follow the woman and then he scans the room, seeing everyone inside glaring at him and Keel. Their levels range from 40 to early 50s, he and Keel can take them.

He unhooks his cloak, it drops, exposing his gun and crystal orb on his belt, looking nonchalant at the reactions of his weapons. Internally however, he is struggling to calm himself, his heart is racing, because for the first time, he is going to be in a fight without Fitoria. This is the moment of truth, to see if their training was fruitful.

Misato removes his helmet and wig.

"Before we get started… Does anyone want to get out?" Misato says, quoting a certain Shield Wielding Hero.

A skinny man in his mid 30s unsheathes his knife from his belt, raising his hand to throw. But Misato's helmet slams into his face.

The moment the head piece bounces off the man, everyone moves, Misato's instinct screams at him, sensing the deadly and greedy intentions from everyone in the room. His mind briefly flashes at the memory of the ski masked murderers.

"Deadeye." He says, as his vision speeds up, he observes his enemies, who are all moving in slow motion, he looks at their weapons and armor, then marks the heads of his targets. He draws his gun, a semi-auto pistol based on the Colt M1911, holding it with two hands, he fires.

Once the first bullet flies out of the gun, the skill causes Misato's body to automatically shift to point to the next person he marked earlier, firing it again. Each bullet hits its mark, killing them instantly. The sight of Misato killing seven people instantly with no wasted movement, causes the mercenaries to stare in shock.

Reload!

Misato's eyes turn away, now seeing a skinny man with light armor, leaning forward with two hands on his dagger, aiming to stab Misato.

The Merc lunges, extending his arm with the knife, the Gun Hero, leans to the side, avoiding the stab, and grabs the Mercenary's arm. Misato then strikes the man's throat with his gun, and with two hands, he throws the mercenary over his shoulder, slamming the man into the ground, breaking the wooden floor.

The mercenary lays, struggling to breath. Meanwhile Misato, with the crystal ball glowing on his belt. He changes his gun to an old-fashioned small machine gun, the Tommy Gun, pretending to draw it from his crystal ball. He fires in short bursts at the large group, killing or injuring them, preventing the Mercs from forming a plan. Then he changes the gun back to the Colt M1911.

He grabs the magazine from the Gun's inventory, and reloads the gun, hearing two battle cries, he turns, seeing a man and woman running towards him with their weapons up.

The Gun Hero fires, hitting their chests, the force of the projectiles causes the two mercs to trip themselves. The mercenary on the ground, now able to breath, grabs Misato's boot but Misato fires on the Merc's head, killing him. He turns back, seeing the two mercs getting up, he fires at their heads, finishing them off.

Misato looks to see Keel ducking an decapitating swing, slamming her hand axe into the inner thigh of the swordsman, the merc cries in pain, kneeling to grasp his leg, opening up for Keel to brutally uppercut the swordsman with her buckler. Keel moves on fighting the next person. The Merc lays on his back unconscious from the blow, Misato finishes him off and fights his way towards his companion.

An axe wielding merc rapidly slams his hand axe onto Keel's shield, she grits her teeth, blocking the blows, a second merc moves to stab her with their spear while a third raises their knife. Misato comes to Keel's side, kicking the two mercenaries away, and firing his gun into the axe wielder's leg with a loud ping sound from the gun.

The bullet causes the Merc to drop to his knee, allowing Keel to slam her axe onto his head, killing him. She removes her axe, immediately swinging at the nearest enemy, a woman who blocks Keel's attack with her sword. Keel growls, pushing her down to the floor.

Misato, after reloading, fires at the woman's chest and her head, killing her. While Keel jabs her shield into a heavily armored man's exposed throat, causing him to choke. The girl then finishes the merc off with her axe.

"Holy shit…" A man mutters, Misato turns to see more mercenaries and even some soldiers have formed in front of the exit, staring at them, their mouths agape.

The Gun Hero, 'draws out' the pump action shotgun, Winchester 1912, pointing it at the group. Meanwhile Keel raises her bloody axe and shield, facing the group with a toothy grin.

Seeing that the enemy is afraid, he questions them. "Okay, who hired you and why did you attack us? If you answer truth-

"RAGGH!" A man fearfully cries, raising his sword. "For the Three Heroes!". He yells running, provoking everyone else to charge.

"Oh come on!" Misato complains, firing his shotgun at the crowd, pushing a large chunk of people onto their backs from the blast, 3 EXP pop up messages appear in the corner of his vision, confirming three kills.

"INCOMING!" Ace yells, and the Filolial enters the Inn, in his Royal form with Rifana on his back.

He slams into the crowd, breaking the group up even more. Ace bucks his back, launching Rifana. She lands, stabbing her spear on top of a man, killing him. A woman cries out in rage, raising her sword overhead.

Rifana pulls out her spear, swinging the weapon, hitting the angry woman's shins, the swordswoman falls on her stomach. The blonde weasel finishes the woman off with a stab.

Another woman thrusts her knife towards Rifana, who deflects the attack, drawing her own knife, stabbing the woman in the throat.

"Mage at the stairs!" Keel cries out pointing at a man in robes with a rosary on his neck, wielding a staff, preparing a lightning spell, without any care of his allies fighting. Misato aims his shotgun at the Mage but a man with a long sword swings his blade, interrupting the Gunslinger.

"Move, you'll die from that Mage too!" The Gun Hero yells.

"Then I will be welcomed to our true god while you suffer!" The man yells, a Rosary of the Three Heroes Church dangles on his neck.

Rifana gasps, knowing Misato will not make it in time, she grabs her spear and throws it at the mage. It pierces the man's chest, he gasps falling down the stairs.

Misato, slams the butt of the gun to the guy's face and kicks his crotch. While the fanatic was stunned, he places the shotgun on the fanatic's chest, and fires, launching the body into three people, causing them to fall on the ground and crash into a table.

A large man swings his battle axe at Ace, whose body turns into a puff of air and feathers, blinding the man as he swings. The axe lands on only wood, he looks down to see Ace in his human form, punching him in the groin, the one spot the armor did not cover. Ace runs between the man's legs, giggling at the man's funny reaction.

Ace gasps and then jumps over a spear thrust, transforming mid air, savage kicking the spear wielder into a wooden pillar.

"High Quick!" Ace yells, bulldozing through the crowd, not letting anyone recover.

Misato wielding the pistol again, catches an arm holding a handaxe, he fires two shots into the wielder's stomach and fires his last bullet into their head. He turns to see a female archer in the corner aiming her bow at him, with her arrow drawn back,

But a knife lands into the archer's hand, throwing off the woman's shot. The arrow flies into someone else. Misato turns to where the knife was thrown, seeing a woman in her early 30s, with dirty blonde short bob cut hair and oddly familiar light green eyes.

The new woman throws her knife into the bow wielder's throat. She turns and throws several knives at the Mercenaries and soldiers rapidly.

The Mercenaries disengage from the party, taking a breath, looking at the body count…

"FUCK THIS!" A woman yells, running out of the Inn, the rest of the Mercenaries follow her idea, escaping the terrifying fighters.

"You unfaithful cowards!" A knight brandishing a shiny gold sword yells, turning back to Misato. "Di-"

A knife hits the knight's throat, interrupting his battle cry.

Misato grabs his loaded magazine, ejecting the empty one, and reloads his gun. He looks back up seeing the woman approach him. "Even the purest soul…" The woman says.

"Can cast a shadow." The Gun Hero finishes, remembering the Code Dawn and Dusk taught him. "I assume you are Matilda?"

The knife thrower bows. "Yes, my name is Matilda Ivyred, sent by the Queen to guide the Bow Hero."

Misato raises his eyebrow at her last name "Ivyred?" Isn't that Rishia's last name? No wonder why her eyes are so familiar, they look just like Rishia's eyes.

"I presume you heard of my older sister and brother in law?" Matilda asks inquisitive of Misato's response

The Gun Hero nods "Yes, I have heard that family name before." Reichnott did mention his admiration for some nobles that would be on Queen Mirellia's side. Ivyred included, plus his knowledge about Rishia helps.

It's fitting, from what Rueben told him, Rishia is hinted to be a candidate to wield the Vassal Projectile weapon. With Matilda in Itsuki's team as a mentor, Rishia could have a badass knife throwing Aunt teaching her the same fighting style, rather than be a weak sword fighter. Seriously, what was Anime Itsuki thinking?

"Yes, unfortunately, quite a few nobles dislike my family's lifestyle…" Matilda says frowning, her eyes turning sharp as her knives.

Misato sighs, wiping off his sweat "Right, I can imagine…" Typical Nobles looking down on other nobles not spending a ridiculous amount of wealth and waste of space. Judging each other over pointless things. "Okay, where's Dusk and Dawn?"

Dusk and Dawn appear through the window, with some blood on their dark clothing. "We have taken care of the Church's shadows, we have a few minutes before the other Shadows warn Rikert that the trap failed." Dawn says urgently.

"So what is going on? Where is Itsuki?!" Keel asks, losing her patience of not knowing the Bow Hero's whereabouts.

"The Bow Hero became impatient waiting for Misato's party to arrive, Welst and Gisela used his sense of Justice to convince him that too many slaves would suffer and die by the time you arrived." Matilda answers with a sigh. "I went to inform Dusk and Dawn but was ambushed by Church assassins. By the time I defeated them, Itsuki was already gone."

"That means Itsuki has walked into a trap or is being tricked by lies as we speak…" Rifana deduces.

"God damn it." Misato mutters. "We need to go to Rikert's castle now!"

Everyone hops into the carriage, while Dusk and Dawn are ahead on foot, leaping on the rooftops. Ace runs hard, pulling the carriage to the castle.

Meanwhile Misato frowns, looking at his hud.

New attachment blueprints for Colt M1911 unlocked!

You can craft extended magazines.

You can craft a muzzle.

Misato crafts the extended magazines, increasing the bullets to 14 per mag, it was inconvenient to have seven rounds per mag. It did pretty well without the muzzle though, so maybe later or save his resources until he can craft even more advanced and tactical weapons.

Which is part of the reason why he mostly used his pistol, as getting its ammo is a lot cheaper than the bigger guns he has.

The Gun Hero looks at this party.

Misato Morgan: Archer (Gun Hero) Level 63

Ace: Royal Filolial Level 57

Keel: Axewoman Level 56

Rifana: Spearwoman Level 56

They gained some levels from that skirmish. He looks ahead, seeing the castle get bigger and bigger as they approach.

While dealing with Shit-suki could be annoying, it's better than having the brat dead! Misato hopes the two Church plants are making up stupid lies that can be torn like paper. Either way, Misato will tear them apart with bullets!

---

The Gun Team snuck inside the castle, Misato and Gisela lay on the castle wall, using illusion magic to hide them both, he is aiming with his sniper rifle, Winchester 70. At the center he sees Itsuki on the ground being beaten up by the knights surrounding him, kicking him. And there's also… Mald! Who grins like his irritating fictional counterpart, Misato barely stops himself from shooting the guy's head. The Spearwoman, Gisela and the Mage, Welst were grinning too, watching the display of Itsuki in pain. So, this was a trap for Itsuki and Mald is in on it too despite leaving earlier. Why is that asshat here?

Misato growls, no doubt Itsuki's situation reminds him of the bullying he had in his previous life. If this keeps up, Itsuki might unlock a curse series! Misato hears laughter, he turns his rifle, seeing a large man with white hair and a full beard. He has some fat but unlike Idol Rabier, it's due to his old age, while Idol looked like an overgrown baby, this man is giving off an air of fighting experience. Considering his fine but practical clothing this must be Rikert

"This is only the beginning of your suffering, Fake Bow Hero! I will tie you to a post and beat you like I have with the other animals! When his holiness arrives and takes you away, my path to heaven will be guaranteed!" Rikert roars. He faces a demi-human rabbit woman who is holding a little girl with the same traits, both wearing dirty rags. "But meanwhile, I shall enjoy myself with my new toys until the Pope comes…" He says, pulling on the poor woman's chain, walking back to his home. A soldier picks up the slave girl away from her mother, putting her back in the cage. The two slaves hardly reacted to the slavers.

"How repulsive…" Matilda mutters by Misato's side.

"Agreed…' Misato growls.

The Gun Hero aims his rifle at the disgusting rapist, his hatred burns in his heart seeing the arrogant smirk on Rikert's face. Without hesitation, Misato fires the rifle into the noble's head.

Bang!

The sound echoes in the castle, as Rikert's body slams onto the ground, the noble grasps his face, screaming.

Misato gasps, Rikert is somehow alive!

He knew Rikert was a veteran of the war but he didn't think the level gap would affect him this much! Misato cocks the gun and fires again but despite having blood covering eyes, Rikert wisely rolls to the side, avoiding the second shot.

The noble leans up, trying to wipe off his blood. "Take out that assassin!" Rikert roars in rage, pointing at Misato's general location. Hearing those orders, the archers took aim at Misato, who curses at the situation, changing his gun and standing up.

"Where do we go?!" Matilda yells, seeing the soldiers on the wall block their paths.

Misato turns to see the archers with their arrows pulled back. He turns around, changing his gun into the grappling gun, placing it on the end of the castle wall. "Grab on!" Misato yells, Matilda throws two knives at each side, stopping the guards from closing in. She nods, grabbing onto him.

The arrows fly, the Gun Hero and the Knife thrower leap off the wall, avoiding the projectiles. The grappling gun slows their descent, but two knights were preparing to surround them.

Misato unhooks the grapple, he and Matilda fall fast, landing on top of the two knights.

Matilda removes the helmet, then slashes the knight's throat and stabs his head. While Misato stabs with the M1 Garand and shoots into the knight's chest, it takes a few bullets to finish him off.

A knight and some soldiers rush the Gun Hero and Matilda. Misato fires his Tommy Gun, spraying the group with bullets, the soldiers die but the knight is still alive, with dents and cracks on his armor. Misato stops firing, seeing the guard collapse, groaning in pain but is most certainly alive.

The Gun Hero growls, running towards the knight, kicking aside his masked helmet and shoots his face, finally killing him.

That knight's level was 74, the soldiers he killed earlier were around 60….

Misato now remembers why he didn't often play RPG games, especially ones with guns.

Ace, Keel and Rifana leap into the castle, knocking aside the soldiers surrounding Itsuki. Misato fires his rifle at the archers, preventing them from sniping his teammates.

Rifana leaps off of Ace, facing Gisela, who thrust her spear at the weasel girl. Rifana dodges, grabbing the noble adventurer's spear, hitting Gisela in the solar plexus with her own spear. Gisela falls over, Rifana then stabs the woman with her own weapon, the blonde weasel girl grabs her knife, stabbing Gisela on her heart and the head killing Itsuki's first ex-manipulator.

Rifana draws her own spear, fighting the guards.

Welst throws a fireball at Keel, who raises her shield to block the flames.

"Anti-fireball!" Ace yells, activating the fire jamming spell, dispelling Welst's attack. Keel grins leaping off of Ace. The two then rush through the soldiers standing in their path to the Mage.

Ace bulldozes through the crowd, allowing Keel to take on the Mage and the few soldiers standing.

The red and black filolial continues to run through the area, knocking down several soldiers.

Misato and Matilda run towards the Bow Hero. The knights who were kicking Itsuki, they all turn to face the two, their levels are above 75 and below 79. The knights are wearing helmets that cover their face, giving them a typical Noble Knight look but it only pisses Misato off knowing they align themselves with bastards like Rikert.

The Gun hero fires his pistol, hitting their joints and disorienting some of them with precise headshots. Chipping away their armor and health.

Meanwhile Matilda throws her knives at the openings of the armor, hitting precisely between the gaps. Her knives land on the knight's eyes and throats.

Misato reloads, walking up to the knights and shooting the few, who recovered, back down. He grabs a knight shooting their helmet point blank, the force of the bullet rattles their skull, stunning the knight.

"Die!" A crouching knight nearby yells, thrusting his sword at Misato, who shoots the knight's chest and their head, knocking him back on the ground.

With the knight from earlier still stunned below him, Misato lifts the face mask up, allowing him to shoot his head, killing the knight with a few shots.

He turns and fires his gun, stunning the rest of the heavily armored guards.

One knight raises his sword over head but he is too slow, mid-swing, Misato shoots at his helmet, and luckily, it enters the knight's helmet through the eye holes, doing critical damage. The knight falls over taking off his helmet, screaming in pain, until a knife hits his head.

A knight wielding a spear thrusts his weapon but Misato shoots him on the leg, causing the knight to fall on one knee. Another knight with an axe attacks but Misato shoots his arm, knocking the limb back and shoots the helmet, making the knight stumble back from the hit.

The Armored Spearman recovers, swinging his spear at the back of Misato's legs making the Gun Hero fall on his back with a cry. The axe wielder returns, raising his axe over Misato's neck, meanwhile the knight with the spear raises his weapon over Misato's chest, who aims his gun at the axe wielder, but he might not be fast enough to stop the Spearman!

"Shield Pair up!" Misato yells as the replica of Naofumi's first shield appears on his other arm, blocking the spear. He fires at the axe wielder, the knight steps back, until Matilda sneaks up behind him, slashing the knight's throat giving Misato some breathing room.

"What is this?!" The Armored Spearman yells at the sight of the shield. Distracted Matilda throws her knife at the spearman, but it bounces off the helmet. The action allows Misato to shoot his head and groin. The knight falls over, grabbing his crotch.

The Gun Hero stands up, changing his pistol to the shotgun, he points as the knight who raises his hand, groaning.

"Ugh-

BANG!

Misato fires it point-blank on the knight's head, it rips through the helmet and their head.

"Behind you!" Matilda yells, too occupied dealing with another knight.

A knight with a sword, swings his blade but Misato spins around, batting it aside with the shield, he places the pistol into the helmet eye hole, and fires, piercing the helmet and the knight's head.

Hearing several footsteps he turns, changing his gun to the SMG, he sprays the bullets into the group of recently recovered knights in one swing with his gun, hitting their legs, causing them to fall over. His gun clicks and Matilda leaps in, stabbing the downed knights.

Matilda turns around seeing a knight standing up, she leaps on the knight, wrapping her legs on them, slashing their throat. She stands up from the corpse, she dodges a spiked punch, grabbing the knight's arm, she twists their wrist, and stabs their heads underneath the gap of the helmet.

Another axe wielder attacks in a wide swipe, Misato ducks running past the knight, changing to his pistol and shoots the back of their leg. Hearing metal footsteps hitting behind him, he turns to see another knight with spiked gauntlets. Misato shoots the knight back away and immediately returns to the axe wielder, lifting up the mask, shooting the man's face, finally killing the man.

Misato continues his fight, stunning and killing the knights in close quarters with his guns. Matilda fights alongside him, taking out the knights Misato knocked down and stunned.

---

Misato and Matilda turn to face the remaining soldiers, who have basic armor, staring at them in fear. Knowing that these two took down Rikert's best guards.

"Fools! Stay back! I will take care of these heretics!" Mald, the final manipulator, exclaims, shoving the soldiers aside, drawing his broadsword.

"This son of a bitch is mine." The Gun Hero says, reloading his pistol. Matilda nods, facing the weaker soldiers to help Itsuki.

"God is truly on my side, the reward of your death and weapons will be glorious. Justice for your transgression will be served…" Mald sneers. Misato groans at his annoying loud voice, remembering that this bastard… is the one of the main reasons why Two of the Heroes fall into the curse. Making Naofumi busy trying to help the heroes before their fight against the Phoenix.

This Bastard manipulated Itsuki's emotions, he twisted the Hero into a selfish, prideful, praise seeking, delusional, monster, and in the end… He still got away.

Escaping the justice he deserved, a concept that he supposedly supported but truthfully, Mald simply just fought and killed anyone he disliked, making up excuses for his terrible actions, saying they were 'justified'.

He talked big, boasting and praising himself, about being better than everyone else, but deep down inside… The man was a thug, a petty bully that came into power by luck and circumstance.

But this time…

He will never have that chance. Not in this world, not if Misato has anything to say about it.

Tonight…

Mald.

Will Die.

Misato fires, emptying the clip into the infuriating Noble, releasing his rage.

Mald raises his sword, protecting his face as the bullets bounce off his armor, leaving only scratches and small dents. Even joint shots have little effect.

"Must be the strengthening methods from Itsuki." Misato deduces with a groan, as Mald's level is only 72 but he must be the tank of the Bow Hero's party, so he can soak damage. The brute is stronger than the knights he killed earlier.

"I was blessed by the True Bow Hero when I was with that imposter! So of course you cannot do anything to me!" Mald taunts, closing the gap quickly, swinging his sword overhead. Misato dodges the attack calmly stepping to the side, he transforms his gun into the M1 Garand.

He fires, the bullet pierces the chest plate and into Mald's stomach, causing Mald's to flinch and groan in pain.

Misato thrusts the bayonet but Mald deflects it with his gauntlet, moving the bayonet aside. Mald swings his sword upward in a diagonal angle.

The Gun Hero demonstrates surprising flexibility as he faces the blade leaning backwards, watching the sword move over his head. The large sword hits the ground, Misato changes to the Dual Filolial Magnums, which removes the shield on his arm, and he aims but Mald backhands Misato before he could fire. It didn't hurt much, but the force of the blow caused the Gun Hero to roll back into a crouch.

"Fitoria has hit harder than that." Misato scoffs.

Mald raises his sword for another overhead swing, Misato stands changing his gun to the Shielded Blunderbuss. The weapons collide with a loud clang echoing in the castle.

"What! How did your weapon not break?!" Mald yells in confusion at Misato's weapon, which is mostly made of wood but secretly has the durability of something beyond this world.

Misato grits his teeth, pulling the trigger. The musket shotgun blasts Mald's chest but the lead balls left only a large dent. Seeing Mald is now somewhat dazed from the blast, Misato changes his gun to the M1 Garand rifle.

The Gun Hero then thrusts the bayonet at Mald's face, who catches it, grabbing the barrel of the rifle. Seeing his weapon is trapped, Misato immediately punches the Noble's face, leaving a small bruise.

"Hah! You're weak att-Oof!-You-gah!" Mald sputters, as Misato continues punching his face, preventing Mald from speaking. Being able to punch this asshole in real life and finally shut him up, gives the Gun Hero an incredible sense of satisfaction.

Mald lets go of his sword, catching Misato's fist, and tightens his grip, slowly crushing it. The Gun Hero gasps from the pain but then growls pulling the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet breaks Mald's helmet, scraping his head, he reacts to the shot, letting go of the hand. Misato, with his free hand, punches the man's throat.

Mald coughs, stepping back, massaging his throat. His face and eye were swollen and bruised. A blood trail falls over the side of his head, he wipes it away with a scowl but his head still bleeds.

"Damn you!" Mald yells, raising his sword for another overhead swing, again…

"For a Noble, you are quite the predictable thug." Misato remarks, getting close, too close for Mald, as the noble's sword was still over his own body.

Mald pauses. Then the Gun Hero grins, placing a double barrel sawed-off shotgun onto his dented chestplate and fires both shells at once.

Boom!

The noisy noble stumbles back from the shot, leaving a large crack and some blood on his chest plate. Mald coughs, growling at the Gun Hero. "How dare you say that! I am no thug, not like those uncivilized peasants!" He spat out, raising his sword.

"But you fight like a caveman with a big stick." Misato insults, raising his Dual Filolial Magnums.

"CAVEMAN?!" Mald roars in outrage at Misato's insult, his face now hilariously red. Misato fires, the magnum bullet breaks Mald's shoulder plates but it barely deters the Noble. Mald glares hatefully at the Gun Hero, swinging his weapon, but the Gun Hero avoids it with ease, since Mald telegraphs too much, especially when he is angry.

"You take every chance to show off your superiority with your loud obnoxious voice, kicking weaker people down. I guess before you left, you originally planned on taking the rewards behind Itsuki's back, like a typical thug, using people for your own selfish agendas. People like you have no righteousness. You are scum, regardless of whether you are a Noble or not." Misato concludes with a smirk.

"Ragh!" the Noble yells, he swings the blade horizontally. The Hero leaps over the attack, stomping on his face. Misato then uses Mald's face to jump back, leaving a boot mark. Misato slides on his back, firing at Mald, who blocks the shots but it does little against the Magnums' firepower, the armor is now riddled with holes and cracks.

"You come up with lies and petty excuses to justify your horrendous and self serving actions. In fact, I bet you don't actually believe in the religion, you just allied yourself to the Pope because there is something you wish to gain for more power and wealth." Misato jabs, shooting the broad sword, breaking Mald's weapon.

"How dare you accuse me of such a thing you heretic!" Mald yells, throwing his broken weapon into the ground. "YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR SLANDER!" Mald runs with all his might, intending to crush the Gun Hero with his larger body.

Misato grins, shooting his leg, breaking through the armor plating and hitting bone, causing Mald to fall on his knees with a cry.

Now to finish him off.

"Wind Piercing Bullet." Misato says, a green drill-like bullet made of wind flies out of his gun. Hitting Mald at the cracked center of his chestplate, shattering his armor like it was a ceramic vase, the powerful bullet continues to pierce, entering the noble's body and out of his back.

Mald despairs at the lethal wound, trying to stop the blood flow. "N-No… I-I was s-supposed to be the o-one w-who…" Mald coughs out blood. "W-Will w-wield the… weapon…" He mutters softly as he dies. The way it should have been in the story.

"NOOOO!" Itsuki screams and Misato turns around.

---

While Misato was fighting Mald

Itsuki coughs "It hurts, the pain the knights inflicted on me… It reminds me of-NO". The Bow Hero shakes away those thoughts.

Matilda, the woman he recently recruited, appears, holding a health potion, saving his life… Even though he's supposed to be the hero, the one who saves others.

"Here, heal your wounds!" The woman says, lifting the Bow Hero on her lap, handing him the potion.

Itsuki drinks it. Meanwhile the two demi-human girls and the big bird fight off the soldiers and knights. Despite the fact they are only about level 60, they were doing well against the bad guys. How are they so strong? Is it because they are not human?

The Bow Hero looks to see the Gunslinger, Misato, facing off against the traitor, Mald. Earlier, his party's tank was against the idea of saving slaves, Itsuki allowed him to leave out of respect for Mald's help in the second wave. He didn't expect to see Mald appear again, betraying him, just like Gisela and Welst. They helped Rikert… This rapist, this abusive… B-Bully, no… T-This b-bastard.

Itsuki feels the burning sense of rage in his chest, he stands up, looking for his target, seeing Rikert, walking away, dragging the slave with him.

Itsuki draws his arrow, firing into Rikert's chest. The arrow pierces but it only makes Rikert stumble, he recovers quickly, removing the projectile. A soldier appears handing him a spike ball with long chains attached and two more soldiers appear by Rikert's side.

"RIKERT! YOU WILL PAY! Justice will be served!" Itsuki yells, firing several arrows.

The soldier next to Rikert falls but Rikert deflects the arrow with his weapon, spinning the chains, protecting him, and giving the Bow Hero an arrogant smirk. Itsuki suddenly sees a familiar teen in a school uniform with that same smirk.

"GAH!" Itsuki yells in frustration, firing again, Rikert blocks the arrow with ease, still smirking…

The black and red Filolial appears yelling "High Quick!" Kicking Rikert in the face. Pushing the old man into the ground, sliding a few meters. The slave stands there, staring, uncertain what to do, all because of the abuse, the possibility of freedom was beaten out of her.

Meanwhile Ace tries to stomp on Rikert's face but the old man grabs the bird's foot, twisting it, causing the Filolial to scream in pain, and fall over.

"ACE!" The Weasel girl yells, running to help the bird. But Rikert stands up, spinning around with Ace in his hands, the old man throws Ace at the Rifana. The bird hits the spearwoman, causing the two to grunt and hit the stone ground hard, groaning in pain.

The black and blue haired wolf girl runs up with a cry, swinging her hand axe, but the veteran deflects it, the wolf girl keeps attacking in different angles but Rikert uses his arm to intercept her limb before her axe could touch him on each strike.

Rikert smacks the girl's axe out of her hands, grabbing her throat and hand, choking her. "You have quite the body for a half breed." Rikert says, inspecting the girl with his eyes.

Rifana appears, wielding her friend's axe, slams it on the back of Rikert's leg. The noble roars in pain turning around, grabbing the weasel girl by the throat as well. But the wolf girl's hand was free, drawing her knife, stabbing him on the arm, and Rikert let go of her.

Now freed, she tries to punch Rikert but the old man swings her friend against her, throwing them. The duo slide across the ground with a groan.

Ace raises his wings "Zweite Fireball!" He yells, shooting a ball of fire at Rikert, who raises his arms, taking the hit. The slave woman nearby gets thrown back from the force of the blast.

The spiked ball and chain flies up into the air and it falls down hard, breaking the stone floor, nearly hitting the filolial. Ace leaps back in surprise of the attack. The ball is then pulled back, spinning around the fire, blowing away the flames. The fire disappears, revealing Rikert, slightly burnt but still alive, spinning the spike ball above his head like a helicopter.

The noble flings the spike ball at Ace, who dodges the attack with a yelp. The noble's attention is on Ace.

"Now is my chance!" Itsuki realizes, drawing his arrow.

"Flash arrow!" The Bow Hero yells out the skill, firing the arrow. Rikert raises his arms, blinded by the attack. "Wind Arrow!" The Hero yells, taking the opportunity.

But suddenly the slave woman flies towards Rikert's grasp, taking the wind arrow into the chest. The noble must have yanked the woman's chain and pulled her to him!

"MAMA!" The slave girl screams.

He recalls his own mother, always working hard, the idea of her dying…

The realization hits Itsuki. "I shot a little girl's mother…" Itsuki deduces.

"NOOOOOO!" Itsuki screams, unaware of the spike ball flying towards his head.

"Watch out!" Matilda yells, running towards the Bow Hero

Ting!

CLANG!

A bullet hits the spike ball, causing Rikert's weapon to barely miss the Bow Hero. But the hero pays no attention to that, his thoughts were all about the woman dying, and the cries of the girl, who is now free of her cage, running to her dying mother. Itsuki runs to the woman, with a health potion in his hand from his inventory.

He has to save her!

"I'm so sorry! Please drink this quickly!" Itsuki yells, trying to feed the slave the potion.

He opens her mouth, pouring the liquid inside her mouth. He looks at the woman's still bleeding chest.

"MAMA!" The girl cries into the woman's arms.

She must need more then! Itsuki pulls out another potion, but a hand stops him. He turns to the knife thrower stopping him.

"What are you doing?!" The Bow Hero yells at Matilda. He's trying to save this woman's life!

"I am sorry, but it's too late…" Matilda says with sadness, shaking her head.

Itsuki turns to see the slave, seeing her lifeless eyes. For a brief moment, he saw his own mother instead.

---

A burst of wind hits Rikert, Rikert turns to see Rifana with green mana glowing on her hands.

"Faust Air Shot!" She yells firing again. Rikert intercepts the spells with his weapon, each deflect increases his weapon's momentum, until he does one final swing, throwing his spike ball at Rifana fast.

The blonde weasel girl gasps but Ace appears from above, stomping on the spike ball with his large body, breaking its velocity.

Bang!

A bullet hits Rikert's other leg, the noble cries out in pain from the hit. Rikert inspects his wounds, too much blood is flowing out, Rikert limps away, trying to run.

Misato ejects the shell from his sniper rifle, pushing the bolt back into place, he fires again but Rikert turns the corner, avoiding the shot. Misato growls, running towards the noble.

"Watch the others!" Misato commands to his team.

"Kill the intruders!" A soldier yells, with a small platoon appearing out of the same corner.

The Gun Hero pulls out a paper bag with gunpowder and lead balls inside, throwing it at the platoon. He transforms his gun to the revolver, firing the bullet into the makeshift explosive, blowing up the platoon.

Misato ignores the 0 EXP notification, focusing on killing the monster in human skin.

Misato walks through the short gate and sees a servant handing Rikert health potions, he fires with his sniper rifle, killing the servant. Rikert gasps, immediately ducking the next shot, the noble then drinks the potion, closing some of his wounds.

The Gun Hero growls, Rikert is tough, tougher than Mald, the old man's level is 87! Reinforcements are coming, his chance to kill this monster will disappear!

"HURRY!" A soldier yells from the gate that leads outside.

Misato sighs, chanting his spell, the soldiers enter, preparing to surround him.

"FAUST ILLUMINATION!" The Gun Hero yells, blinding everyone staring at him.

When the soldiers and Rikert's vision return, they see Misato missing.

They look around, surveying the area.

"Where did that assassin go?" Rikert ponders, drinking his potion.

BOOM!

The soldiers explode, with a cry.

Thunk!

The main gate's chain breaks and the gate closes, preventing reinforcements from entering.

Bang!

A bullet goes through Rikert's leg. The Noble collapses with a cry.

Bang bang bang!

Several more bullets go through his limbs and torso. Rikert coughs, still alive. He looks up from where he was shot from, seeing Misato in the air right above him.

The Gun Hero lands on the Noble, breaking his ribs and stands up on top of the old man. He raises his shotgun, and glares daggers at the Noble.

"Damn you… If I'm dying, then those slaves will go too!" Rikert yells, activating the slave seal and grins, their screams should happen right… now? He hears nothing. "What!?" The Noble looks up to Misato's cold amber eyes, sending chills into his spine.

"Please don't I'm sorr-GUH!"

Misato places the barrel into the Noble's mouth, shutting him up.

"Why shouldn't I kill you? After all you did to the people you raped and killed against their will… People who likely pleaded the same words as you did. But you ignored it, forcing yourself on them." Misato mutters, cocking the shotgun.

Rikert only whimpers in response, the Veteran of the Stilvelt War is gone, what remains is a disgusting pathetic old pervert past his prime.

"Shrapnel."

---

Misato walks back to the inner portion of the castle, finding his teammates, beaten up but still mobile, helping the slaves out of the basement, providing water and cloaks, most of them are female with varying ages, some were men but unlike the woman, they had the most injuries. Ace speaks to Rifana and Keel, pointing his finger at the Gun Hero.

The Weasel girl approaches him,

"Is he dead?" Rifana says.

Misato nods. "Ya."

"Good riddance." She says, going back to help the slaves.

He hears crying, he looks to see the little girl crying in her mother's dead body.

Then sees Itsuki nearby, crying into Matilda's arms. Like a mother holding their son, Matilda gently rubs his head, whispering words of comfort.

"Shit…" Misato mutters. This wasn't the plan… He was supposed to provide sniper cover from the mountain nearby, outside of Itsuki's EXP range. This mission was just to guarantee Itsuki's alliance, to prevent the Church from manipulating him, and be less annoying when Queen Mirellia returns. The delusion breaking was supposed to be gradual, not horrific and traumatizing… He doesn't know what Itsuki will do now, will this make him worse?

The Gun Hero turns to see Dusk and Dawn approaching. Dusk was dragging Welst, who was unconscious and tied up.

"You two must have removed Rikert's ownership of them, right?"

"Yes, Sir Misato, but on more important matters, the soldiers outside of the castle are trying to break in, we must leave now." Dawn says. Misato nods, walking towards Itsuki. Matilda stops whispering, looking at him. Itsuki turns to face him with red eyes and tears streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to go… Itsuki, can you get us out of here?" Misato asks somberly.

The Bow Hero sniffs, wiping away his tears. He nods. "Ya…" He stands up facing everyone. "Everyone, accept the invitation in the status magic and we will take you somewhere safe!"

Misato accepts the invitation, as his level and stats are too high for Itsuki to truly see his identity. Even if he wasn't, Itsuki is too emotionally damaged to notice that small detail in his HUD.

A few minutes later, Itsuki stares at the crowd with a blank look, he raises his hands, counting the people. He nods, transforming his weapon to a bow with an hourglass on it.

"Teleport: Reichnott's Town"

---

"How is he?" Misato asks, sitting on a bench underneath the tree, observing the villagers in the Demi-human safe town, which is now filled with former slaves trying to recover from their ordeal. It's been about ten hours since that fight in Rikert's territory.

Matilda sighs, fixing her hair. "Itsuki has regained some composure but… I know there is something eating him up inside but he won't open up, and I'm afraid he might get worse if he doesn't let it out." The Gun Hero processes the woman's answer, leaning forward.

"I have heard he went through death before he was summoned…" Matilda says "Including the Sword and Spear Hero, those two have the best chance at helping him, they know what it's like to die…"

The Gun Hero pulls out his gun, he looks at his reflection on the weapon's crystal. Then he looks back to Reichnott's home, where Itsuki is resting, alone… A young man who died and woke up in a new dangerous world.

Misato Morgan stands up, putting the gun back into his holster and walks towards Reichnott's Mansion with one goal in mind.

"Where are you going?"

"There's a young man in there in pain, he needs help, he needs someone who can understand him." Misato states.

"I see…" Matilda gives him a smile, realizing the meaning behind the young man's word. "I pray for your success."

Misato Morgan continues his march to Itsuki Kawasumi, entering the mansion, he asks a maid to guide him. He reaches the third floor, the maid stops bowing politely. He tells her to give them some privacy. The maid complies, walking away.

The young man opens the door. "Itsuki." he says, seeing Itsuki in the corner, sitting on the chair, laying his head on the table, Itsuki turns his head, facing Misato but his eyes are blank.

Misato walks over, taking the second chair, facing Itsuki from across the table. The Japanese high school student turns his head and faces the table.

Misato taps the table, and sighs. "Let it out…" He says.

Itsuki stiffens "What?" He says, finally responding.

"Let out how you feel, let those emotions out, don't bottle it up. I'm here to listen and help you out." Misato says with sincerity.

Itsuki clenches his teeth. "Help me out? It wouldn't matter because you are not a hero, you aren't from another world! You are just some NPC! How can someone like you understand and help me?!"

Misato slams his gun on the table, startling the 17 year-old. The Gun changes from the revolver he started with, to the sniper rifle, then to the tommy gun and finally the shotgun.

The Teen turned Bow Hero gasps, as only a few individuals can do such a thing with their weapons and they are not here. He faces Misato with a questioning gaze.

Misato sighs, his body shakes. "My name is Misato Morgan, and I died once…" He takes a breath. "I was shot… I bled out, I felt cold, I felt tired, but I knew it wasn't fatigue, I felt death… I-I f-felt d-death slowly" He stops taking another breath. "T-Take My…

"Soul…" Itsuki finishes, his orange eyes staring into Misato's golden eyes. Itsuki saw what was in Misato's eyes wasn't sympathy or pity, it was empathy.

The two sat, staring at each other for a minute but it felt like an hour to them.

Itsuki takes the next step. "I was heading back home from school, I was just crossing the street until suddenly, a truck hit me…" He stops, not speaking for a minute, and simply stares for a few minutes.

"Then you woke up in this world?" Misato finishes, breaking Itsuki's daze.

Itsuki shakes his head "No… The truck didn't k-kill me instantly..."

Misato straightens up at the reveal. "W-what?" This wasn't in the story!

Itsuki stares at Misato, uncaring of Misato's reaction. "When the truck hit me, I flew across the street and landed but I-I… I didn't feel anything, I c-couldn't m-move…" Itsuki struggles to speak, choking on himself.

"Stop!" Misato says urgently, grabbing Itsuki's hand. "You don't have to say anything else… I know you shouldn't bottle it, but you don't have to force it out either. Take it slowly and bit by bit, in fact, you don't have to say anything more today." Itsuki nods, completely silent. Misato's throat feels dry, he looks around the room, seeing a tray with a pitcher and glass cups. He stands up grabbing the tray.

---

Itsuki empties his cup, placing it down with a sigh. He faces Misato, the guy who died and was summoned to this world like he was, someone who can understand him. "I still want to continue." He speaks. Misato nods.

"Then I woke up here… People asking for their heroes to save their world." Itsuki says, recalling the memory. The sight of the summoners with their pleading gazes, asking for his help, just like the game, Dimension Wave. But it looked so real, he never saw anyone give him that look for a long time. He loved the sensation it gave him, to be wanted, to be needed. So he went along with the other two heroes, acting confident, showing the summoners he isn't some weak loser that can be pushed around like he was in school.

Showing the summoners that he is the Hero they need to save their world. That they summoned the right man for the job. That summoned THE Hero of Justice.

Itsuki's mind flashes at what went down that night in Rikert's castle. Welst and Gisela pointed out the slaves in dirty rags, being moved to the man's castle. They said that Misato is too slow, by the time they come, many will suffer and Misato will only get in the way.

Matilda tried to convince him to wait, but he didn't listen, believing he could do it without Misato, believing he could take down the evil man and his soldiers by himself. Only to be betrayed by Gisela and Welst and ambushed by his former teammate, Mald.

When he asked why they would do such terrible things to people…

"Why? Because THIS IS JUSTICE!" Rikert yells, kicking Itsuki into the ground. His former teammates cheer and so do the knights. Cursing the Demi-humans.

"Why did Rikert do this.. Why did they all do this…" Itsuki asks "Why did he bully those people to death? People who can't defend themselves from abuse. Rikert said it was justice but that's not justice!" Itsuki questions

"The man was a veteran in the war, he couldn't move on from what he lost and lashed his anger on the innocent to quell his rage. People like him, they used things like the church to justify their sins. It's almost the norm for people to find a sense of superiority over others. And people like Rikert, would be extreme about it. To find reasons to justify their actions, to find their own justice. It is based on an individual…" Misato answers.

Itsuki shakes his head. "No, that's wrong! Doing these messed up things just to feel good about themselves by comparison is wrong!" He recalls his time in school, when he did well in a test for once, other students above his score showed off in his face, putting him down. Others whisper behind his back, looking down on him for feeling accomplished.

Itsuki continues as the stream of painful memories return. "To feel a sense of power over others all the time, to take glee into an innocent person's pain is wrong…" The bullies, always kicking him down, mentally and physically, and no one wanted to help him…

"To SMILE when their victim dies is WRONG!" Itsuki screams, shaking and rubbing his hair. He saw Rikert's face when his arrow hit the woman, the bastard was grinning at her death, uncaring of the girl's cries. Rikert's sick smile reminds him too much of his tormentors back home.

Itsuki faces Misato, his face red, his eyes brimming with tears. "Please… Tell me… That this is a game, and I could restart the quest and save that woman."

Misato sighs, frowning. "I think you know the answer…"

Itsuki stares at the table for a few minutes. Remembering the pain he suffered in this world, the anger, the sorrow, the guilt…

He could no longer deny it, he really is in another world that's like his favorite game, but it's not some data or something made on a computer with VR technology like Ren mentioned, this world is real. Filled with wonder but real horror and danger, this isn't a game where he can live his fantasy as the Hero that is loved by everyone…

"I want to go home… I want to see my parents." Itsuki pauses, recalling his failure, recalling the mother he shot earlier. "I don't want to do this anymore…"

"Itsuki, are you certain of that?" Misato says, completely neutral.

"I think so…"

"If you stop now, how many more people like her will die in the cruelty of their masters?"

Itsuki whimpers "But I failed to save that girl's mother!"

"And right now there are so many children out there, losing their parents. So I must ask, are you certain of this?"

"..."

Misato stands up. "I can do the job too but… I'm only one person, I may be a hero but I'm not a god, even with everyone else's help, there are so many people like Rikert in this world, and so many more innocent people are under their cruel hands. I… We need all we can get to fight against the evil that existed long before the Waves came to this world…"

Itsuki remains silent, staring at Misato, who walks towards the window, observing the town. He points to it, facing Itsuki. "Look down there Itsuki, look at the people we managed to save."

"But you did the work…" Itsuki kept those thoughts to himself and turned to the window to see the people down there. The slaves were just moving around aimlessly, uncertain what to do.

But then the villagers and Misato's teammates come, handing them blankets and bowls of soup. Itsuki sees a woman taking a bite, then she cries, the villagers hug the crying woman, comforting her. The woman smiles, and the slaves next to her do the same, one by one.

"These people lived for a long time with no hope… Long before we were summoned to this world. But now, the people under Rikert's hands are free and happy." Misato says, facing Itsuki, seeing his eyes light up.

Itsuki stares at the slaves and villagers relish their freedom from cruelty, away from injustice.

Misato is right, they lived for so long, in pain, in fear, with no hope for any way out.

Almost like he did… Back in his world, teachers were worthless at stopping the bullies and some even supported it for him having a weak esper power. His parents were too busy to help… During those days of torment, a part of him wanted that power, to make his tormentors pay but another part of him… Wanted someone, anyone to help him, if a single person helped him, it probably would change everything for him. Just like the slaves…

"I'll do it…"

"What?"

"I'll help those who cannot help themselves… and bring those bullies.. Those bastards to justice." Itsuki says, unaware that the gemstone on his bow was glowing.

He may have failed, but he still wants to help those people out there.

"Are you certain of this? You can't save everyone all the time. It's the one rule even us heroes cannot break, lives will be lost. It's going to hurt a lot. Think carefully." Misato says.

"I know it will hurt, but it's NOTHING! Compared to what I… No, what they went through when they were still with Rikert! I don't want anyone to feel that way again…" How could he be a Hero of Justice if he turns away now? It's practically calling for him. He can feel it, its burning in his heart!

The Bow on his back glows even brighter.

Misato smiles, holding up his hand to Itsuki.

The Bow Hero takes the Gun Hero's hand firmly and the two of them shake.

"If we want to prevent anything like what happened yesterday, then we have a lot of work to do before we start rescuing. Are you ready?" Misato asks.

"Yes, I'll do what it takes."

---

Motoyasu Kitamura sighs, and remembers the way Fia looked at that guy, Misato, the guy who insulted Myne. Same with Raphtalia-chan with Naofumi, that criminal. He feels jealous.

What did those guys do to gain such loyalty from Fia and Raphtalia? Naofumi is a rapist, and slave owner. Misato helps Naofumi, so he must be bad too. But the girls don't think that, so why?

The Spear Hero recalls the night he challenged the Shield Hero to a duel for Raphtalia's freedom.

"Oi, slavery to Demi-humans is legal, if you have a problem with that, take it up with the King then!" Naofumi said.

He recalls the words Raphtalia said, how she wholeheartedly believed that Naofumi didn't rape Myne for some reason.

Then he remembers Fia's last words.

"I am not mad, I am disappointed… This world isn't some place for you to act without a care."

Maybe… Maybe… Fia is telling him that conversations in this game have bigger consequences than Emerald Online did back at home.

Yes, that's it!

He just has to be more careful on what he does, which is a little exciting. He had to admit, Emerald Online was lacking in the conversation department for interesting storylines.

"Don't worry Motoyasu-sama, that horrid bra- girl is wrong, you are a great hero!" Myne says, warming Motoyasu's heart. "The King has told us that there is a village suffering from starvation, struggling to grow crops there. You can prove her wrong."

Motoyasu smiles, hearing the perfect opportunity to prove Fia-chan wrong. Just like Emerald Online, there must be a miracle seed in a dungeon that can solve the quest with no problems! "There is a seed that solves that problem." Motoyasu says with a confident grin, explaining what he knows.

"That is wonderful!" Myne cheers and the other girls do the same, praising him.

"How do you know Sir Motoyasu?" A petite girl with auburn hair and green eyes asks, removing her witch hat and tilting her head cutely.

"That's because I was gifted with incredible knowledge of this world, Rino-chan~!" The Spear Hero says with full confidence.

"Wow." Rino, The Mage, the newest member of the Spear Hero's party says in awe, blushing.

Motoyasu grins, knowing everything will be alright. Although maybe he should have Myne, and the girls read some stuff about the seed just in case.

---

Thank you for reaching the end of this chapter. Sorry for the long wait, I've been busy with life and also thinking about your suggestions.

When reviewing or messaging me, just know that I am thinking about them but I also don't want to spoil the surprises if I do or do not add them to the story.

I hope Itsuki's change is justified. I figured without his manipulators, Itsuki won't be "Supported" by them, telling him excuses he can take and become toxic about the situations he may cause. Such as… "It's not my fault the people starved to death even more when I overtook the totally evil tyrant in that neighboring country." Or "Naofumi is cheating! He has brainwash!" with all his "teammates" putting more fuel to the fire.

With people like Matilda and Misato telling him the truth but genuinely comforting him, Itsuki won't become the Hero we hate. Plus it's early, compared to the implications in canon. Instead of having a successful quest complete with Itsuki's teammates inflating his ego, making him feel unstoppable, he gets a mission failure and some pep talk from Misato

Plus Misato did have Itsuki recognize some parallels he experienced when he was bullied, making Itsuki reflect on the slaves and himself.

I hope you like the action so far, because I plan to do more or more details in the future as Misato improves. And then when he reaches a certain point, I could justify more Gun-Fu moves inspired by movies in the fight portions of my fanfic.

Because as of now, in terms of pure skill Misato is not at the level of John Wick, Leon Kennedy or Chris Redfield and all the Gun Wielding Martial Artist Characters we love.

Speaking of which, I hope you are okay with the idea of some of Misato's bullets not having enough power to kill certain enemies with high defense stats and armor. I thought it could make sense to an extent that Misato won't always take everyone out with a few bullets, with the right guns, he could break the armor and pierce. Plus I wanted to do a fight inspired by John Wick 3 and 4, where John had to use his guns to unbalance and disorient the High Table Forces, who were wearing heavy armor, and then get up close to fit his gun into the gaps of their armor, finally killing them.

((11/19 Edit) I decided to lower their levels, I did some thinking and realized, even a Hero with 4 methods is still pretty capable of closing the level gap, I mean Naofumi, and his team did well even without the methods in Season 1. So even if Misato were 10 levels lower than his enemies, with his 6 methods, he and his party can still beat them. Plus, I figured his levels being slightly lower would make the fight more sense against heavily armored, higher leveled enemies with his basic bullets not piercing enough. There's also the fact that not many normal people without heroes often get to level up to 80 without spending a significant amount of time grinding.)

(Which I imagine is like a decade or 2, to the native humans of the world. So, in the case of Rikert's main town and his guards being pretty high leveled, I figured it's because of the harsh territory of higher-level monsters and how Rikert is more fit compared to Idol, as Rikert had better discipline to maintain his body. I imagine Rikert would make sure his personal soldiers are not slacking either.)

As for why Misato doesn't often spray with Guns like the Tommy Gun? Well he has finite resources, he doesn't want to use a lot of ammo, especially in old fashioned weapons.

Think of it like Resident Evil, he could get more pistol ammo for less resources, rather than little magnum ammo for more resources. Which is why he did not use his other guns that often in fights, unless it was an emergency.

He's in the WWII Era of guns btw. But he is close to getting more modern guns.

On Mald's fight with Misato's gun choices… Ok Misato may have a tendency to fight and roast certain enemies before killing them.

A lot of you don't like the idea of Misato now having Fire, Light and Darkness as his affinities but I figured, why not have him start with some limitations, and then eventually, Misato could find a way to gain even more affinities. The reason why he doesn't start with the affinities he would need is simply because the Legendary Gun is still damaged, it didn't escape its homeworld unscathed, it's one of the reasons why Misato had only started with 1 method of strength, Customization.

It's not the Gun being a dependent bitch and choosing to limit their Hero, like a certain Shield… Among other things

But simply because it cannot, not won't, it can't at the moment as it's damaged. But it doesn't mean the damages can't be repaired. The Gun has limits to assisting Misato but it's slowly getting there.

So ya, I don't want Misato to be so versatile with magic at the start, I still want him to be somewhat limited in some situations for now.

As for how Fitoria could suddenly appear older one day. Couldn't it be similar to Reprise of the Spear Hero, where Sakura transformed into an adult instead of a child in one of the timelines?

I mean in this case, who knows what could happen if Fitoria stays with Misato much longer, developing her feelings and realizing what they are…

*Shrugs*

As for everyone thinking Fitoria leaving early is a bad idea… Well she needs to protect the sanctuary, the secret weapon and her flock, plus deal with the other Waves the Heroes aren't fighting. Misato and his team wouldn't really improve when it comes to fighting, the experience isn't as intense, knowing Fitoria is watching them.

Also to avoid the attention and politics of humans realizing the legendary monster is real. We all know how much of a bitch politics can be, especially in this case where we know they will be up against selfish pricks arguing for their own selfish goals cough cough, Jaralis faction cough Faubrey cough. Queen Mirellia is willing to keep it a secret and understand Fitoria's reasons, others? Uhhh… Nope.

Plus for writing and storytelling. The actions and fights would have Zero tension or high stakes, because…

We got Safety Net: Fitoria, to catch Misato and his team!

Fitoria could demolish any enemy of Season 1 and cut like 99% rate of casualties Misato might suffer from when rescuing and helping people. She could oneshot Rikert.

Season 2, 3 and beyond? Yes, Fitoria should definitely be by Misato's side, but right now, at "Season 1"? That's incredibly boring.

Here's a short few omakes about scenarios where Fitoria is still by Misato's side. Btw, the Omakes aren't the official ideas I have for my fanfic, just fun shorts to read. For some context, these omakes are where everything about the timeline is almost exactly the same in canon.

---

The Glass Boss Fight

Misato, Naofumi, Fitoria, Filo and Raphtalia stand before the Fan Vassal Hero, Glass. Meanwhile the other Cardinal Heroes were worthless just like the Anime counterparts, despite Misato's efforts, it's almost like this world is a fanfic where nearly nothing about canon changes. Just has a Gun Hero self inserted to look cool and do what he wants.

"So you two must be the Cardinal heroes of this world. My name is Glass, and I must kill-"

Fitoria appears uppercutting Glass, launching her into the air.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Glass screams.

"What kind of cheats are those?!" Itsuki toxically asks.

"I LOVE YOU!" Motoyasu yells, leaping towards Fitoria, only to get bitch slapped away.

Ren was having PTSD due to his bad experience with animals, cowering before the mighty Fitoria.

"Aaaaaaaaa-" Glass's voice and body gets smaller and smaller as she flies back into the waves

Ding

The Heroes sees a star sparkling from where Glass flew, as the Waves disappear.

---

Kizuna, the trapped Hunting Cardinal Hero, was sitting near the lake, doing her favorite hobby, fishing.

"I miss my friends…"

Ding

"Hmm? Oh a shooting star, I didn't think it was possible to see one here. Well if that's the case…" Kizuna cups her hands, closing her eyes. "I want to escape…" Kizuna waits a few seconds and sighs "Or see my friends again…"

"aaaaaaaaa"

"Hm? Do I hear screaming?'

"aaaaaaaAAAAAA"

"It's getting louder, where is it coming from?" Kizuna asks no one in particular, and looks up to see the star is now a fiery meteor heading straight towards her.

"OH SHIT!" The Hunting Hero runs to the side.

"AHHHHH!- CRASH!

Kizuna barely dodged the screaming fireball, yelping from the force of the impact. She turns around seeing where the meteor landed, burning the trees nearby… She should probably put out the fire before it becomes a problem.

"Ugh…" A familiar voice groans, Kizuna stops her fire fighting and immediately runs to the meteor that oddly sounds like her friend! She climbs over the small hill and looks down, seeing her friend, Glass, in the middle of the crater.

"GLASS!" Kizuna yells, running towards her friend, she observes Glass, noticing some of her kimono ripped showing off a killer body. The Hunting Hero couldn't help but whistle for a moment but then she pouts, comparing her figure to her unconscious friend. Why did she stop growing?! Damn it she's running out of time to grow! She's almost 18!

She probably has a few more years left to grow… Right?...

No one answers.

---

Another Framing

Misato, Fitoria, Filo, Raphtalia and Naofumi fight off the soldiers attacking them, protecting Melty from the traitors, while a prick farther back records them. Misato shoots the crystal ball and the soldiers, preventing them from escaping.

They interrogate one of the soldiers but he went off on a nonsensical ramble about how they are showing everyone the "Truth" about the Shield Devil. Misato kicks the guy in the face and exposes how stupid his logic is because the church are FABRICATING evidence! How can it be true if they are lies?!

After that, the fanatical soldier died since his brain couldn't handle the logic.

Naofumi says they should run, but Misato and Fitoria had a different idea…

---

The King sat on the throne with the Pope standing nearby, speaking to the Three naive Heroes.

"Heroes, you must save my daughter from that Shield Devil and free her of the brainwash-"

BAM! The main doors slam opening, one of the doors even falls off its hinges!

The Good Hero duo and their teams walk through the door, nonchalantly with Melty in the center and Fitoria in the front.

"Melty?!" The King and Malty says

"Father, I was not brainwashed and kidnapped, Malty and the Pope are lying to you-"

But Malty intercepts the logic and says "Papa! Don't listen to sweet Mel, she must be brainwas-SLAP!

Fitoria bitch slaps Malty.

"Stop the Shield Devil-GAHH!" The Pope yells only to get bitch slapped by Fitoria.

Then the King and the Three Heroes finally listened to the main characters, and it's not because Fitoria threatened to break their kneecaps. Not at all…

Later on the Pope and even Malty get slave sealed, earlier Fitoria had to bitch slap the King and Motoyasu to shut up, and the two antagonists were forced to speak the truth.

As expected from the two liars, both were electrocuted from the slave seals until they finally admitted their lies, crimes and annoying schemes.

The Queen returns. Then the rest would most likely be spoilers for the fanfic.

---

The Pope Boss Fight Take 1:

The Pope rambles on with his speech to boost his followers morale.

"We shall cleanse the Shield Demon, the fake heroes and the heretic from this world. For the Righteous path and- Huh?" The Pope stops seeing that he and his army is covered by a large shadow. They all look up to see a giant Filolial claw right above them.

Fitoria crushes the cultists into a red stain. She then rubs her foot on the nearby grass, trying to scrape off the blood.

---

The Pope Boss Fight Take 2:

The Pope orders everyone to raise their barriers to 100%. With that much mana, nothing could break their-

SMASH

A large Filolial claw breaks through the barriers like glass, kicking the Pope.

"AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The Pope screams as he flies through the air. His screams and body get smaller and smaller.

Ding

Seeing their leader turned into a star, all the followers chose life and surrendered, then the Queen's army arrests the cultists.

Meanwhile Queen Mirellia and Princess Melty fangirl about Fitoria.

"It's too bad we lost the Replica Weapon when Fitoria kicked him." Misato says.

"Ya…" Naofumi agrees, he turns around, seeing something shiny in the air flying towards them. "Eh? What's that in the sky?"

"Hmm? It kind of looks like… GET DOWN!" Misato yells, immediately diving behind Naofumi, much to the tank hero's annoyance.

The Replica weapon in its sword form appears, stabbing itself into the ground, exactly where the Pope was launched.

"The Replica?! How did it come from behind us? Fitoria kicked the Pope in the opposite direction of where it just came from!" Raphtalia says.

"I guess Fitoria kicked the Pope and the weapon so hard, the weapon flew all the way AROUND the planet…" Misato says.

"Holy shit…" Someone mutters.

Fitoria transforms in her humanoid form, demanding headpats from Misato, who quickly complies, because she is cute and lonely, and not because he is afraid of the deceptively young and strong looking girl.

---

The Pope Boss Fight Take 3:

Fitoria in her bird form at the size of a mountain stands before the Pope's army. She slowly walks to them, menacingly, but then she stops, slightly shaking.

"Why is Fitoria stopping?!" Naofumi mutters.

"I don't know!" Misato says.

"Ahhh…" Fitoria mumbles.

"See that?! The Legendary Filolial Queen cowers before US!" The Pope says in triumph.

"UUUHHH…" Fitoria murmurs leaning her head up.

The Pope then continues his rambling, about how God is truly on their side. Even though he is most likely lying to everyone, including himself instead of accepting the truth.

Hearing the Pope continue his annoying speech. Fitoria suddenly remembers the REAL reason why she isolated herself from society.

Because she's allergic…

To Nonsensical.

BULLSHIT.

"ACHOO!" Fitoria sneezes.

The force of the sneeze rips the skin and muscle off the Pope and his army, only their bones remain.

"We win?" Misato slightly cheers, weakly raising one hand up in hurrah as Fitoria shrinks into her humanoid form, grabbing a handkerchief from Princess Melty and gently blowing her nose into it.

---

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!