Disclaimer
The following is a fan-based Fiction.
Rising of the Shield Hero belongs to Aneko Yusagi
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Legacy Of The Gun Hero
Misato sat on a log near the old campfire in the Sanctuary, from when he first came to this world "What do you know about a nation called Piensa?" He questioned.
"I have never heard of it." Melty said. "But the mention of a large storm filled with curses does remind me of The Black Storm."
"What's that?"
"A legendary figure in Stilvelt, some books said the black storm was a vengeful spirit who would haunt the people who dared to kill the Shield Hero. Some said the Black Storm is a spirit who would destroy those who wouldn't pray to the Shield Hero." Melty explained.
Fitoria and Misato both flinched at Melty's sources. Fitoria grasped Misato's sleeve tightly and Sadeena frowned at their current state.
Rifana nodded "Back at Lurolono village, some parents used the story to make kids behave like 'If you don't pray to the Shield Hero, the black storm will come and destroy our home.'" She added and Keel nodded, vouching for her friend.
"Misato, are you saying that it was real?" Keel asked.
"I WILL DESTROY YOU PIENSA!"
Misato flinched at the memory and grasped Fitoria's hand. "Yes… Forrest succumbed to the Curse of Rage and destroyed a nation." He confirmed.
"How?" Sadeena asked. "What led to you seeing such an intense vision and how did Forrest fall to the curse?"
"When we saw Takt steal the Claw Hero's weapon, the sight gave me a massive headache and made me pass out… I only saw Forrest thinking about some nation called Piensa, how disgusted he was with their culture, then he was told by R'yne that Akira, the Bow Hero of the time and Mamoru were killed, she said something else but I only heard ringing and saw that he unlocked the Curse of Rage…" Misato said.
"I… I was there when Mamoru was killed." Fitoria said. "I only recall the sight of an old man holding both Legendary Weapons, their gemstones were pale, the sight of him holding those weapons was sickening…" Fitoria adjusted herself on the log for a more comfortable position. "I don't remember much else but Mamoru was avenged, I am certain of that but when Forrest tried to tell everyone in the nation, Piensa, the truth of what happened…"
"The crowd did not agree, they screamed at Forrest, throwing rotten food, insulting him, angrily protesting the truth or ignoring key details when it suited them. Honestly, it felt like he was surrounded by a bunch of savages… Forrest was at his breaking point." Misato deduced and Fitoria nodded, leaning against his shoulder.
"What I saw was…" Fitoria trailed off and paused, taking a deep breath. She then explained.
Fitoria whimpered, hiding being Filolia and R'yne as the angry people threw rotten food and screamed at them. Why are they so angry? That murderer was evil! He KILLED MAMORU!
She peeked between the two Skywings, seeing Forrest at the center, paying no mind to the eggs or nasty food splattered on him.
Thump, thump!
Why did her stomach feel like it just fell? Why did her heart kick?
The Gun with the pretty blue gemstone on Forrest's lower back turned to a scary looking black color. Just like when Forrest killed the Mad man…
"Mister Forrest?" Fitoria whispered in worry, moving to reach out to the Gun Hero, only to feel a hand grasp her shoulder tightly. She turned to see R'yne, staring at Forrest in fear.
"RUN!" R'yne screamed, lifting Fitoria up, grabbing Holn, and Filolia grabbed Natalie. Their transparent wings appeared and the two fly away with their companions, leaving Forrest behind.
Fitoria looked back, seeing a beam of dark light pierce the white clouds, and scary looking dark clouds replaced them, making everything around Fitoria dark, she could only see R'yne and Holn, she barely saw Filolia flying nearby with Natalie.
"I WILL DESTROY YOU PIENSA!" Forrest roared, sending chills into Fitoria's spine.
She had never heard him so angry before.
She then hears the distant voices of thousands screaming in horror as hundreds of black lightning bolts strike in the city. Fitoria could only hold on to R'yne as she flew away from the city, escaping the horrible clouds but couldn't escape the gut wrenching screams in the distance. The sight of that storm, it's so wrong…
"Mister Forrest…?"
Fitoria gasped, hugging Misato's arm for comfort and he rubbed her head. "The clouds he summoned… It could cover the entire Capital of Melromarc…" She said and Melty grasped her staff tightly.
Misato is confused as to how Forrest could have been so powerful to summon a large storm? Naofumi was strong and powerful but not enough to cause so much damage in an area. Perhaps Forrest might have been a higher level? Or was Forrest's rage much larger than Naofumi? What could it be? But Fitoria, who is clearly still traumatized… It does put a new perspective to her actions in the present.
"Fitoria, Is that why you are afraid of a hero unlocking the curse, because of what happened to Forrest?" Misato asked and Fitoria nodded.
"The idea of a Hero succumbing to the curse always made my stomach turn. I thought it was because I knew the potential consequences when a Hero fell under the Curse Series but now I remember why…" Fitoria confirmed, slightly whimpering at the end and Misato hugged her.
Misato looked at his party and sighed, remembering what Takt did. "We need to warn the others…"
Eclair sighed as she practiced with the Sword Replica weapon for the hundredth time, trying to adjust to its other two slightly different forms, to use the weapon more effectively. She is a fencer, so using the rapier form was no problem for her, but the longsword and the greatsword was something she needed to adjust to.
'Everyone expects me to fight well with this weapon like Adele did since I am currently the best sword fighter now that Forrest killed Adele.'
Now that Eclair has the appropriate stats, as long as she doesn't use her mana for anything else, she has enough mana to launch at least one powerful attack like 'Phoenix Blade', and has the technique to use the Sword replica more effectively than Raphtalia in sword fighting.
Eclair frowned, slightly disappointed that she didn't get to fight the Sword Vanguard. She is aware of Misato's true identity and his predecessor, so she knows what actually happened to Adele. In fact, before the First Wave, Adele was Eclair's rival in sword fighting, when they were younger they often dueled each other since no one else had the skill and dedication to swordsmanship. To think Forrest defeated Adele so easily, perhaps what the Shadows recorded was an example of what a Veteran Cardinal Hero is capable of?
It is awe inspiring but a bit chilling to think of.
On the fields with the Four Cardinal Heroes and their parties, they speak to the Queen through a projection from the orb.
"I am on my way to Melromarc, the potential outbreak of a civil war gave me the freedom to return." The Queen said "Even with Melromarc's borders closed by the Church's forces, I will return home."
"Finally." Naofumi muttered and turned to see the Gun Party return, they looked off, like they saw something horrible. His eyes narrowed as he faced Misato. "What happened to you?"
"Near Stilvelt we saw a guy named Takt stole the Vassal Claws from the Hero and killed him, he also brainwashed the Hero's companion." Misato said.
"""What?!"""
"Takt… You mean the Genius of Faubrey?" Mirellia inquired, Misato frowned at Takt's title, something about that title makes Misato want to scoff.
"Yes Mother it was him." Melty confirmed. "He had the Star Whip. Faubrey is much more dangerous now and no hero should go anywhere near it."
"What did he look like?" Naofumi asked.
"He has messy blonde hair and blue eyes, his fashion reminded me of the clothing back in my world for some reason." Misato said. "He looked like a Motorcycle biker."
"He was also wearing a bandana on his head that looked dumb." Rifana commented and S'yne lightly snorted, remembering the distasteful fashion Takt seemed to have.
"That's weird." Motoyasu commented. "Does the nation that guy come from have similar clothing?"
"Yes, Faubrey is the most advanced nation in the world thanks to many Cardinal Heroes in the past, not only in technology but also in fashion, in fact, Misato's clothing is quite similar to the ones in Faubrey." The Queen said and Misato blinked, looking at his gold trimmed black jacket.
"I suppose that added more weight to my false identity as a foreigner from Faubrey." Misato said, both Melty and Mirellia nodded.
"Add in a zipper, change the color and quality, then you would blend pretty well inside Faubrey." Melty said.
"Wait, he stole the weapon and brainwashed someone?" Itsuki asked.
"Yeah, a girl, the Claw Hero's companion, out of grief, she tried to kill Takt but he grabbed her hands and then we were blinded by a flash of light. Suddenly the girl was making out with Takt." Misato answered, everyone expressed a look of disgust.
"Killed her friends and brainwashed her into loving him." Keel commented.
"Bastard…" Raphtalia spat out, shocking Naofumi from her uncharacteristic venom. All the females in the group nodded in agreement with her statement.
"Takt is known to have a harem, but hearing this, I'm starting to wonder if that love he has is genuine…" The Queen said with a cold voice, gripping her fan tightly, Misato was barely able to hear the sound of it cracking. Matilda's eyes turn sharp as her knives. Even Rishia, the most timid nice girl in the group, looked deadly as her Aunt.
"Why didn't you guys kill him?" Itsuki said. "Misato, why didn't you blow his head off?"
"Takt's party was much stronger than Misato's, even with me, I couldn't risk a fight against an unknown dangerous opponent." Fitoria explained. "I grabbed everyone and immediately teleported us out of the area."
"There's something else, isn't there?" Naofumi said, noticing something weird with the group.
"Well…" Misato looked at the Queen. "Sorry, this information is too sensitive, you're gonna have to wait for your Shadow to say it to you."
"I understand, reconnect to me when you are done." The Queen complied and disconnected.
While Mirellia is in the loop, any new information has to come later for her due to the distance and all the Cardinal Heroes' fear that the Forces of the World Eater are tracking certain keywords to find the Potentially missing Gun Hero through unknown means in their communication crystals. So the Queen's Shadows will have to go on foot and pass the message by their voice and not by long range magic.
Fitoria casted field magic and Misato explained what Forrest did.
"Holy shit no wonder why you didn't want me to unlock the curse series." Naofumi said.
"Yeah…"
"Fuehhh… I studied history a lot but I have never heard of an old nation called Piensa, although, considering what Sir Misato and Queen Fitoria saw, it does explain why they are missing." Rishia admitted, as she was also in the trusted circle of the Gun Hero.
"Forrest likely did so much damage he almost erased Piensa's existence from history, only the Gun and Fitoria remembers..." Rino said, feeling goosebumps, realizing the dark implications of Forrest's actions in the past.
"If Forrest was able to cover the entire capital, how did the Waves not notice Forrest? Something so powerful could not have been missed." Matilda asked.
"That's a good question, but I don't know… I haven't seen a vision that explained it yet." Misato said.
"Remember, when our mistress went to see the Holy Weapon tracing equipment Faubrey used, they only detected the known Cardinal Heroes in Melromarc, the Gun Hero was not shown whatsoever." A Shadow said. "Perhaps whatever is keeping the Legendary Gun hidden from the trackers in this world is also preventing the Waves from noticing the Gun Hero." They suggested.
"That's a good theory…" Misato agreed, recalling the shocking explanation that the Heroes can be tracked, except for Misato, S'yne and Fitoria. Fitoria made sense due to her powerful magic, S'yne's weapon isn't adapted to the world, so she doesn't register as this world's Vassal Hero but Misato had none of those things, so his 'missing' presence is still perplexing.
"To think that the Previous Gun Hero was the Black Storm we all heard in those scary stories." Raphtalia said. "I thought it was just a figure for kids to behave back in the village, especially during a storm." Keel and Rifana nodded.
"Every rumor or story has an inkling of truth." Sadeena said. "The Legend of the Black Storm had to originate from somewhere…"
"So what happened afterwards?" Ren asked, Misato shrugged and Fitoria winced.
"It hurts to try and remember what happened." Fitoria said and Misato rubbed her head to ease the pain.
"I understand." Ren conceded.
"Besides, we have more pressing matters, the Pope." Melty said, pulling everyone back to the problem in the present.
"What about Takt?" Itsuki asked.
"One bastard at a time. Takt will get what he deserves, just not soon." Misato said and Itsuki nodded
"Okay then."
"We have a special delivery for you Sir Misato. I dare say you have made quite an ally." A familiar shadow said, gesturing her arm towards a cart filled with familiar metal ingots. The five cardinal heroes walk over to the cart inspecting the goods.
"Siderite ingots?!" Misato said.
"Holy shit!" Naofumi exclaimed. "There is enough to create a set of full Siderite armor!"
"Who gave us this?" Misato asked.
"Kennedy Rosemary, the merchant you rescued. He heard about a figure in black wielding weapons that fire smoke and metal, fighting alongside the 'False Heroes', he suspected that you were in Melromarc and we Shadows confirmed it for him. He wanted to repay you for saving him and his daughter, so he had us deliver these metals to you." The Dareful Shadow explained.
Misato places a siderite ingot into his inventory, creating thirty copies for his weapon to craft new guns made of siderite, and he turns expecting the other Heroes to do the same, but they aren't, instead they huddled up whispering to each other, why?
"Come on, it doesn't hurt to take one ingot." Misato said, confused by their actions.
The four known Cardinal Heroes spent a few minutes whispering to each other, occasionally glancing at Misato and the cart. Eventually the four break their huddle and face the Gun Hero.
"Misato, we think you should use this to create new armor for yourself." Naofumi announced and the other three heroes nodded in agreement.
"What?! Nononono…" Misato waved his hands and pointed at the Shield Hero. "Naofumi you should be the one to have Siderite armor, this metal has incredible defense stat scaling, I am the Second Cardinal Hero with the lowest defense stats, the armor would be wasted on me, it would break if I get hit hard." Misato denied.
"Besides I can make do with Steel plated armor, sure I can't put it under my jacket for style but that's acceptable, practicality will always be first over style." Misato for a while, when training or fighting monsters, he had to wear standard steel armor as temporary protection until he got new armor.
"But Siderite has great scaling on every stat, it is light so it would go well with your speed, and its incredible durability can also increase your defenses. I already have more than enough defense stats to keep myself alive, in fact you probably have more defense stats than I would with attack stats." Naofumi argued. "You're going to face the Pope, sure you can dodge almost everything but what if you fail to avoid them? The Gun might not be able to save your ass."
"Based on your current stats, there is no material that the blacksmiths here can use to make armor that won't break apart due to how strong you are now. The Shadows said how your leg armor broke apart when Forrest used your body to kick someone." Ren added. Recalling Dusk and Dawn's reports of Forrest fighting off the stragglers of the Church Army.
"Misato, as of now, you are the Strongest Cardinal Hero. You need the best gear that you can possibly get for your fight against the Pope." Itsuki admitted. Even though he didn't like to say that, Itsuki isn't so prideful to ignore reality at this very moment. If Misato failed to break his delusion perhaps Itsuki would have never accepted that, but he is no longer the selfish idiot who wanted to escape reality.
"You guys…" Misato muttered, as warmth filled his chest. "I won't let you down…" He promised, he turned to the cart, grabbing four ingots. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't gain something, four missing ingots isn't going to make a difference in my armor." He said tossing each Heroes an ingot.
"You sure?" Motoyasu asked.
"Yeah, I have more than enough, I'm not going to be clad head to toe in metal, Siderite or not, I still need the flexibility." Misato reassured them. "If I wore something like Naofumi's armor, there is no way am I going to be able to move as quickly, it looks a bit rigid for me."
"He's right." Naofumi confirmed, as his armor isn't exactly meant to allow great movement, which is perfect for the Shield Hero but not the Gun Hero.
"I guess back to the good old vest, with vambraces and leg armor?" Keel deduced, recalling Misato's old gear.
"Maybe but I still want something more protective for my torso, never know if someone might sneak a knife in between the gaps of my vest and jacket…" Misato said.
"Chainmail?" Rifana suggested, missing Naofumi flinching at the mention of the armor.
"Probably but chainmail can be pretty loud if I were to go on a risky stealth mission, that armor is no good, which would include having metal plates for my limbs…" Misato sighed.
"Yeah but with the instant armor equip feature you have, if you get spotted you could quickly equip the armor in combat."
"But there might be a situation where I might not have enough time to equip appropriate combat gear even with that feature. If only…" Misato trailed off staring at S'yne, recalling the memory of a movie he watched, the main character had a fancy suit that had bullet proof lining. "S'yne, can you try and convert an ingot into threading?"
"""What?"" Everyone exclaimed.
"Turn the metal into threading? Like for clothing?" Naofumi questioned.
"Wouldn't that be weaker than metal plating?" Motoyasu said.
"Think about it, this world isn't like Earth, everything that functions is based on a person's stats, no matter what form of armor, if it's the same material then the stat scaling of that material would be about the same. Like how two iron chest plates each with radically different designs but same thickness would have the same amount of defense scaling." Misato explained. "If this could work, it would be like chainmail but so much quieter. It would be much more comfortable to wear and move around with. I'm not thinking about the fashion here, I'm thinking about the tactical potential this could have for all of us."
"That's actually a really good idea…" Motoyasu said.
"What about blunt force? That's going to be a major problem for metal threading than having metal plating." Naofumi questioned.
"We could layer the threads and even wrap it in energy absorbent material, maybe make thick leather wrapped in Siderite threading as extra padded armor." Misato offered.
"It might actually work…" Fitoria agreed. "If S'yne can convert metal into threading for her to sew."
S'yne gulps nervously, looking at the rare material.
"We should try an iron ingot first to see." Misato suggested, grabbing an iron ingot from his inventory and S'yne nodded.
"I'l* tr*y." S'yne said, grabbing the ingot, placing it into her inventory and closing her eyes. Her weapon transforms into a yarn and the purple gemstone glows. She frowns as the light flickers, a few seconds later, the light dies and she lets out a sigh of defeat.
"My w*ea*pon is too d*mag*d to use Gun M*thod…" S'yne explained.
Misato looked at his Gun, its gold gemstone lighting up briefly, he walked over to the Sewing Set Hero. "Then maybe it can with some help." Misato said, placing the Gun to touch the Sewing Set, and grasps S'yne hands tightly to keep the weapons in touch.
Misato and S'yne grunted as their weapons glowed. A minute later a ball of gray yarn forms out of the purple gemstone. Misato grabbed it, inspecting the quality.
Iron Yarn Ball
"Looks the same as an iron ingot, just flexible and lighter." Misato said, testing the string.
"Let me see." Naofumi said and Misato handed him the yarn ball. "He's right…"
"We could potentially have protective clothing!" Rifana said with excitement. "Clothing tough as full metal plating!"
Misato faces S'yne with a wide smile. "You got a lot of work ahead of you."
S'yne smiled back. "Al*ight."
After some debating, S'yne, Misato, Erhard, who heeded Misato's warnings and warned his friends about Castle Town, which included, Ann, the tailor who made the Filolial's clothes. They finally come up with armor perfect for Misato to wear, not only in battle but also in a casual environment as extra reassurance against assassins.
Ann and Erhard commented that Misato had bulked up quite a bit from the last time they saw each other, which would explain why some of Misato's old armor felt tighter. His body grew due to the amount of level ups he gained. To make his armor perfect they need the most accurate measurements.
However Ann worked overnight two days in a row creating new clothing for Royal Filolials using the Spider's magic crystal threading. She's too tired to measure Misato, the Demi-human tailors would dislike measuring a human and Misato doesn't want to be nearly naked in front of people who are petty, he doesn't trust them to not fuck up his measurements due to their irrational, hypocritical hatred to humans, even if Naofumi, their 'God' demanded them to do it.
Which left S'yne being the most qualified person to measure Misato.
S'yne closed the door with a sigh, her cheeks turning pink, realizing that she is alone with an admittedly cute, young guy, who is going to strip in front of her. She slowly turned to face Misato who was already shirtless and pantless, wearing only boxers! Showing S'yne how incredibly toned and muscular Misato's body is.
Six pack…
Her face turned red, contrasting greatly with her hair and she gulped, analyzing Misato's body. She saw his bare torso before but she is still a bit shocked. Misato's outfit hid his muscles and made him look skinny, he wore that jacket for so long she forgot how muscular Misato looked underneath it.
"S'yne?" Misato questioned as the Vassal Hero seemed to have become frozen. He connects the dots to S'yne's reaction and snorts.
Right, S'yne is like fifteen years old…
The Gun Hero looked at the mirror.
Misato's body did go through quite the change from when he first came to this world. Before, his friends used to joke that his body was like 'A generic Anime Protagonist.' Not fat but not muscular. But now his entire body is toned with some thickness to his arms and legs, which makes sense because Misato is an agile fighter but still has great strength to dish out pain to his enemies.
Although he surprisingly has no scars, is it because of the Legacy Series regeneration power?
Misato looked back, S'yne is still frozen, and stepped forward with a smirk. "You like what you see?" Misato 'asked', flexing his muscles.
S'yne's face turned redder and faces away from Misato, who chuckled.
The Vassal Hero pouts, realizing Misato is teasing her. "Y-Y*es…" S'yne surprisingly admitted, stopping Misato's chuckling. S'yne faces Misato, boldly observing his body, smiling, not denying that she likes what she is seeing.
Misato lightly blushes, feeling a little embarrassed of how S'yne is scanning his body, and S'yne smirks, raising her measuring tape, reminding Misato what she has to do.
The Gun Hero sighs and shrugs, raising his arms as S'yne first measures his torso.
'Of course, she would first take the spot where she can face my abs the closest.'
After S'yne completed the measurements, she went to work on creating Misato new magic threaded jacket. Misato returned to his party, they were taking a break, observing Naofumi and Itsuki fighting Motoyasu, trying to prepare for their fight against the Spear Vanguard.
"So… You two didn't do anything naughty there?~" Sadeena asked Misato, teasing him.
The Gun Hero blushed and rolled his eyes "Get your head out of the gutter."
Sadeena giggled. "S'yne is quite the lucky girl, getting to see what you hide under that clothing."
Misato sighed, uncertain how to respond to the mature woman's teasing and Sadeena grinned at his lack of response. The two observed the fight for a half a minute until.
"How old are you again?" Sadeena suddenly asked.
Misato raised his eyebrow at the question and shrugged, realizing that Sadeena might not have asked before. "I'm nineteen." He said.
Sadeena blinked and her eyes widened. "You're only four years younger than me?"
"Yeah…" Misato said with his eyes narrowed.
"But…"
"I look like Ren and Itsuki's age?"
"Yes…" Sadeena said. When she first joined the Gun Hero's party, she thought Misato was at least sixteen years old and was surprisingly mature for his age. Sure he was taller than Ren but he was shorter than Naofumi, and due to his youthful face, Sadeena made an assumption. "Um..."
"It's fine, you're not the first…" Misato sighed. Many times back on Earth, adults often mistaken Misato as a high schooler, even though he graduated about a year ago and when he had to show his ID, they were quite shocked to see that yes, he is an adult.
"It's fine to look younger in your age, in fact I imagine you would be quite the catch even when you're forty."
Misato grinned, glancing back. "Thanks."
After some training, everyone takes a lunch break, devouring quite a lot of food.
Rifana sighed, finishing her drink and glances at everyone eating. She frowned seeing S'yne's portion the size could rival the Filolials. How did she miss this before?
"S'yne… Where does that food go?" Rifana asked, getting Keel and Raphtalia's attention.
The Sewing Set Hero paused and patted her stomach.
"But how are you not fat?"
"What's the problem? Filo and Sakura eats that much too." Filo said.
"Yeah but both of you are filolials, your other form is much bigger, S'yne isn't." Rifana pointed out and S'yne shrugged in response.
"So you can eat a lot and not get fat?" Raphtalia realized.
"…" S'yne sweat dropped, afraid to answer.
Sadly, her silence gave her answer away and all the females, minus the Filolials, glared at S'yne.
"Lucky…" Rifana pouted and S'yne blushed.
"So how's the 'armor' going?" Misato asked Erhard
"It's strangely good, based on my tests, the metal threads are just as good as plating, except against blunt force, but don't worry, I'm making a remedy for the armor to deal with that flaw." Erhard explained.
"What do you plan to do?"
"With Ann's help, I plan to use high quality cotton, the same material I used to make a gambeson, to create the vest and leg armor you will wear, with some siderite plating on the vest without sacrificing too much flexibility."
"Sounds good, thanks for going through the trouble to customize something brand new." Misato said.
"Nah, it's not too much trouble, it's just a little different from the usual armor I would make and The Heroes pitched in for me to do this. I also get to repay you for warning me, I certainly didn't expect the Church to take over Castle Town, I'm glad I got some good people and friends to leave as well. Besides, I am excited to see how this will go, having metal threading replace chainmail is a unique concept as armor, this could potentially revolutionize armoring." Erhard said.
"I suppose, but the means to make metal threading is odd, you'll need to figure out a method that anyone is capable of."
"True." Erhard conceded, while he isn't aware that S'yne created the threading, he expressed that he didn't want to know for the sake of protection of some secrets, he knows when to not prod. Although Naofumi and Raphtalia felt that their friendly blacksmith should learn the truth one day, something many people in the circle agreed with. "Maybe something similar to how magic threading is made?" He suggested and Misato nodded.
"That sounds like a good lead actually." Misato agreed. "If magic crystals can turn into threading then maybe so could metal."
Since Motoyasu has only one member in his party, Henry and the rest of the Royal Soldiers joined his party. The plan was for them to guard Rino when they fight the Supporters of the Bow Vanguard, their discipline was good and Henry is a good commander but…
"I suggest you should all try the Shield Wall formation." Misato said, noticing the fact that none of the soldiers use a shield as a form of defense.
…
The platoon stared at Misato cluelessly, except for Henry who stared at his soldiers with a curious gleam in his eyes.
"You don't know what a shield wall is?" Motoyasu asked incredulously, because he evenknows what that is and he sucked at studying history.
Misato frowned as he finally remembered one key detail about Soldiers in Melromarc compared to the Anime…
The Gun Hero then groaned.
Commander Henry cleared his throat "What Sir Misato and Sir Motoyasu refer to is one of the formations that Stilvelt used during the war. Shield wall is a formation where a row of soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, will raise their shields to block and also counter their enemies' attacks. It was an effective defensive formation against their foes, like the name, the soldiers became a makeshift wall that could be mobile as well."
"Did they use this with spears?" Misato questioned.
"Most soldiers in Stilvelt don't use spears, only other weapons like harpoons or tridents"
"…"
Misato's eye twitched. "Weapon religions are fucking stupid…" Misato spat under his breath and Motoyasu paused for a second before snorting, realizing what Misato meant.
Is that why Melromarc won the last war? Not so much because the King at his prime was that good, which was certainly debatable, but it was the fact that Stilvelt might have never used swords, bows or spears in their war? Weapons that are conceptually better than uncommon weapons but they didn't use it because of their religion?!
Misato sighed "Okay, unlike some idiots, with this formation, we will not limit ourselves! Together you will fight Spear and Shield! Together you will become a deadly mobile fortress!"
Afterwards, the soldiers trained to learn how to fight with their shields on their free hand as it was designed to do instead of fighting without a defensive option.
Five days have passed, the third wave is now ten days away. After almost two and a half weeks in Reichnott's main town, they need to make their move now.
Fortunately, Erhard, Ann and S'yne have completed the Heroes' armor.
All heroes managed to get their armor repaired with additional enchantments. Making most of the Siderite leftovers from making Misato's new outfit, Naofumi got most of the scraps, so he replaced the steel chestplate with Siderite and has additional siderite plates on his shoulders hidden under his cloak. Motoyasu replaced his silver shoulder pads and gauntlets with Siderite. Ren and Itsuki both replaced their chest protection with the meteorite material.
Everyone else made do with some of the standard adventurer armor, and thankfully they still managed to get an upgrade for their gear. Melty, instead of her royal dress like in the anime, is wearing armor similar to the Queen but Melty only has a chest plate and a steel crown. Sadeena is wearing leather studded chest armor. Raphtalia, Rifana and Keel replaced the metal portions of their armor with better steel with more enchantments than before.
Meanwhile Misato had the biggest change and upgrade.
He got a black diamond quilted magic threaded jacket, with gold colored ribbed cuffs and hems. The addition that stands out the most is the gold trimmed hood, which is good for the rain and by Misato's will with his magic, the hood can disappear when in a combat situation to prevent his hood from getting grabbed. It's thicker than his old magic jacket, providing some extra padding, and it has a siderite threaded layer between the magic threads as an additional layer to stop anything that goes through the magic threads.
Misato's leg armor, goes from his feet and up to his knees, is padded with high quality cotton and leather with siderite threading as the outside layer, so his legs won't be as hurt when falling onto the ground but still have great resistance against sharp weapons like swords. Not only that but S'yne using her weapon and with Misato's help, she dyed the shiny siderite threads into dark gray, contrasting better with his black jacket.
On his torso is a dark gray armored vest, similar to the modern body armor that was used in Earth, like the leg armor, it has cotton and leather but it also has siderite plating on top of the siderite threading. Like Erhard promised, it gave Misato some extra protection but didn't sacrifice his mobility. For good measure, Erhard placed some defense and blunt force absorption buffs on the vest.
As for his arms, he has thick siderite threaded fingerless gloves that go up to his forearms, which also go underneath a long sleeve turtleneck gray shirt. The collar, hem, sleeves and the yoke is siderite threaded in case someone snuck a knife past the jacket and the vest. The rest of the shirt is made of more breathable material with a cooling enchantment to avoid overheating.
Pants had some siderite threading to protect the parts his leg armor doesn't cover.
"Looking good Misato!" Rifana praised.
"You look so cool!" Keel said with Ace nodding his head vigorously in agreement.
"Hmm, you look rather dashing and a bit roguish." Sadeena complimented. "You would definitely catch a lot of eyes."
"I'm kind of jealous that you managed to get the most modern looking armor and gear I have ever seen." Motoyasu admitted, along with every summoned hero present.
"Not even Faubrey clothing and armor looked as good as yours." Melty said, comparing the uncommon clothing some civilians wore in Faubrey.
"Thank you so much S'yne." Misato said, bowing before the Sewing Set Hero. "Without you, this armor would have never been possible."
"M* ple*su*re." S'yne said with a wide smile, proud of her work.
Misato turned to Melty. "Are you certain you don't want to convert all of your father's levels into yours? Not even enough to at least reach level 100?"
Much earlier before they started hunting, Melty gained all the strengthening methods and hybrid weapons available, except for the carriage's hybrid series, which greatly boosted her stat gains upon each level up she got from Aultcray's levels, gaining much more stats than even the former Staff Hero. But Melty stopped and refused to go any higher than level 90 out of fear for her father's safety, especially from potential assassins or a vengeful villager of Reichnott.
Which was a valid fear, were it not for Melty, Reichnott, Eclair, and even Naofumi, tensions between the Demi-Human villagers and the human refugees that the Heroes rescued, would have boiled into a massive fight. Naofumi had a bigger effect due to his actions of helping Riyute, Lerno and the fact that demi-humans pray to the Shield Hero.
Although there are still some hints of incredible resentment towards both the King and Malty from all current residents of the village, human or not, they had suspicions on who to blame, in particular about the destruction of their homes. Some attempted to kill those two out of revenge, but the amateur assassins were caught by Fitoria's field magic protecting and also preventing those troublesome prisoners from escaping.
"Yes, I am certain I will be fine with my current level." Melty said, refusing to convert all of her father's levels.
"Fine…" Misato shrugged and turned to the true Royal Soldiers. "Commander Henry, your group ready?"
"Yes sir, we're ready to help the Spear Hero." Henry confirmed with a salute, followed by the rest of the soldiers who helped Misato in the castle.
"You don't have to salute or call me sir, I technically don't have a rank."
"Hero or not, you deserve great respect for your accomplishment and saving my men as much as you could." Henry explained and while his team doesn't know Misato's true identity, his actions speak more than enough to their hearts.
"... Thank you." Misato said with a slight bow and looked at everyone staring back at him with great anticipation.
"Let's go."
Using teleportation, the 'Army' of the Cardinal Heroes arrived a hundred miles from the main capital of Melromarc, hidden behind the nearby mountain and field magic Fitoria placed a long time ago.
Misato looks at the Royal Castle and its Town with his scope and sighed.
This is where it all began, where the Cardinal Heroes were summoned…
Where 'Episode 1' began…
To think there are even more enemies they will have to face later on, there are the other nations filled with more rotten people in power, then there's the other world filled with those desperate Vassal Heroes, plus the bastard Kyo, and finally, they will have to face the people who control the Waves… He's only in 'Season 1' and Misato already feels fatigued.
When will it end?
The Queen's army finally arrived, with Fitoria escorting them to ensure their journey was met with no trouble.
"You're late." Misato jabbed, the Queen's army was supposed to be here hours ago, its nighttime, they were supposed to refine the plan and to see if any last minute fixes are needed before getting rest for the morning battle.
"Misato!" Melty yelled, everyone, except for Naofumi, Sadeena, Matilda and Fitoria, are aghast for Misato's bold jab to the Queen, Hero or not, saying that to the Queen of Melromarc could get him in massive trouble.
"Apologies, my hosts in Stilvelt felt that I should stay a bit longer…" The Queen replied with an amused look to Misato's 'greeting'.
"Once the shameful descendants of Siltran were taken care of by Queen Mirellia, I ensured her army could travel with no obstacle." Fitoria said with a scathing remark to Stilvelt, disappointed with what the nation became after Forrest's passing.
"Thanks Fitoria." Misato said and the Filolial Queen nodded. She then observed Misato's new armor
"This suits you rather well and seems to provide great protection." Fitoria commented. "You've done well S'yne Lokk."
"Thanks."
"Th*nk y*u."
"Let us make camp and see if our plan needs any revisions." Queen Mirellia said, hopping off her filoilial steed.
The following morning, everyone mounted up, Fitoria requested for Misato to sit on her back, much to the amusement of everyone present.
The army boldly marched to the Royal Castle, flags raised high above, symbolizing the Four Cardinal Heroes and the Queen. The Parties of all Five Heroes with the Queen lead the march.
"I sense a large amount of mana above us." Fitoria warned and Misato nodded.
"They're casting the spell!" Misato yelled.
"God damn predictable bastards…" Naofumi muttered under his breath, and he led Filo to the other heroes. "Alright, just like we practiced!" Naofumi yelled, raising his shield and so did all the Cardinal Heroes.
The gemstones of their Legendary weapons glow and beams of light hit the Shield's.
"Combo skill: Large Meteor Shield V!" Naofumi roared as blue transparent light encompassed the entire army, and a gold beam of light struck the shield.
The spell lasted for a few seconds, the light cleared and everyone looked up in awe at the shield's power. Not even a scratch…
Hero combo skills was something they unlocked a while back when each Cardinal Hero gained a hybrid series from each other. The power to combine their skills or enhance each other's to a greater effect. Which is why Meteor Shield was much larger and more powerful. Although Hero combo skills have a long cooldown… Using their weapons to boost Naofumi's skill, their meteor skills are now in cool down too.
"Alright, Misato, Fitoria you're up." Naofumi said.
Fitoria nodded, casting a spell, enhancing Misato's voice using wind magic.
"What's wrong, Bicas, too scared? Can't face your enemy head on, even with your so-called 'God' watching over you?! If God is truly on your side, you wouldn't be hiding in that Castle! You would be facing your enemies outside of those stone walls! If not, then you are a liar and are the most disgusting BLASPHEMER in existence!" Misato roared
"""BLASPHEMER""" The Queen's army booed.
"Face us! Face the so-called evil you claimed us to be for your own convenience and horrid ambition to take over what doesn't belong to you!" Misato roared along with the rest of the army.
"Misato holds nothing back..." Naofumi smirked, recalling the first phase of the plan.
"Are you certain this is a good idea?" Naofumi asked Misato.
"This plan has the least potential amount of casualties and collateral damage for the people trapped in Castle Town." Misato explained. "By provoking Balmus to come out of the Castle and beating him, the people would see this as a sign of how wrong he was, and if he refused to come out, they would only see him as a false priest, making their resentment grow after defeating him in the castle."
"Looks like they took the bait!" Misato announced, seeing a large army pour out of the stone walls with the two Vanguards at the front, with a group of soldiers and knights, right behind them is the Pope in his armor, except he isn't wearing a helmet…
"Can you take the shot?" The Queen asked, seeing the Pope exposed with no helmet through her spyglass.
"Meteor Pierce is still on cool down from that combo move and while he is likely delusionally arrogant, he's not stupid enough to not have some sort of countermeasure for that skill." Misato replied.
"Guess we proceed with Phase Two." Naofumi deduced, straightening himself on Filo's back and so did everyone else. Mentally preparing for the massive charge.
Misato leans to whisper. "Okay Fitoria, time to separate them." He said, hopping off of her back and Fitoria transforms to her humanoid form.
"Are you certain you can face the Vanguards alone?" Fitoria asked as Misato marched forward.
"If this works, I won't be alone… Well, not in a typical sense." Misato replied, showing the Gun and winking.
Besides the Gun, Misato can feel it, its warmth, he feels a subtle gentle vibration from it, trying to communicate to him.
Urging him to activate the Legacy Series.
Fitoria grinned.
Misato Morgan, closed his eyes taking a deep breath, and he opened with his eyes glowing bright gold. Sending a chill to everyone's spines as mana particles from the air started to swarm Misato's body.
"May the Heroes of the Past never be forgotten…"
The mana particles become a river of gold light, flowing endlessly to Misato. He gasped as a series of images, memories were shown to him.
"May their efforts never go to waste…"
A beam of light from the Church Army shot right toward Misato in a second but Fitoria was faster, intercepting it with her magic shield and she looked back at Misato in awe.
Misato saw a young man wielding a rifle with a bright red gemstone, letting out a victorious cry over a large monster along with many others.
He saw a girl with a Small Machine with a violet gemstone on her back, helping a child stand on their feet from the debris.
The images become a blur as Misato sees various Gun Heroes in the past go by in a blink.
"May the power they achieved carry on to the next…"
Then he saw Forrest, the Previous Gun Hero, smiling, holding up Legendary Gun to Misato, its blue gemstone glowing, filling Misato with warmth.
"As the Gun Hero, I Swear…"
Misato raised his palm and Forrest placed it on his hand, the Gun's gemstone changed to Gold. An exhilarating feeling flowed through his body, the feeling… It's like… Like he was missing a part of himself… Until now…
"I will Bear… This…"
Misato raised the Legendary Gun close to his heart and whispered…
"Legacy."
Legacy Of the Gun Hero Series
("May the Heroes of the Past never be forgotten…")
+100 On all Stats.
+200 Total MP
+200 Total HP
+200 Total SP
+200 Total EP.
+50% Resistance To Weapon Stealing
You gained a +100% Permanent Stat Rate boost on all Stats!
(X)
Passive Effect: Combat Assistance -
When in combat, this series will improve:
Reaction speed.
Critical thinking.
Hero's technique and form.
(Level: Intermediate)
(X)
Skills: Full Combat Enhancement - Utilize the skills and experience of all Previous Gun Heroes.
Extreme Combat Assistance Level
Stats are doubled (Stacks with buffs.)
Skills and Magic don't require verbal command
Pain Suppression: Extreme
HP Regeneration: Extreme.
SP Regeneration: Excellent
MP Regeneration: Excellent
(Pain suppression and regeneration also affects party members.)
Armor Inheritance - (Locked)
Unstoppable Bullet - (Locked)
Author's Notes
Thank you all for waiting so patiently for this chapter, we finally reached the start of the final battle of Melromarc. Or at least in terms of people who threaten the Unity of the Cardinal Heroes.
The Black Storm, yeah Forrest became the equivalent of the boogeyman or the monster children will look under their bed for in the dark. However, that's only the Melromarc side of the story. There is a bit more lore of the Black Storm for people in Stilvelt or more extensive outside scholars or a grander library.
(X)
Yeah, Misato is actually invisible to any weapon tracker other than the Cardinal Weapon Compasses, whatever Faubrey is using to track all the Heroes (except Fitoria), they can't see the Gun Hero (Unless I misunderstood it). As for the Army of the Waves, there is an explanation why they might not be able to see the Gun Hero. But that's for a future chapter.
(X)
Kennedy Rosemary is the merchant Misato saved twice in the early Zeltoble Chapters. Kennedy paid Misato back greatly with Siderite ingots.
As a result, Misato now has drip that is going to last for a long time.
Misato's new armor is inspired by John Wick and the Kingsman suits, how they are both bullet proof but still look stylish. I figured that the Sewing Set Weapon could be capable of converting materials into a form of a thread, or at least with the Gun's help it can.
I figured in a Video Game-ish world, metal threading would actually be really effective unlike our world where metal threading doesn't even exist, or it does but it's not like string, it's like a paper clip, twist that thin metal long enough, it's going to snap. The threading S'yne and Misato created, it really is flexible like string but has the same durability as its normal metal counterpart.
Don't forget Misato is wearing an additional vest and leg armor as a countermeasure to blunt force weapons and as an extra defense for him.
S'yne measuring Misato fanservice, again no romance built yet, they are too busy for that, that's for the "Season 2" arc, but it doesn't mean people can't have moments of physical attraction to each other. In this case, S'yne gets to see how surprisingly jacked Misato is underneath his clothing. She saw it before back in the Castle but now in a safe environment it's a lot more noticeable.
Sadeena is shocked that Misato is actually legal, therefore he's available ;D In Season 2 anyway. Again, not certain on the romance thats far into the future when things are more calm and have more chances of character bonding in "Season 2" or in the aftermath of "Season 1".
(X)
Sometimes the simplest plan is the best plan, straight to the source of all their problems in Melromarc, dragging this battle and making it a full blown war across Melromarc would cause too much damage, it's better to make it a skirmish, a single massive battle instead of a series of battles.
The Pope does have a god complex, in this case, what kind of god would need to hide behind stone walls and mere mortals instead of facing his greatest enemy? Misato was definitely the trigger that started the Pope's arrogant march outside of the walls, to face the Queen's army, but the driving force is the Pope's decision alone, believing he can take on the 'False Heroes' and the Queen. Even with the loss of the Sword Vanguard.
In fact his character reminds me of the character Truth from the Halo Trilogy.
There is more to this plan to defeat Balmus and save as much as they can, and it will be revealed in the next chapter.
(X)
Legacy of the Gun Hero Series. I thought the end of the chapter was a good time to show what it does for Misato. Of course I felt that I had to end the chapter with Misato finishing its chant. A bittersweet cliffhanger right before an epic battle that might take at least 2 chapters.
BTW, I think I should clarify this, since I don't think I explained it that well.
Permanent Stat Rate Boost, is what increases the amount of points a user gains per level up, The Legacy Series boosted overall stats, Weapon Hybrid Series has the same thing but it's on specific stat, so this whole time while leveling up, certain stats have gained more than they originally had.
For example, Misato once gained +1 Defense every time he leveled up, which is not good but after getting the Shield Hybrid Series, he gained more points each level up. Ignoring the fact that the Legendary Gun may have changed the stat point allocation.
Thank you again for reading and have fun making guesses on what each Legacy Skill does.
(8/29 Update: Decided to change one of the abilities.)