Sorry about the late update, hope the extra length made up of last week's lack of new chapter.
Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems and expanding on the battle scenes, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
Naofumi can't help but spend more time looking around the island resort of Cal Mira Island. Logically, he knows the importance of finding Malty's former maid, and Kael'thas as soon as he can. But his attention is almost instantly grabbed by the island's style. Near the dock, there are countless vendor stalls, and restaurants made of wood with hay roofs. Every pillar and fence are decorated with exaggerated human and sea creatures that make them look like some kind of exotic totem. Away from the sandy beach are the big, tall resorts that have an almost modern style, like some buildings one would find in Las Vegas - minus the neon signs. And between the gigantic hotels are the Japanese style onsen. The mix of styles shouldn't work together, yet they somehow form into a chaotic harmony that gives the island an unique look of its own.
The Shield Hero shakes his head. He needs to concentrate. Malty is depending on him to ensure Mala's safety. He doesn't know very well the woman who broke both of her arms to ensure his safe escape from the capital. It isn't that long ago since Malty finally told him her real identity, and she hasn't spoken a lot of her past as a princess afterwards. But it's clear that Mala meant more to her than a simple maid, and more like an important family member. He doesn't need to know anything else to help the older woman. Especially after she saved their lives when they were captured by the Three Heroes' Church.
His group has been asking anyone and everyone they pass around for someone resembling Mala, or Kael'thas. Thankfully, both of them stand out even in a crowd with Mala's white hair, and Kael'thas' aura of pridefulness. So it didn't take too long till they heard rumors about someone resembling them making their way further inland, into the tropical forest in the middle of the island. So that's the direction his group took. It would have been easier if they split up to look for Mala and Kael'thas, but both his bodyguard, and his Siltvelt escorts immediately shoot down that idea.
"I have never been to Cal Mira Island myself, my thane. But I have heard of its stories. The eternal neutral ground is famous as the host of past Hero Conferences, and the Hero Summoning ceremonies. The groundskeepers and druids of the Cal Mira people carefully maintain the tropical forest of the main island to make sure there's no aggressive monsters. If you go to the other satellite island it's a different story. Native wild, and aggressive monsters are still kept as they were. But for this main island, It's supposed to be a peaceful place for the rich, and important tourists to relax with their families." Naofumi nods his head along as Yatsuhashi rides on his side and explains what he knows about this supposed eternal neutral ground mandated by past heroes. "But with all sorts of people coming for the Hero Conference, someone might seek to do you harm. Don't stray too far from us."
"Right. Keep myself safe first before helping others. Message received... and lessons learnt from before." The Shield Hero is immediately reminded of how he puts himself... and everyone else in his group in danger at the end of the Third Wave. And sadly, not everyone made it in the end. Hopefully, this time things will be different as he has more support than before. True to Yatsuhashi's words, they don't hear any growl or roar from the angry beast as they comb through the peaceful tropical forest. The ruffle of leaves against the ocean breeze, and the chirping of birds are the only sounds accompanying them.
Chapter 6: Fickle Allies
The sound of running and splashing water can be heard in the distance. Naofumi briefly wonders if they had gone coast to coast to through the island to the other side. But as their group breaks through another bundle of thick foliage, he realizes they have only come across a river. With all the hot spring bath houses scattered between the huge hotels, he shouldn't be surprised to find some more running water further inland. But he was surprised to see someone half submerged in there. It was a woman that looked to be in her mid, or late twenties, with long dark blue hair running straight down her back with a... shall he say mature, or 'developed' body? He swore he wasn't peeping! But it's hard to see nothing when she's simply bathing underneath the clear sky with her cloth thrown on a large rock beside the river. Naofumi pulls the reign of Lial with one hand, and covers his eyes with the other as his daughter comes to a stop, and everyone else skits down around him into a protective barrier. "Excuse us for interrupting your bath, ma'am. But have you seen a woman that looks in her forties with white hair, or a blonde elf, err... I mean, a phoenix prince in an imposing crimson robe around here."
"I might. It's hard to enjoy a peaceful, and quiet drink and soak nowadays at Cal Mira Island." The blue haired woman reaches her long, slender arm over towards a plate floating in front of her. On top of the plate sits a porcelain cup, and a traditional looking sake bottle. She pours herself a cupful of rice wine (at least Naofumi assumes it's rice wine, with its Japanese style bottle), and brings it up to her full, red lips. The woman turns her head around, and winks at Naofumi. Her voice sounds like chimes ringing against a gentle, summer breeze. "But they are not important. They refused to drink sake with me after all. What about you, young man? Will a young, handsome hero like you deny the courtesy of sharing a drink with a beautiful maiden?"
She's still a virgin? Once again, Naofumi rationally knows there are more important matters. But his mind is once again entirely hung up on frivolous detail, particularly on how the woman calls herself a maiden. Maybe she's only saying it to lure himself into a trap, she gives the vibe of a maneater than a pure maiden after all. Thankfully, Yatsuhashi's mind is more clear than him at the moment as he whispers to Naofumi. "Be careful, my thane. We don't know her, but she knows you are a hero, if not the Shield Hero."
Right... because they are in some retarded (over-scheming to retardation is still retardation) version of a fantasy isekai world, where a bunch of crazy guys want to kill the summoned hero whose lives are tied to the world ending crisis they are facing. Being pulled into some kind of blackmail scheme, or eaten by a woman (figuratively... or literally) isn't the worst thing that might happen to him. The Shield Hero tries his best to control his voice, to not let his annoyance and worry seep through. He probably shouldn't repeat the situation he had with that young Faubley inquisitor because he lost his cool. "We are short on time, ma'am. If you aren't telling us where Ms. Mala and Prince Kael'thas are, we'll have to go look for them."
He's about to turn around and continue combing through the island when a concussive force blows up a huge chunk of earth flying in front of him, and knocks out half a dozen trees. He's quite familiar with this technique by this point, as he has seen Motoyasu using [Meteor Spear] a number of times by now. The Shield Hero slowly turns his head around like a robot as he looks at the woman bathing in the river. She's fully stood up, still not wearing any of her clothes, but there's nothing erotic about her display anymore. In her left hand is a long harpoon she grabbed from... somewhere (likely under the water of the river she's soaking in), and with her right hand, she's drinking straight from the sake bottle instead of a dainty porcelain cup.
"So he (Who?) was right. Again. You really must be an irredeemable childlover (WHAT?! That's slander! He'll sue!) if you ignore a mature woman ready to put out in front of you." The water dripping down from her body seems to become charged as she throws away her empty sake bottle to the ground. The harpoon in her hand pointed at him. The smirk on her lips becomes much more malicious. "I was going to make this fun for you... since you are one of the cardinal heroes important for this world's survival. But since you refused my offer... I'll make it fun for myself - I'll kill you, and take my chance with the world's survival."
"Oh, fuck." Once again, Naofumi is faced with the fact that maybe... just maybe Fuckboy did have a point between his insane rambling. He apparently isn't as smart as he sometimes thinks about himself if he keeps bumbling into situations when someone tries to kill him. The Siltvelt raiders acted much faster than him even as Yatsuhashi pulled the reins on Lial to turn both of them around. They all brandish their weapons, and surges forward on top of their wargs at the crazy woman trying to kill him. And all of them fall just as quickly.
Naofumi barely had the time to see, and process what had happened. For one moment, the musclebound not orc (but just as huge and buffed up looking) raiders were charging on the much more dainty and slender looking naked woman. Like a pack of wolves charging at their prey. And then, all he sees is after images of the speartip of the crazy nudist's harpoon dancing in the air. It looks like a tidal wave of flowers coming into blossom... and then it becomes more literal as spilled blood turns into petals scattered in the wind. All twelve of the raiders, and their steed falls on the ground dead, in pools of their own blood.
"Get my thane to safety. GO!" Yatsuhashi gives a harsh slap on Lial and Lori's body as he jumps off his steed, and runs after the charging woman. Naofumi clumsily gets the Siltvelt signal arrow out of his shield's storage (what a relief to have it again after going without his shield for weeks!), and tosses it into the sky. He looks back, half afraid to see his bodyguard lying dead on the ground like the raiders before him, but relieved to see he is holding steady at the woman's crazy assault like a boulder sitting in the middle of a river.
To be precise, the crazy lady's assault was outright relentless - lightning fast strikes with her bident harpoon were aimed towards center mass, and towards his head multiple times, barely blocked by the Housecarl's tree-like defensive stance. If not for Yatsuhashi's equally imposing frame and durability, he would have outright died long ago.
Naofumi had to wonder, with half-covered eyes, whether or not Yatsuhashi was easily distracted by Sadina's curvy body, out in full display for everyone present to see. No armor, no protection for her bare flesh - dominating every fight with sheer skill and daring-do alone. That woman either had a death wish, or she was more arrogant than any man or woman in the cosmos, period, confident that she would outright win. And then they runs through some foliage and he lost sight of the battle behind him.
A left, a right, then multiple striking thrusts, with Yatsuhashi remaining ever so stoic, steeling his gaze at the attacks headed his way.
Even as Yatsuhashi proceeded with wide slashes aimed for her bare midriff, that lady effortlessly cartwheeled backward with nary a single cut on her bare flesh! No amount of Yatsu's rhythmic, graceful, rotational side steps could keep up with the nimble acrobatic trickery this deceptively bare woman could hurl at him!
As Yatsuhashi attempted angling his blade towards her neck, she proceeded to arch back, before kicking the blade aside and proceeding to land another tornado kick to disorient the larger man. Push kicks, drop kicks, and rear horse kicks … they would knock him around over and over.
Then Yatsuhashi saw it, and for a brief second, the woman was caught midair trying to do a push kick.
There!
Yatsuhashi finally grabbed her by the throat, spun her around and hurled her into one of the adjacent pools. While it was the closest thing to a hit, Yatsu knew better - and squinted his eyes, checking for when and which of the onsen pools she would strike from.
"Aqua Blast".
Suddenly, water erupted from the pools as Yatsuhashi braced for impact. Watery vortexes erupted into the sky and directed themselves to slam into Yatsuhashi, who did his damnedest to stay on the ground. Tidal waves arose from the onsen and crashed at him afterwards.
"I can't promise you won't leave without a scratch," Yatsuhashi slowly muttered.
The lady smirked as she slowly walked back up the surface. . "Oh, I won't be the one bleeding."
Then Yatsuhashi leapt up, and decided to slam his sword down on the ground, aimed towards her. However, to his surprise, the lady had outright blocked the heavy, sharp blade with not a single cut on her bare feet!
While it was impressive, the problem was that her legs were high up blocking the blade, flashing her crotch from that angle.
Naofumi had to jam his eyes shut for that last part - having her crotch out on full display was too embarrassingly cringeworthy to see even if it was a once in a lifetime chance to satisfy his lustful fantasies. It would not do well for his reputation even further to bear witness to that - she likely accused him of the korephilia rumors regarding Firo, and Malty would be rightfully angry were he caught dead looking at arguably another sexy, curvy woman in their midst.
Breaking off that deadlock, the woman kicked Fulcrum aside, and proceeded to advance.
Yatsuhashi then leapt over the low sweep, before trying to aim his sword at his opponent, who simply crouched and weaved past the high slashes, and deflected a third. Even the next one handed swings were simply deflected aside by her bare feet, before she slammed her heel across the paved stone, and kicked debris in Yatsuhashi's face that momentarily blinded him to the next onslaughts of roundhouse, side and rear horse kicks headed his ways, as he tried to feebly deflect against
Yatsuhashi was then kicked in his side, and then a bicycle-kicked in a high lunar motion aimed at his jaw sent his mass towards one of the rocky areas of the onsen. But as he came to, he noticed too late that …
"Huh!? Gyahh!"
… His head, face and all, had landed onto a geyser, which dazed him with a bad burn, as he struggled to come to.
Unfortunately, the woman then proceeded to charge at high speed, flashing her parts while performing a mighty axe kick towards the dazed Housecarl.
If not for his instincts screaming at him to block the blow, he would've been knocked out right then and there. At least he could snap out of the daze the hot steam … or staring awestruck (out of shock or lustfulness) at the nudist's bare lady parts as she closed into point-blank range.
With Yatsuhashi catching his breath, the crazy nudist took her sweet time jiggling her large, soft breasts, her curvy hips and meaty thighs swaying side to side in her sexy model-like walk, menacingly creating sparks as she dragged her bident on the rocks.
"You know, you'd be more of my type over your degenerate lord," the nudist cooed. "I always loved a mighty strong man like you. It would be a dream come true if you held as much liquor as I did."
Raising her harpoon, she relentlessly continued to attack - a couple overheads here, a horizontal swipe there, and another couple more jabs to put the Housecarl on a resumed defensive.
Then, Yatsu broke ground by swiping at her to back off, and then kicking her back a few feet with a foot to her gut. With all his strength, Yatsuhashi grabbed a few bundles of pebbles and started to stone her from a distance.
Rocks were hurled in her direction, but she easily twirled and deflected them aside while walking backwards, before swatting aside a third, and somersaulting away from a couple more, finally diving backwards into one of the adjacent pools.
Yatsuhashi narrowed his gaze and moved closer, trying to anticipate from which pool she would emerge from next.
At last, it was from the one behind him, as she leapt with full force, slamming her bident against Fulcrum's blade with a mighty overhead.
As Yatsu tried to push her off, she immediately slid under his legs, climbed up, putting his head between her thighs, and started twirling him around, dizzying him around before leaping off, leaving him briefly disoriented before she dropkicked at him from the back.
Then, the lady leapt downwards, somersaulting countless times, prompting Yatsuhashi to block the high kick, with his entire blade, appropriately named Fulcrum, as shockwaves erupted from the blow, his heels dragging into the paved stones of the onsen.
When Yatsuhashi had finally leapt down, a huge spray of water erupted across the court, as the woman already backflipped inside the water, leaping out, ready to strike with a harpoon stab.
Yatsuhashi, with gritted teeth, held Fulcrum in front of him, continuing to defend what little was aimed towards him.
It appeared that the woman had become quite overzealous - her arm strength clearly so superior as to fence with her bident as if it were a rapier. If her confidence in her abilities left an opening, that would be now - where Yatsuhashi took a side step and twisted his body to the side from that one-handed thrust.
Now!
However, the problem was when Yatsuhashi tried to parry her bident harpoon thrust with an elbow jab to her navel - even accounting for the leverage and momentum generated by the clashing blades, her reflexes were just too fast, as she crunched her navel and bent forward, missing her opponent's elbow by mere inches.
His much bigger bodyguard clearly knows he can't compete against the insane woman with speed, so he didn't try. He uses his weapon to protect his vitals, and lets his armor and his natural resilience take the hits the nude woman throws at him that wouldn't immediately kill him, clearly intending to last as long as he can to buy time for Naofumi's escape. "You won't harm my thane while I still stand!"
"That can be arranged." The woman clearly recognized what he's doing, so she... threw away her weapon, and ran up to Yatsuhashi to pull him into a tight embrace. Before Naofumi's mind could ever wander away to thoughts like she's trying to seduce him, his bodyguard starts to scream like he's being put under unimaginable pain.
Lial and Lori runs through the tropical forest like Naofumi's life depends on it (which it IS!). His worry for Yatsuhashi's life, and his brief relief from getting away from the twisted nude woman is short lived as he suddenly hears a loud buzzing sound getting closer and closer.
Before the Shield Hero realizes what happened, a flying killer whale, of all things (granted... not as weird as it could be considering he fought sea creatures swimming through air in the the Third Wave) shoots itself through the forest, pulling shrubbery out of the ground by its roots, and knocking trees down by the dozen. Sparks of lightning crawled through its skin without seemingly hurting the creature. The electricity aura, no doubt gives it a massive speed boost similar to Killua's Kanmuru ability.
That's when Naofumi's thoughts came to a screeching halt - like a full speed bullet train hitting a twelve lane pile up. The killer whale knocks into both Lial and Lori, and he instantly gets an intimate feel on how often Team Rocket experienced being electrocuted and hurled into the sky.
Yatsuhashi, for his part, tried to get in the way, attempting to shove and wrestle her away, even trading blow after blow with this … orca lady, yet she easily dodged and caught his fists, before she slapped him around with her tail, kicked him in the diaphragm, punched the Housecarl around with her fists, and finally knocked him out with a good piledriver and suplex combo.
He blacks out for a brief moment, and the next moment finds himself writhing uncontrollably on the ground. His two new daughters are also twitching on the ground, unable to get up. The lightning-covered, flying killer whale slowly morphs its shape not far from them, and changes into the naked woman who is trying to kill him. She turns around, stepping over to stand above Naofumi in surprisingly dainty steps and holds the pointy end of her harpoon over Naofumi's face. She wears a self-satisfied smirk on her face as she's about to execute him. "I'd say this will hurt me a lot more than it hurts you, but I would be lying. Goodbye, child-raping Shield Hero."
With a wave of loud hissing, the yuzus that's been hiding among his clothes detach themselves into their original balloon shapes and swarms at the crazy nudist. Naofumi doesn't know if it's the nature of their rubber body, or their strong resilience (the Yuzus are much higher level than himself, and his two filorial daughters, he realized) that allowed them to resist the woman's electrocution. Regardless, they jumped on her completely unshielded body... and started biting.
"YE-OW! ARGH, YOU PESTS!" For the first time since their conflict started, the crazy naked woman begins to show genuine sense of hurt (or pain) as she stumbles and waves her body around. She throws her harpoon away once again, its long range being more of a hindrance when the things attacking her are literally dangling off her body.
When swatting and punching Yuzus failed to get them off her, she began to charge her aura of lightning around her once again. And when that doesn't work, she once again transforms into a killer whale as she begins to roll and slam her own body at the foliage, and the ground. The forest around them looks more like the aftermath of a modern battlefield after her rampage, but she finally managed to get the Yuzus off her body.
As she turns back into her human shape again, she is panting heavily as her twitching, narrowed eyes glaring at Naofumi. "You are more resourceful than I give you credit for, Shield Hero. It seems like he (once again, who is this fucker that slandered him?!) was right once again. But this time, I will not give you another chance to-"
The crazy nudist didn't get her words through as she's kicked on the side of her head, knocking her flying into a trench of her own making. Naofumi, who is slowly recovering from his electrocution, quickly musters up a healing spell on himself. He still feels hurt all over, with phantom pain of the lightning current running through his entire body.
But at least he gained some control of himself now. He slowly crawls himself into a crouch, hoping that Yatsuhashi, and his daughters were only temporarily paralyzed by the lightning attack rather than completely disabled... or worse, dead. The Shield Hero gets a better look at the newcomer that saved his life.
To his surprise, it's another woman with long blue (curly this time) hair. She has better modesty compared to the last crazy woman he saw, on the virtue of her actually having some clothing over her. But with the leather clothes she's wearing resembling the shape of a bikini top over her chest, and a dress with split that allows her legs the freedom of movement ... modest isn't how he would describe her.
Unlike the crazy nudist who Naofumi still doesn't know the name of, this second woman is of a more muscular build. Her exposed skin on her arms, legs, and even midsection all showed powerful-looking, bulging muscles, giving her the appearance of a fantasy amazonian warrior woman.
The weapon she is holding is very particular-looking, and the Shield Hero can't imagine it being practical. Yet it looks strangely familiar. It has a long shaft in the middle which the amazonian is holding (with one arm!), which extends out into long, thin, double sided blades towards both sides. The shaft is too short to be considered some kind of polearm, but the blade is also too long to be considered some kind of sword.
The Shield Hero isn't an expert on actual cold weapon design considering he was just a normal otaku (and not the military equipment kind), but he can already think of some problem with this weapon. For example... how does she not impale herself on one of the blades when she takes a swing at someone?
"Stop right there, criminal scum! Your rampage to destroy the peace of Cal Mira Island, and harming one of its guests is at its end. I, Therese Alexanderite, will ensure it. You can come quietly with me to receive your punishment, or have me beat you into the ground first." The muscular amazonian woman speaks loudly and with authority as she crouches down while holding her blade horizontally in front of her. Her stance reminds Naofumi of Darth Maul, and now he understands why the weapon she is using looks like something he should recognize.
The design in function is very similar to Maul's two-sided staff saber... but it has one major problem Naofumi can think of. The blades are actually solid, as opposed to being heated particles. Wouldn't the added weight completely throw off her balance? At least he now knows one of these two crazy ladies' names.
The insane nude woman didn't say anything as she climbed out of the trench in the ground in her human form. With a harpoon on hand, and electricity dancing on her skin, Therese narrows her eyes, and inserts a piece of ruby into a slot in the handle of her shaft. Instantly, the blades get covered in glowing red energy ... and now her weapon looks even more like the one wielded by Darth Maul. The two warriors didn't say anything more as they charged, and swung at each other.
Therese didn't only wield weapons like the famous movie villain, she fights like him as well using a series of spins on her body and her weapon to enhance its deadliness with the momentum. It might be even more dangerous with her solid blade as opposed to Star Wars' energy sword since there's actual mass in the blade itself... but shouldn't it also put extra strain on her body, especially her wrists…?
Naofumi feels like slapping himself. He had warned Motoyasu not to forget common sense about how the 'real' world works, and treat this world with video game logic. It seems now that the reverse had happened to him. While this world is 'real' enough, it still has a lot of video games like 'rules' to it, which subtly subvert certain aspects from what he expected from earth.
One in particular is how human (is he being racist when he refers to human, demi-human and beastman all under 'human'? Sentient humanoids, maybe? DAMNIT! That pedophile accusation from the crazy nudist is having him thinking over pointless, stupid stuff now!) can grow much stronger than those from earth due to the level up mechanic in place. Therese would probably find a real staff lightsaber too light in her hands, and that would have thrown off her balance. Similar to how the Monkey King from Journey to the West finds all the weapons too light in his hand and unable to let himself go all out until he gets his staff.
"My king! I'm so sorry for not being here for you!" While Naofumi is still lying half-paralyzed on the ground, Kael'thas flies out of the treeline beyond the battlefield with Mala beside him. It seems that they really were talking in private, and judging by their neat-looking clothes, weren't fighting each other beyond some nasty words. Kael'thas crouches down beside Naofumi and props Naofumi's back up against him. The (not!) elven prince also throws down a bundle of flame on the ground that slowly warms his body both figuratively and literally, with Mala standing protectively in front of them both.
"Go find my bodyguard... and the others. They tried to hold back my attacker before she got to me. I think Nazgrel's raiders and their wolves are dead... but Yatsuhashi might still be alive. Help him." Naofumi, feeling more strength and control return to his body, shakily points his finger at the direction of the river the crazy nude woman was bathing in. He can feel Kael'thas tense up for a brief moment behind him.
"Go, Kael. I'll watch over the Shield Hero for you." Mala's words seemed to have helped Kael'thas reach his decision. As he lies Naofumi on the ground. Naofumi can't see him behind his back, but from the shuffling noise behind him, he assumes Kael'thas followed his instruction to check on Yatsuhashi and the (not!) orc raiders. The Shield Hero noticed the nickname Mala is referring to Kael'thas by, and how he didn't mind it in spite of him acting the typical arrogant elven prince from popular literature. So their talk was actually more cordial, even more friendly than both he and Malty expected?
The two warriors, on the other hand, were sizing each other up. Both were intense warriors, with experience and martial skill to take down most enemies. But the nudist was confident that her home field advantage would grant her victory as the onsen's waters began to bubble.
"Aqua Blast."
Stream after stream of water began to mercilessly pound on the interloper, but Therese simply held up her bracelet, as it glowed a bright red.
"Ruby Flame!"
A giant ball of flame erupted elsewhere, as one, after the other were hurled towards the crazy woman, as a giant smokescreen full of mist surrounded the area.
Then, as she came to, she scanned around, only to find another group of orbs quickly headed her way. With little time to dodge, it was clear that she would have to tank the damage.
"Way Of The Dragon - Aqua Seal!" She screamed, as the orbs of fire proceeded to hit her, instinctively covering her torso and head from the heat as light burns appeared on her midriff and thighs. It reduced the damage, so she wasn't significantly maimed, let alone dead. Thankfully for her, the scars healed easily and quickly.
"Fine then," the nudist snarled, "- Take this! Advent Of The Thunder God!"
Brimming with electricity once more, she proceeded to wield the power of lightning in her hands, with an ultra-thick bolt of lightning now hurled at this new enemy.
"Drifa Thunder Burst!"
The Shield Hero then refocuses on the fight happening before him. It appears that whatever mechanic Therese's gem enhanced staff saber grants her protection against magic, as the insane nude woman's bolts of lightning simply get batted away from her burning blade. And she is definitely going on the offense with her twin sided weapon and her aggressive fighting style.
The still unnamed nude woman is forced into using her harpoon to defend against the burning blades. But she is both skilled and strong enough to keep her defense up against Therese's relentless assault. If anything, the crazy nudist seemed to have calmed down from being bitten by the Yuzus, as her face had changed into a serene, almost meditative trance.
Twirling her weapon, the nude woman kept poking and jabbing at Therese, trying to defend against the aggressive interloper, who also split her polearms into smaller blades, as she spun around and elbowed Therese in the face.
Therese, undeterred as ever, simply steeled herself and concentrated.
"Flame Wall!"
A wall of raging flame erupted, as if to shield herself from the raging torrent of water, dissipating the mass and creating another smokescreen for Therese to reposition herself.
And as the woman squinted, she was caught off guard, as an orb of fire slammed against her back and sent her sprawling, forcing her to backflip away from the rest of the orbs, before making a stirring motion with her bident.
"The Great Deep!"
And soon, as if from nowhere, the onsen was filled with a neverending stream of water, as it trickled at knee-length towards the woman, as she summoned this massive body of water clearly unaffected, clearly intending to charge up an attack, or drown them outright.
"Sea God!" .
The glowing tidal wave began to crash towards her. Was this it for Therese and her glowing magic bracelets?
"Karma Fire."
The rocks in the onsen began to glow a burning orange, forcing Naofumi to relocate to another vantage point to avoid getting burned. It did, however, melt the rocks into a protective lava wall, stopping the massive tidal wave and cooling the wall into solid granite, once the steam cloud cleared up.
However, the nudist was relentless, leaping over the newly-formed rock wall, aiming for an overhead slice, just blocked by Therese's blades, before she was pushed aside.
"Lesser Sea God."
And soon, the onsen's waters became like small hurricanes, swirling about from every direction, ready to pulverize and tear Therese asunder with their sheer rotational force, as she calmly put a blue gemstone in her bracelet.
"Silent Ocean."
And instantly, were the approaching ocean vortices nullified before her, down to the last drop. The water then splashed down on the surface, refilling the onsen's pools.
Naofumi's eyes widened at Therese's incredible power, and the ability to cancel the assailant's magic prowess. However, he didn't have time to marvel as he noticed the lady's harpoon already glowing a bright white, pointing at Therese herself.
"Drifa Chain Lightning!" Several blindingly bright bolts of lightning shot out from her bident as Therese raised her arm, and thunderclouds began to boom, additional bolts of lightning heading her way. "Drifa Thunderbolt! Thunder God!"
"Explosive Showering Thunderstorm Burst!"
The attacker's lightning magic was deflected when Therese summoned a lightning strike from the sky through another gemstone embedded in her bracelet. Were it not for that attack, the lady's lightning magic would've jumped from target to target and struck everyone involved, Naofumi, Lori and Lial included.
More thunderbolts were hurled over and over, only to be countered in the last second by Therese's thunder burst.
"It seems that our lightning attacks were evenly matched," the assailant smirked, as Therese gritted her teeth.
"Paralysis Wing!"
And from Therese's hands, came a swarm of glowing butterflies that fluttered around her.
"Ha," the woman sneered. "You think a bunch of silly butterflies can damage me?"
Therese said nothing, as the butterflies then slammed against her body and dissipated into nothing.
"By the time this is over, I'm gonna -"
And suddenly, she was rendered completely immobile. The flock had done its work as the nude woman tried to squirm, but was helplessly frozen in place.
"What's going on!?" The lady grunted. "I … can't move!"
Naofumi could sense her humiliation as she tried breaking free, unable to move a muscle in her arms and legs, and only jiggling her large, voluptuous breasts, and shaking her curvy thighs helplessly about.
Ironic how she didn't mind being naked - but being caught and standing around like an idiot was one of the few things that drove her off the edge.
And Therese wasted no time, charging about and punching and kicking the belligerent nudist, hoping to soften her up before arresting her to the authorities. She did show some restraint, trying to subdue the woman with nonlethal attacks to her torso and jaw, instead of slicing her bare flesh open with her weapons.
With the final kick sending the woman sprawling a good few feet away, bruises and scratches appeared on her body as she got back up on her feet, the paralysis spell now worn off.
"You dare … you dare make a fool out of me!? How dare you tarnish my beauty! Two can play in that game! Drifa Paralyzing Thunder!"
And suddenly, a stream of lightning erupted from her hands before Therese could react, sending Cal Mira's self-appointed enforcer in great agony, muscles twitching as the electric current bound her down, unable to move. This woman was in big trouble - for if she couldn't stop this psycho, who could?
"EEEYAAARRRGHHH!"
She quickly fell to her knees, clutching her forehead in immense agony. There must have been something secret behind that headwrap, if she focused on it too much.
But that wasn't it - the woman had transformed into her killer whale form, and charged towards her position, proceeding to punch Therese in her jaw with her giant fist. And then her torso. And again. And again.
"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!"
Naofumi had gaped in silence, knowing full well that she had not even bothered to slay Therese with her harpoon. This was raw, unfiltered, fury as she intended to pummel Therese into oblivion - and there was no magic or Stand to assist, just pure strength and speed coming from her muscles hitting their target at full force while drawing back at lightning fast speed.
And it wasn't a straightforward barrage either - no, she alternated between the occasional left-right punch with a full forced kick of her sturdy orca feet, trapping Therese in a neverending loop. If anything, she had the unhinged beatdown skills of Yuji Itadori, mercilessly pounding on Therese like a common street thug.
"Orca Strike!"
Spinning around, she slapped Therese's body occasionally with a mighty swipe of her orca tail, water currents surrounding its surface - as for brief moments, small cracks and blue dust appeared on her skin, before sealing up completely. Therese, as far as he could tell, was quite the unusual character - sturdy enough to endure this much strength, even though she might as well bleed like a normal human from this flurry of blows.
"Gak-!"
As the coughing Therese tried to ball up a fist, the orca woman proceeded to lift Therese up by the neck, which slowly began to crack at the immense strength of the woman's palm, underscored by the sickening crunching noises that appeared.
"Any last words?" She asked, ready to snap her neck in half and toss her aside like refuse.
"Protection Shatter", Therese croaked hoarsely.
"That's it? A mere spell couldn't-"
Thwack.
Therese had decked the orca in the cheek, bruising her jaw, before kicking her jaw up and sending her skidding across the paved ground with a heel kick to the torso.
"YOU BITCH! What did you do!?" The Orca woman screeched.
"Now we can fight on even ground, you shameless pervert," Therese panted, her injuries seemingly healing. "You are now not much tougher than I am, after I lowered your defenses."
"Me!? A pervert!?" The orca screamed, miffed. "That man over there has his way with little girls!"
"Says the woman who parades around naked in this indecency, even now. I won't stand for your debauchery, belligerent!"
"Tch," the orca sneered. "I will be vindicated when deviants like him are no more - where sane, normal men are attracted to mature beauties like myself, in a hot spring, of all places!"
Walking over to her weapon, she reverted back into her human form, wanting to present a smaller target but keeping her strength and speed. This contest would be decided through skill alone.
Therese kept spinning aggressively, trying to swipe at the woman, who blocked the blows, before sidestepping into a feint, leaving Therese open to miss, and an elbow to the head.
Therese kicked the woman square in the jaw, sending her back, as she responded with Drifa Thunderburst, only for it to be redirected through Therese's blades, and sent back to the ground with an overhead strike once she closed in onto the woman's position, knocking her back.
Orbs of fire erupted as Therese saw her chance. This time, her openings would be instrumental as she had no time to dodge or defend ub time.
"Drifa Thunder Guard!"
And soon, her body was surrounded by a field of lightning, rendering the spells useless on impact. "This won't work a second time!"
And she was right - every blow and slice from her swords dealt no damage to her skin either!
"Drifa Lightning Speed!"
A bolt of lightning electrified her body, as Therese's melee blows electrocuted her on contact. The nude woman's harpoon strikes grew harder to defend against, her speed amplified by the lightning's rejuvenating energy, trying to shock Therese with every blow. Eventually, she had enough as she kicked Therese away and tried to finish her off with a water blast.
"Way of the Dragon Vein - Aqua Blast!"
"Ruby Flame!""
It was another smokescreen, but nothing would stop her as she kept hurling lightning spell after lightning spell. From Thunder God and Chain Thunder God inundating the onsen with lightning strikes, to Drifa Thunderburst and Drifa Thunderbolt being thrown second after second towards the evasive Therese, who somersaulted and slid away from the attacks, before they arrived en masse.
"Explosive Showering Thunderstorm Burst!"
And all of them were countered by Therese's own lightning acting as a lightning shield, much to the woman's growing frustration.
"Enough! Lightning Strike Harpoon!"
Throwing her harpoon, now imbued with lightning, Therese was put on the defensive as the damned bident flew around from every angle, with the woman catching her breath thanks to remotely controlling the harpoon's electromagnetism with her lightning magic, safely away from Therese's trickery.
The bident quickly zipped and zapped, thrusting and swishing about as Therese ducked another swipe, and blocked a couple more thrusts. Leaping over the bident's low sweep, Therese parried the harpoon away, closing in with a dropkick that sent the woman tumbling back, the blow lessened by the harpoon returning just in time.
"Dragonfury Dual Blades!"
A water tornado, in the shape of a dragon, erupted and surrounded the nude woman as she charged towards Therese, hellbent on slamming her aside, and if not, then slicing her apart with her harpoon. But she wasn't satisfied with that either, as that aura turned into a roaring tornado of water, spitting out water stream attacks, ready to slice Therese up like little blades.
"Blossomlight Maelstrom of the Water Dragon!"
However, Therese simply sidestepped and simply kicked her from the side, dispelling the immense aura of water surrounding the nudist.
"Annihilating Wave of the Water Dragon!"
A dense ball of water soon formed from below, along with a massive raging torrent of water erupting from the other side, locking the two women inside the eye of the storm. Swimming rapidly in circles, the vortex continued to fly as Therese split her weapons, meeting the woman's spear thrusts with her own the deadlock was to be broken, it had to be now.
"Silent Ocean!"
With the torrent disspelled, the two were left in midair, and Therese knew how to seize the opportunity - charging towards the annoyed woman with a thrust of her recombined polearm.
Sadly, her thrust was deftly parried away, knocking out the double-sided halberd and disarming Therese entirely.
"It's over!"
With Therese's polearm deflected away, the woman immediately proceeded to bring her bident down … had Therese not clutched the blade at the last moment and kicked her in the gut, before quickly running for the ambidextrous halberd, ready to defend what was coming next.
"I've had enough of you! You've made a fool out of me … for the last time!"
Mala suddenly shifts her body, as if she's expecting something. And at the same moment, the crazy twinkle in the mad woman's eyes are back as her previously calm face morphed into a look of pure, lunatic rage. The shaft of her harpoon swings forward, into the handle of Therese's weapon as she is caught in the middle of her reverse swings. "无极震禅! (BOUNDLESS ZEN QUAKE!)"
The effect of the insane woman's attack was immediate and explosive. With a loud boom, Therese's whole body gets knocked flying back like a rocket. The crazy nudist didn't escape the effect of her own attack either, as she ended up falling on her knees. The very earth itself bent downwards into a crater with the invisible force of the insane woman's attack. It seems like Mala expected something, but perhaps not this exact outcome.
Regardless, she didn't relax even if both combatants seemed to be temporarily indisposed of. The crazy woman slowly raises her head up, looking, and glaring at Naofumi as she tries to push herself back to her feet. But then a voice comes through the trees. "Stop, Sadina! Don't hurt the Shield Hero!"
A young man around Naofumi's age, maybe a little younger, with unmistakable eastern features rides out of the forest riding atop of a white filorial with some mixed pink feathers on her wings... wait, is that- FIRO?! The man jumps off his steed and runs over to the now named crazy woman... wait. That's the name of the person Raphtalia was talking about? Her caretaker was some crazy nudist? No wonder she's so bad at her job at keeping Raphtalia safe! And then Naofumi's thought is interrupted as the bird charges right over Mala, and starts furiously rubbing her long neck and face against him. It really is Firo!
"Calm down, Firo. I'm happy to see you too! You aren't mistreated, are you?" Firo's happy chirp answered Naofumi's question. Even if he can't understand her bird speak (apparently there is a limit to what works for his translation matrix), he can still feel the happiness radiating off his daughter. Some it could be from their reunion, but he's pretty sure Firo wouldn't be this carefree if she had been abused by her captor. Which begs the question... Why did the other man kill Kael'thas' subordinates and kidnap Firo?
"Master Naofumi! What happened to - Big Sister Sadina?!" Through a mouthful of Firo's feathers, Naofumi can hear the concerned, and then confused outcry from Raphtalia. He pushes Firo slightly to the side to get a better look, and sees his first daughter charging into the battle scarred field atop of Akitsu. Motoyasu follows right after on top of Kuro. It seems like Raphtalia had gotten the idea of running to Motoyasu to borrow his bird children. Right now, his first daughter is staring at the crazy nudist woman, and her completely bamboozled expression slowly changes to one of realization, and then horror. "Why are you naked... Did you attack Master Naofumi?!"
"I did what I have to keep you safe, Raphtalia." Sadina's reply only makes the terror on Raphtalia's face grow. The crazy woman didn't get to finish whatever explanation, or perhaps she didn't want to elaborate further. She's dragged behind by the young man who rode Firo into the scene towards Naofumi. Someone who nearly killed him suddenly gets much closer to him makes the Shield Hero's body twitch uncomfortably. He may have tried to act brave because he is a summoned hero (the Shield Hero, who is supposed to tank damage, no less). But deep down, he still fears death. Especially one as painful as an electrocution, as he just found out.
"Who's the new guy, Naofumi?" Motoyasu jumps off Kuro and jogs over to Naofumi's side with small, light steps. The Spear Hero kneels down, and offers an arm to help him stand. Naofumi wants to know the answer to that question too. Firo hisses at Motoyasu. Maybe she's still angry at him for calling her fat after all this time. Which... wasn't that long ago, come to think of it. But it feels like years have passed with how much happened with the Three Heroes' Church. Naofumi shakes his head, gives a 'stop' gesture to Firo and takes Motoyasu's hand.
"I'm so, so sorry, Naofumi-sama. I don't know what came over Sadina to have her go off on you like this. But at least you aren't hurt... too badly." The man walks over to him, pulling the still naked Sadina over behind him. Naofumi could have imagined it, but the man seemed to have thrown a quick glare at Motoyasu's direction. It was so fast, the Shield Hero isn't sure if he imagined the whole thing. But the unnamed man's gaze was filled with too much contempt and jealousy to have been from his own imagination. And speaking of Sadina's... master? Leader of the adventure party? He is acting... surprisingly and illogically friendly towards Naofumi considering they don't know each other... and he kidnapped Firo... and one of his party members tried to murder Naofumi. Aside from his clearly eastern face... who looks utterly unremarkable. Slightly messy hair, but too short to leave a lasting impression unlike the famous spiked 'super saiyan' hairstyle some of the anime and game characters have. And a completely forgettable face where no feature stands out in a good, or bad way. He is the kind of guy that'll completely disappear into a crowd. And right now, he is repeatedly bowing to Naofumi with endless enthusiasm. "Sato, Tairou. I'm your biggest fan."
The young man's name is as unremarkable as his features, but his words certainly aren't. Naofumi can feel his entire face twitch at these exact words. Either than man was intentionally fucking with him, or he is being completely innocent and serious... and is begging some kind of cosmic mishap to happen. The Shield Hero could even see from his peripheral vision that Motoyasu of all people is giving him an 'oh, really?' look. "Please don't say anything that would involve the wrath of Murphy. Gods are real in this world."
"Oh, I know exactly what I was doing, Master Tairou. I was trying to kill the child lover who was grooming my ward. A shame people keep getting in the way of my kill." Naofumi's eyes and mouth would twitch, if his entire face wasn't already twitching. Again with the whole pedophile accusation! Why do people always assume the worst out of him?! As if being accused of being a rapist, and then a slaver (There's also the church's rhetoric of him being the literal Devil himself, but that's the kind of religious stupidity Naofumi can safely ignore on his conscientious) wasn't bad enough, now someone slanders him for being a pederast, and scum of the earth?!
"See, Raphtalia? Do you see it now? I told you he was- nothing..." Keel wipes her head around and starts to scream at Raphtalia too. But the boyish-looking girl is quickly silenced by Raphtalia's angry glare.
"WHAT!? Ewww... Who told you that lie?!" Raphtalia's face is getting a workout, as it now morphed into one of horrified disgust. She shakes her head left and right, almost like she's trying to shake away the very thought, maybe some compromising mental image between her and Naofumi out of her mind as she stomps her way over to Sadina and begins to furiously scream at her former protector. "I was a slave to Raleigh the vulture! I know what a child lover is like! Master Naofumi is nothing like that disgusting, bolding pig! He only ever treated me with love and care, like my father!"
"Exactly. He is grooming you to love him unconditionally. And once you do... that's when he'll reveal his real plan with you. You'll be too much in his game to understand by that point. There are many different kinds of child lovers." Sadina, still not bothered to cover her own body, points at Tairou almost like an afterthought. "I learnt this from him. He's a prophet."
"Naofumi-sama isn't a pedophile! His love with Raphtalia is entirely justified, and pure!" The unassuming young man who casually calls down cosmic mishaps actually looks, and sounds angry at Sadina's implication. It seems like begging things to go wrong is a bit of his habit. But once again, Naofumi has no idea why the other man is acting so close to him. Had they met back in his world, and he simply forgot this guy because how unremarkable he looks? But why would someone be 'the biggest fan' to some otaku loser like himself? "He saved Raphtalia when she was in slavery, nurtured her back to health. And their love only developed after she matured into an adult! Actually, she is the one who developed romantic affection towards him first. There's nothing disgusting, or malicious like grooming, or pedophilia involved!"
"WHA- That's NOT how our maturation bonus works! Don't talk about things you don't understand like you do. That's just rude!" Raphtalia has no idea how she's supposed to feel about this completely absurd situation. Yes, she loves Naofumi, and Malty. But it's the same kind of love she has towards her late father and mother. To even imply her entering a... girl and boy relationship with Naofumi is like implying the same to her and her father. Which is... EWWW! Disgusting! Also... why is this guy talking like he's giving some lecture on a topic he has no understanding of? He's completely ignoring all the intense emotional problems (Naofumi calls them hormone imbalance, whatever that means) she's been experiencing since first growing into her adult body. Doubly rude! "And don't accuse Master Naofumi, or me for having a relationship! He's like my father! Do you know how messed up that is?! How do you feel if someone says something like... like you want to... get together with your mom!"
Raphtalia realizes she's being both rude and a hypocrite for doing exactly the thing she accused the other guy for doing. But she can't help it. She's really starting to feel angry at this guy. Not as much as when she thinks about Fuckboy, or his uncle. But possibly right after them. And somehow, this man didn't look angry at her rudeness. If anything, the look he is giving her is that of sympathy. But it's the kind of fake, patronizing sympathy she would occasionally get from those who passed her by on the street when she was being led away in chains and rags as a slave. The kind that feels sorry for her, but would not leave a finger to help her. And that expression makes his words even more rude, which only made her more annoyed. "That's how you thought at first. Thinking Master Naofumi is your surrogate father because that's all the relationship you had with a man. But then you will realize the love for him isn't the same you had for your father. And it'll take even longer for Master Naofumi to accept that you aren't his daughter, so you don't get daughter-zoned. But don't worry. I will be rooting for you two!"
"Shut up. SHUT UP! How do you know anything! I never met you before, and does Master Naofumi know you? Don't talk like you've known us all your life!" Raphtalia can physically feel the holes in her head. Keel's eyes are burning into her.
"None of you know me, but I know both of you already. I have read [Rising of the Shield Hero]. It's one of my favorite novels! I'm Naofumi-sama's biggest fan! And now that I'm living in my favorite story, it's a dream come true! I can use my knowledge to help all of you rise even higher than the original story!" The mad man (because that has to be what he is. Utterly mad, just like Fuckboy!)'s eyes twinkled with excitement. He clearly believes everything he is saying. Didn't Fuckboy say something similar, about how their lives are supposedly someone else's story? But both of them are clearly wrong! Naofumi, or Malty, or herself aren't some people whose fate was already decided before they were even born!
"Calm down, Raphtalia. You have to calm down. I know you are upset about what he... what Sato said. I'm a little upset too. But if there really is some isekai novel written about us... I want to-" Naofumi slowly stands up and walks towards her. His hand touched her shoulders. Her body gives a violent twitch by Naofumi's touch, leaving her surrogate father backing away so fast from her that he nearly tripped over and fell down.
"How can I be calm at what this guy just said! I... I treat you like a father, Master Naofumi! How won't I lose my mind when someone tells me that you and I are supposed to- AAUGH!" Raphtalia lets out a frustrated growl as she glares at her surrogate father. Her eyes suddenly grew larger. Why was Naofumi trying to listen to this lunatic? "You- you don't actually agree with him. About the two of us- are you?!"
"What?! NO! Of course not! How can you think that? Raphtalia?!" Naofumi's eyes grow as large as her, looking just as shocked and disgusted at her suggestion. Raphtalia instantly felt a wave of regret, and guilt hit her for implying Naofumi had less than pure motivation towards her. Of course, he wouldn't. And he only saved her because he is a compassionate and good person. What would otherwise be the reason for him to pick her, an useless, and sick child out of slavery and nursed her back to health? Because he wanted to torture woman to make himself feel superior, like that those disgusting Consevaties? "Are you losing control of your emotions again? I think you better change to your young body again. You aren't thinking straight anymore. I wanted to listen to what he had to say, because remember what Fuckboy said before? That we are living in some badly written novel? I want to learn more about what happened in that story."
"What do you mean 'change to your younger body', Naofumi-sama-" The insane man's rambling is suddenly cut off, and turned into stunned silence as he looks at Raphtalia shrinking back down into a child after a puff of smoke. Her experience living under the thumb of Fuckboy made her realize that she needs to learn how to defend herself... which means she needs to get used to her adult body. She's been getting better at holding back her emotions since she's trying to get used to her adult body more and more. But she can still lose herself to intense emotions, especially when she is distracted, or distressed like she was before. Of course, Naofumi isn't actually agreeing with whatever this insane man was talking about. "Raphtalia can change between being an adult and a child?"
"AWWW~ I thought I lost the chance to hug you like a cute, adorable little girl forever, Raphtalia." Big Sister Sadina runs over to Raphtalia's side, picks her up and pulls her into a tight hug. Raphtalia considered doing her best to push away her former protector for listening to the insane man. He might claim to be some prophet, but he clearly doesn't know everything. He just admitted he doesn't know about her shapeshifting ability after all. And she most likely would have pushed Sadina again if she stayed in her adult body. But after calming herself down through a few long, deep breaths, Raphtalia decided against being rude to Big Sister Sadina. Her former protection likely worried sick for her, and pushing her away right now would increase the anger she feels towards Naofumi. Unfortunately, Big Sister Sadina clearly isn't content to simply give her an affectionate hug. She begins to turn around, and walks away now she still has Raphtalia in her arms. "Now I found you again, I'm not leaving you alone with these awful people anymore. I'll take you with me to Master Tairou, and make sure you are well protected."
"NO! Stop that, Big Sister Sadina! You have to listen to what I want!" Raphtalia acts more firmly this time, as she begins furiously struggling in Big Sister Sadina's arms and pushes against her. When that clearly doesn't work (because she's still in her much weaker child's body... and because Big Sister Sadina was already a prestige range warrior before the waves hit), she changes into her tanuki form to slip, and jump away. Raphtalia lands on the ground to change herself back into her child body, and glares up at Big Sister Sadina. "I know you worry for me, Big Sister Sadina! But stop treating me like a child! I know better! I know who is being mean to me and who isn't! Right now, you are being mean to me, and my surrogate father!"
"What's going on here?" A much larger flock of filorials comes through the trees, with Malty riding in front of them all. Before Raphtalia or anyone else has any chance to respond, the mad man's eyes suddenly grow large as an egg with hatred. He pulls a knife out of his cloth, which instantly changes into a tomahawk... wait, was he the Throwing Weapon Hero who supposedly kidnapped Firo? He tosses his weapon right at Malty with clear intention to nail her body into one of the tree's trunk.
"DIE, BITCH!"
Malty can see her life flash before her eyes once again. Everything seems to slow down around her, unfortunately her body can't react even in this state. Perhaps she is simply paralyzed by the fear of her impending death. Mala is running towards her, either trying to kick the deadly weapon off air, or maybe even throw her own body into it to save Malty's life. But she wouldn't be fast enough to make a difference, she's too far away from Malty, and too unprepared for whoever decided to attack the princess turned slave on the first sight. This confirms that the Chief God wasn't simply indifferent towards her like he feels towards the late Pope Balmus. No, that bastard must truly hate her. To escape her wedlock with her sadistic uncle, only to be struck down by some guy she just met is surely the act of a divine comedy.
And then she feels something shoving at her hard from the side, and she falls off Yomi and lands on the ground hard with a heavy thud. Something landing on top of her. She can hear the sound of filorials screeching, and people screaming all around her as the flow of time seems to return to normal. She looks down, and the first thing she notices was the bundle of curly pink hair... which is not only badly ruffled, but also has been split from the side with a clear trench cut through them. Flare saved her life, and nearly got scalped herself. She didn't realize her newest student (if she counts Raphtalia who she's also been teaching some basic spell casting) is a hero!
"WAHHH~! My head was opened like a melon! I won't live anymore~!" Malty feels her ear bleed as Flare begins to screech in a way that's the complete opposite of being heroic. It seems like now that her mind had caught up with her body, the slightly spoiled daughter of Lord Grima Consevatie had realized how dangerous her previous action was. And somehow she thinks she is dying in spite of her clearly being alive... and hasn't suffered any mortal wounds with how loud she is being. Something tells Malty that Flare had never been hurt before in her life.
"No. You are fine, Lady Flare. Your head isn't hurt. That tomahawk flew over your head, and cut off a strand of your hair." Flare's screaming stops for a brief moment. The pampered girl from House Consevatie looks up to meet Malty's eyes with her own. For a brief moment, Malty thought that her new apprentice is finally starting to calm down, and then her hope is dashed when Flare starts to howling louder than before.
"WAAAHHHHH~! My hair! My hair is ruined forever~! I wasted all hours of my life every morning trying to get them just right~! It's all for naught now~!" This time, the dainty little 'princess' of House Consevatie didn't only release her tears, but snots as well. And worse... she's wiping them on Malty's clothes! The princess turned slave wants to slap, or kick the overreacting little lady away. But as she raises her hand, she is reminded how this crying girl is the one who saved her life. So she ends up resting her hand on Flare's hair, and lets the Consevatie girl use her cloth as her personal tissue papers.
Malty turns her head towards the crazy guy who tried to kill her next. The first thing she notices is Baldy, and Blue Eyes standing in front of her like a pair of steel mountains. In front of them stands Mala, with her body slightly crouched towards the ground in a stance that is ready to spring into action. Her former servants that followed her into this thinly veiled life of exile are truly loyal, and ready to throw their lives away to protect her. She would have a hard time seeing through them, if she wasn't lying on the ground, and can see things through the spaces between their legs.
Much further away, Motoyasu is engaged in battle with Malty's would-be murderer. The Spear Hero's skill at using his WEAPON as an actual weapon, then a glorified catalyst to cast spear weapon arts, has some a long way from his farce of a duel against Naofumi. His opponent keeps throwing knives, and tomahawks at him. But Motoyasu blocks all the throwing weapons away without any difficulties with the shaft of his spear. Malty can't see the Spear Hero's face, but he sounds downright angry. "What the hell is your problem!? First you accused Naofumi of being some sick pedo, and now you tried to murder Malty!?"
"I don't have to answer any question from you, you stupid simp! I'll beat you into submission for Naofumi-sama right here, right now!" The unremarkable looking man sneers at Motoyasu, completely ignoring the dirty look Naofumi is shooting at his back as the Shield Hero charging up his [Crown Shield]. As Motoyasu parries another one of his throwing axes, the crazy guy's eyes suddenly twinkles with mad glee as his throwing weapon reappears in his hand. The Throwing Weapon Hero didn't try to keep his distance with Motoyasu with a backstep this time, he charged forward instead and got right in front of the Spear Hero while the bladed tip of the legendary spear was pointed away during the block. The crazy man holds up his throwing axe in a way that reminded Malty of how Motoyasu wielded his spear when he was dueling Naofumi. "Bet you didn't see this coming- GAH!"
Instead of trying to back away from his opponent to bring the spear head back into range, or using its shaft as a makeshift quarterstaff to hold off his assailant, Motoyasu also charges pushes his opponent onto his ass with a shoulder check. He spins on his heel, swinging the tip of his spear down at his opponent. The downed Throwing Weapon Hero manages to bring his weapon up, and turns it into some oversized star to use as a makeshift shield. But Motoyasu isn't the only legendary hero angry at him. As Naofumi summons out his [Crown Shield], he immediately snaps it off his arm, curls it up as a giant flail and throws it at the mad man's head with the same intention to kill when he smashes the head of Tirion Fordring. "Die, you FUCKO!"
End Note:
IS YOUR EXPECTATION SUBVERTED YET~?!
Jokes & memes aside, Sadina acting as an antagonist isn't one of my 'writing by the seat of your pants' moment. This was planned very early in the stage of writting [Ambition of the Red Princess]. Because honestly... Sadina as a character is an one-trick pony stereotype of the drunken, slutty big sister type to expand Naofumi's harem (and possibly avoiding the accusation of him only lust after underage girls). Not saying she doesn't have something interesting going on with her, that Alenko (ONCE AGAIN!) didn't utilize: she is made to be bodyguard of Raphtalia's family... who utterly failed her duty (probably because she didn't exist at the start and all this details are later added in through a retcon). That should have some ground for some interesting inner conflict and character development on Sadina's part.
But who needs boring stuff like actual character growth in a story, when Alenko can do some more braindead simping and shilling of their imaginary dream pet husbando? Am I right? Or am I RIGHT?
On the newly introduced Throwing Weapon Hero Tairou Sato (yes, I picked the most generic first name which means 'first born son', and the most common Japanese surname to make him sounds generic), he is in a way, an inverse of SIOC/Fuckboy. He is the kind of SIOC in fanfiction who believes canon are unbreakable no matter what butterfly effect themselves (or anyone else, for that matter) already had, canon event will still play out the same simply because it's canon.
If anyone was wondering... yes. Just like SIOC (who isn't a hero... but that's besides the point) I create my OG vassal heroes based on badly written fanfiction / webnovel main character archetypes, to show why I think they are idiots and would fail miserably if they don't have almighty plot armor. Which yes, that's the same thing with what Alenko did with 'the three stooges'.
Once again, Alenko's idea isn't bad, but the execution is always laughbly awful. Alenko's problem when writing the three weapon heroes isn't that they used archetype shounen protagonists as templates, it's that they didn't truly explore why they would fail in a fair setting to demonstrate the weakness of their respective archetype. They simply debuff'ed their INT and WIS rating to negative, and have them fail nomatter what, even when they did everything right (The whole zombie Gaelion plot WAS NOT REN'S FAULT! Naofumi would have done the exact same thing in his circumstance unless he is a compulsive contrarian idiot who always does the opposite of what people tells him to for no good reason) while Naofumi always succeed nomatter what. To pick an example I think best demonstrate Alenko's bad writing, Naofumi's solution to the whole bioplant village arc was EXACTLY THE SAME as Motoyasu's. They both utilized a plot device which has no real life application and they did NOT throughly test, it's just one failed because f̶u̶c̶k̶ y̶o̶u̶reasons, and the other succeeded also because f̶u̶c̶k̶ y̶o̶u̶ reasons.