"Mr. Naofumi the village is under attack!"
They were still a minute from the village, but they could start to see a large group of undead attacking the barricade they had set up before this all began. Villagers were along the barricade wielding pitchforks and other long makeshift weapons trying to fend the undead off, stabbing through the gaps in the barricade. They could also see Filo running back and forth from the edges of the barricade, headbutting and kicking the undead trying to get through.
"Why are the undead attacking the village? I thought they were after the heroes?" Naofumi looked towards Momon who seemed to be thinking about it.
"I'm assuming after the ambush failed, they realized their undead forces were low. This attack is most likely a way to replenish their manpower. Look over there." Momon pointed towards a skeleton dragging one of the dead villagers towards the swamp.
"These undead are just cannon fodder. Powerful undead, like Death Knights, require catalysts to be properly summoned by most necromancers. Undead like these are summoned by a spell without the use of a catalyst. I'm sure our enemy hopes to weaken us before the death knight arrives, so don't waste your energy eliminating this horde." Naofumi and Raphtalia both nodded as they were approaching the barricade.
When they arrived, they could see the situation was even worse than they thought. The villagers were barely holding the undead off, having multiple wounded behind the barricade. The barricade's stakes were completely clogged with zombies as the other undead attempted to climb over them. Right as they were about to arrive, one of the villagers noticed them.
"It's the Shield Hero! He's back!" The villagers looked towards them as Naofumi was baffled by their stupidity.
"Idiots! Pay attention to the undead, not us!" Naofumi's warning came too late as the barricade couldn't hold the weight of the undead any longer and collapsed. The undead began rushing in attacking the distracted villagers.
"AGGHHHH! HELP ME!" They sprinted to the overwhelmed villagers. Raphtalia and Momon started cutting down the undead who breached the barricade as Naofumi tried fending off the ones trying to go through the gap. Naofumi tried to push them back, but the weight was too much for him. He glanced back to see the villagers just standing there horrified by the scene in front of them.
"Stop standing around and help us!" He heard a few of them start running away, as he felt the pressure from the undead increase.
"Mr. Naofumi! Hold on!" He could hear Raphtalia cutting down the undead as fast as possible, but the ones he was holding off were starting to claw at his face.
'Of course! This is the thanks I get from these people! They run at the first sign of trouble!' Just as he was about to falter, he heard a bunch of yelling and heavy footsteps coming from behind.
"Shield Hero! Move!" He gave one last push against the undead and dove to the side. A large row of stakes came charging from behind, before plunging into the ground, pinning down a few zombies in the process. A half dozen villagers were panting heavily after planting the new barricade section.
"Shield Hero. Are you okay?" One of them reached out to Naofumi. He glared at them for a moment before picking himself up.
"I'm fine. Why the hell couldn't you have told me you were grabbing that instead of just leaving me behind?!" The villagers gathered were surprised by his aggression, but just bowed apologetically.
"We're sorry. We weren't thinking." Momon walked up to the group shaking chunks of flesh off his blade.
"You all need to evacuate to the Spear Hero's camp. A powerful undead is going to show up soon and we won't be able to protect you once it shows up. And if that barricade falls again, you won't stand a chance."
The villagers looked towards the barricade which was being pushed back and forth on the brink of being torn down by the dozens of undead. They gripped their fists, knowing he was right, but still wanting to do more to protect their home.
"You've defended your village bravely, but please, protect the wounded knights and leave the rest to us. Some undead are bound to get past us, so make sure the camp is safe." A large roar echoed through the village, causing the villagers to look at the edge of the swamp in horror.
"W-we'll leave immediately." Momon nodded as another section of the barricade fell. The group immediately went to defend the breach as the villagers scrambled to gather all the wounded. The undead continued to push forward, with some almost slipping past their defense and endangering the villagers.
"Naofumi! We need to get these villagers out of here. Have Filo escort the villagers back to the camp, while we stay here to defend. She's fast and can carry the wounded."
"Alright, fine. Filo!" They only had to wait a second before Filo came charging through a group of zombies. She ran right next to Naofumi and kicked the zombies he was holding off.
"Gahh!"
"Bring those villagers to the camp outside the village. And stayed there!" He pointed toward the half-dozen villagers on the ground. She gave an affirmative call as she bashed one last zombie in the head before running toward the villagers.
As the villagers were grouping up, the undead continued to come through the barricade. Naofumi and Raphtalia defended the villagers while Momon tried to get the attention away by fighting within the horde. This gave the villagers ample time to gather their wounded and get ready to head for the camp. But before the villagers were able to leave, Naofumi noticed two shapes moving through the horde.
"Filo! Get the villagers out of here!" But it was too late. Two wraiths floated above the horde and gave out a horrifying screech. All the villagers immediately went into a panic, either running away or collapsing in fear.
"Raphtalia! Filo!" Thankfully, both of them were still standing, but he could tell by their shaking bodies they weren't able to resist the aura completely. Naofumi looked on as the wraiths gave haunting chuckles as they backed away from the front line concealing themselves within the horde.
"Momon! Is there any way to get the villagers free from the Fear Aura?" Momon made a large swipe across the horde allowing him to toss over a piece of rolled-up parchment.
"That's a magic scroll. Toss it up and say the words "Under Divine Flag". Its effect will make the people around you completely immune to the aura. It only works with those currently around you, so make it count!" Naofumi pushed away the undead way before tossing the scroll upwards. He noticed Momon turning his head towards him as he did.
"[Under Divine Flag]!" The scroll burned up as a bright sphere expanded from Naofumi washing over Raphatalia, Filo, and most of the villagers in a shimmering light. Naofumi looked to see that the undead were completely unfazed by the sphere's effect.
"That effect only lasts a few minutes, so make sure the villagers get back to the camp before it wears off." It only took a few moments for the villagers to realize what had happened and made dashed towards the camp with Filo in tow. Now that the villagers were out of the way, the trio could focus on eliminating the undead horde.
One after another the horde continued to charge through the breach. Over time the trio found a rhythm to the monotonous fight. Naofumi and Raphtalia worked together blocking and attacking constantly moving to ensure they were never surrounded while Momon acted as a one-man army, cutting down multiple undead in his swings, nothing stopping his onslaught against the horde.
Eventually, the undead horde slowly trickled down as the last few zombies came through the breach and were promptly cut down by Momon.
"Alright, that should be the last of the horde." Even though Momon said that Naofumi knew that neither Momon nor Raphtalia eliminated the wraiths that showed up halfway through. But no matter where he looked, Naofumi couldn't see them anywhere.
"The Death Knight should be here any moment, so collect yourselves for- *Clap**Clap**Clap*"
A slow clapping sound echoed through the village as a black fog seeped out of the swamp. The fog quickly encapsulated the entire village where Naofumi couldn't see anything outside the village borders. The fog seemed to thin out as it entered the village, resembling a fog one would see on a cold summer morning.
"Oh, how the great Momon has fallen. Hehehaha!" The laughter seemed to surround them as a figure started to emerge from the darkness. A tall undead wearing a tattered trench coat and suit floated across the ground as it gave a disturbing smile. Its face was unnaturally elongated, its nose was rotted off, and its eyes were bulging out of their sockets giving a constant stare.
"Momon. Is this the undead you're after…?" While disturbing to look at, Naofumi didn't think it could be a national threat to a nation of any size.
"No. This is one of its generals I killed over four decades ago. Akumu. A lich that consumes the negative emotions of living beings." After noticing Momon saying its name, Akumu took a deep breath in and gave an even wider smile, cracking its bones in the process.
"Ah, I can smell your hatred in the air, Momon. Is it for my actions against the village or is it my mere existence that causes your hatred to be so pure?" It chuckled as Momon simply glared in response.
"It's been so long since I've tasted human emotions. Spreading chaos, instilling fear in all of those who reside in this kingdom, and humiliating the weak heroes who defend them! I've never felt so alive! HAHAHAHA!"
Akumu laughed maniacally, completely lost in the euphoria of existing once again. Seeing the opportunity Raphtalia rushed him with deadly intent. Just as she raised her sword to slash him, she suddenly froze in place. Akumu turned to the frozen Raphtalia with a mocking smile.
"Ah, the slave girl. While I admire your desire for death, killing you now without even a taste of you would be a waste." He caressed her frozen expression. "After all, female slaves always have the best trauma."
"Get away from her!" Akumu looked at Naofumi directly and for the first time, his smile being replaced by revulsion as he moved away from Raphtalia.
"Oh, if it isn't the hero. I must say both you and the Spear Hero have put on quite a pathetic show for me. If it weren't for Momon, I have no doubt both of you would just be another undead for my master's army. Though, I must admit, the Spear Hero's wide range of emotions was such a feast. So much so, I didn't even mind it when Momon showed up to save him. It just means I'll be able to have seconds!" Naofumi turned towards Momon with irritation.
"Why aren't you doing anything?!" Momon briefly looked towards him before facing back to Akumu.
"Because. That isn't the real Akumu." With a swift motion Momon through a knife straight at Akumu for it to pass right through him. Akumu's smile returned as he mockingly sighed in dissapointment.
"Hah, Momon. Always the spoilsport. Never allowing me to have my fun. Hehahaha. I guess that means we'll just have to move on to the main event!" Everyone began to hear the loud footfalls of a huge monster coming towards them.
"I was worried that the wave monsters wouldn't be a good catalyst for my undead, but…" A giant armored undead knight wielding a flamberge and tower shield emerged from the black fog.
"It turned out better than I could've ever hoped for!"
The knight's armor was an ebony black covering its arms, shoulders, and legs, leaving its torso exposed showing a multitude of undead faces and small arms flailing out. Its body was covered in a black substance that seeped through cracks in its armor and weapon. Bee stingers could also be seen within the black ooze and jutting out of the undead's shield and parts of its body.
The terrifying abomination twitched and spasmed with every move and looked like it was about to fall apart, but the black ooze flowed around its body keeping it together. It gave out a familiar roar spewing specks of black ooze everywhere. As the death knight began its charge, Akumu's illusion began to fade away.
"I do hope we meet again, Momon. I would hate for your legacy to end to a mere Death Knight. HeHehahaha."
Just as the illusion disappeared, Raphtalia was released from her frozen position and followed through on her strike into the ground. She quickly got her bearings and ran back to Naofumi and Momon. Seeing how useless the barricade was now, the group retreated to the middle of Riyute. The village center was basically just a large clearing where they could fight against the death knight without destroying the villagers' homes.
"Naofumi, when its blade is covered by the black ooze, I need you to defend me. Avoid any contact with the black substance on its body, it's pure negative energy and will spread corruption onto your body, just like how the wraith corrupted Raphtalia. Now get ready."
Right before the death knight reached them, its jaw became unhinged and began vomiting up large globs of the black ooze onto the ground. The ooze wriggled around aimlessly before forming into twisted versions of the monsters from the wave. A half dozen giant bees and a few undead formed, with each of them having the black ooze seeping from their bodies.
Before they were in the full swing of combat, Naofumi tried analyzing the monsters' stats. Just like with Momon, his visuals went static for a moment before displaying an error-filled screen with nothing useful displayed except for their names: Corrupted Death Knight and Corrupted Death Knight Squires.
The two groups split up with the death knight targeting Momon and the summons going after Raphtalia and Naofumi.
The death knight rushed Momon bringing his flamberge down hard, but missed Momon narrowly as he side-stepped the obvious attack. With a quick motion, Momon made a swipe for the knight's neck which was immediately blocked by the knight's tower shield.
As Momon relentlessly attacked the death knight's shield, the death knight's negative energy slowly enveloped its own blade, eating away at it before taking the shape of a sword and replacing it in an instant.
"Naofumi! Use the largest shield you have! Hurry!" Just as Momon called out, Naofumi broke his engagement with the summons and ran over while switching over to his Sharpening Shield, hoping Momon knew what he was doing. The negative energy sword came down just as Naofumi got there to block the attack.
"What the…?" Naofumi expected to receive some major damage for blocking the attack with such a weak shield but instead, the blade simply splattered on contact. It covered his entire shield, with some almost reaching Naofumi's arm. The ooze that didn't stick splatted in all directions around them.
"Shake that stuff off! It will eat through your shield, just like it did to my sword!" Naofumi jumped backward as the death knight's shield shot out long bee stingers which retracted back after missing their mark. Naofumi quickly shook the ooze off as he looked back to the death knight.
"Why the hell would it do that? Now it doesn't have a weapon to…" Just as he was saying those words he watched as the death knight simply reached out to the air for an exact copy of his flamberge to materialize in its hand.
"That's why." The death knight charged at Momon again as he blocked the attack with his broad sword and redirected the strike into the ground.
"Go help Raphtalia! The sooner the summons are dealt the sooner we can end this battle." Naofumi nodded as he went back to see Raphtalia struggling to fight off the summons attacking her. Three corrupted bees were able to get behind her and were preparing to strike.
"Shield Prison!" As Naofumi trapped the bees he also ran in to block an attack from an undead wielding an axe.
"Raphtalia, focus on the insects and I'll keep the undead distracted!"
While Naofumi was dealing with the three undead soldiers, Raphtalia dodged and killed off the three bees not in the shield prison just before the prison's duration ended. As the corrupted bees fell to the ground, their bodies started convulsing and inflating as dozens of stingers started to emerge from the bodies.
"Mr. Naofumi! Something's happening to the bodies!" He looked back to see the three bodies about to burst. He immediately pushed the undead back and ran over to Raphtalia. But he was too far to make it in time.
"Air Strike Shield!" He screamed out his skill just before the bodies burst, shooting dozens of stingers in all directions. Thanks to the wide range of the burst, many stingers found their way into the three undead Naofumi was fighting, killing one of them. Most of the ones coming towards them were blocked by his ability, but it couldn't withstand the damage and shattered before it could block them all. Naofumi was able to stop the ones that shot toward him with minimal damage, but that's not what he was worried about.
"Raphtalia!" He could see six large stingers sticking out of her body as well as multiple cuts across her body. That single attack caused Raphtalia's HP to go down significantly, with only a third remaining.
"Augh… Mr. Naofumi, look out!" She pointed to his right where he could see the other bees were killed by the stingers and were also preparing to burst.
'I don't know if I'll be able to withstand a full barrage without my skills. I can't use any of my abilities as they're still on cooldown. Why didn't we just fight near some buildings we could use as cover?!' As Naofumi desperately tried to find a way to avoid the attack, he noticed the two undead were back up and were lumbering towards them.
'This is a stupid idea and there's no way in hell it's going to work, but it's all I got!' Naofumi ran up to the two undead while switching to the Twin Black Dog Shield. He dodged one of their attacks and got around them, so their backs were to the inflating bees. The two undead mindlessly slashed at his shield in unison, activating its effect.
Normally the shield's ability would only counterattack, but Noafumi hoped that if he concentrated enough, he could make the dogs grab them rather than just attack. Nothing he experienced said he could do this, but nothing said he couldn't either.
The twin dogs' eyes glowed in response to the undead attacks and took a large bite out of each of them and, to Naofumi's surprise, they held them in place just how he needed them.
"UAHHH!" While they were still attached to the dog shield Naofumi pushed them forward and had the dogs release them onto the giant bees, just before the counterattack ended. He quickly ran back to Raphtalia and got into his defense position right as the stingers started flying.
When the corpses finally burst, the undead were still lying across them and received nearly every single stinger launched by the bees. Naofumi blocked the few stray stingers that pieced through the undead bodies but was able to tank them with relative ease.
Naofumi waited a moment, making sure that all the summons were killed by the final stinger attack before lowering his guard.
"Alright, I think they're all dead." He turned back to see Raphtalia about to remove one of the stingers.
"Don't do that. It'll just make it worse."
"Mr. Naofumi, I'm fine. None of them are too deep, I'll just-AHHHH!" As soon as she ripped it out, she experienced an agonizing pain.
"I told you not to do that! You should've listened to me!" Naofumi moved over to pick up the stinger she ripped out. The stinger itself was only slightly thicker than a pencil, but on closer inspection, he could see tiny serrations across the length of the stinger.
He quickly checked his status to see if the stingers were poisoned or had a negative energy coating. Thankfully, other than her low HP, she didn't seem to have any other negative conditions affecting her.
Naofumi looked over to see Momon still battling with the death knight. They seemed to be at a standstill with neither letting the other get an opportunity to get a solid strike on the other. This battle wasn't over.
"Raphtalia, answer me honestly. Can you still fight or at the very least dodge? Because I can't guarantee I'll be fast enough to block that undead's attack if it targets you."
Raphtalia opened her mouth for a brief instance before sincerely thinking about his question. She looked over to the battle being waged between the two knights, before giving a confident nod.
"Yes. I might not be able to harm it, but I should still be able to distract it."
"Alright then, let's go see if Momon has a plan." Just as they were about to rush over to the battle, Momon was sent flying toward them. By shoving his sword into the ground, he was able to slow himself down enough to stop slightly ahead of them.
"Are you two alright?" Momon asked while still looking towards the death knight.
"I'm at about half HP while Raphtalia only has about a third left, but we can still fight." Naofumi noticed the death knight watching them carefully but hasn't charged at them yet.
"It's probably wary of us all being together, but I doubt he'll stay there forever. Before we charge in, I need you two to do something for me." Naofumi concentrated back on Momon as he continued.
"I need you to get its attention long enough for me to get one direct hit on him. That probably means withstanding one of its attacks. Can you do that?" Before Naofumi had a chance to respond, Momon looked right into his eyes.
"I understand that earlier I warned you not to block its attacks, and if you aren't confident, we won't risk it. But we must end this battle soon. The longer this battle takes the weaker we'll become, while the death knight will always be fighting at 100%. So, knowing this, can you withstand its attack?"
Naofumi quickly pulled up all his shields and abilities. From what SP he had left, he could use Air Strike Shield, but he didn't have enough for Shield Prison. Judging by the strength of the death knight's summons, that alone wouldn't be nearly enough to stop its attack. Right before Naofumi was about to tell Momon no, he saw the one ability that would allow him to do it.
"I can." Momon nodded to his response.
"Good. Now let's finish this!" The three started in a sprint as the death knight roared, accepting their charge head-on.
Momon spear-headed the charge, defecting the death knight's initial strike and keeping its attention on him. The other two positioned themselves behind the knight, making sure they were outside striking range as they did.
"Momon, we're ready!" When Naofumi made the call, Momon jumped back as Raphtalia struck the death knight from behind. It quickly swept its blade around, trying to catch Raphtalia off guard. Its blade narrowly missed her as she jumped back to Naofumi who was already in position to block its next attack. But the second attack never came.
Seeing their retreat, the death knight immediately turned back around to Momon, blocking his incoming attack. And just like before, the death knight was trading blows with Momon, completely ignoring their presence.
"Raphtalia, you have to go in for another attack, but after you dodge staying within its reach. We won't get its full attention unless we're in striking range, especially since it knows your attacks don't harm it." Raphtalia looked nervous but took in a deep breath in and out before nodding.
"Okay." Naofumi could tell she was exhausted, but she still pushed herself even more. They'd been fighting for what seemed like forever now, and one wrong move would mean both of their deaths. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Just get the hit and dodge the counterattack. That's all you need to do. I'll be right there to block its follow-up attack, Momon will get the final blow while its distracted, and then this is over. Alright?" She nodded as she steeled her resolve.
They both rushed in again with Raphtalia at point and Naofumi right behind her. Knowing her full strike would do nothing to the death knight, Raphtalia put significantly less effort into her attack, being just enough to get its attention.
Its counterstrike was even faster than before with it clipping the hair off the tips of her ears when she rolled just far enough to avoid the attack, while staying within striking range. Seeing her in a vulnerable position, the death knight raised its blade with frightening speed. But Naofumi was already in position to block the incoming attack. In that moment before the strike landed Naofumi changed to the newest shield in his arsenal: Yggdrasil Wraith Shield.
The entire shield was covered in a black hood with a slight opening down the center. When Naofumi tried the shield for the first time, he tried moving the cloth but no matter what he did it stayed closed. Ironically, the ability that would secure their victory came from the first wraiths sent by Akumu.
"[Wraith Form]!" The second Naofumi uttered the shield's ability, the hood covering the shield opened to reveal the screaming face of an undead wraith with eye that glowed with light blue flames. A notification popped up on his HUD with a timer counting down.
Race has been temporarily changed to [Undead (Wraith)]
Duration: 10 seconds.
In an instant, Naofumi's skin turned semi-translucent as a blue fog wrapped around his entire body. All Naofumi's senses were enhanced dramatically, as a sense of calm washed over him. He had never felt this calm before, every feeling of worry, doubt, anger, and fear he had for this battle was condensed and suppressed to a sight concern for his survival.
He watched closely as the death knight's blade was about to make contact with his shield, only for it to pass straight through. Even with the [Wraith Form] ability active, he still lost a considerable amount of HP, but not enough to kill him. He could hear a ripping sound echo through the air behind him. When he looked back, he saw the death knight's flamberge cutting through Raphtalia's chest. He simply watched as Raphtalia fell to the ground with a large thud.
'Wraith Form not only negates half of the physical attacks, but it also gives me the characteristics of a wraith as well. I'll have to take that into account for next time. It's a shame Raphtalia died after all the time I put into her. Buying another slave will definitely set me back some coin and effort, especially if I have to buy a low-level one again.'
Nafoumi shrugged as he looked back at the death knight just in time to watch Momon's broad sword cut straight through its neck, decapitating it. The death knight's body collapsed into a pile of body parts and black ooze. Naofumi smiled as he watched himself gain eight levels from the death knight's death.
"This whole ordeal might have been worth it after all." Just as he was leaving to collect the death knight's material, he heard a whisper coming from behind.
"Mr… Naofumi…" Naofumi turned back to see Raphtalia trying to call out to him. He was baffled that she was still alive, even double-checking to confirm that she did have the smallest sliver of HP remaining. He walked closer to her as she started crying softly to herself but gave a small smile after seeing him approach.
"Was I... useful to you… Mr. Naofumi?" He considered her question for a moment.
She had proven to be loyal and strong during their time together, while unnecessary, she cared for him and his safety. Remembering their time together brought a surge of emotion that was quickly quenched, bringing logic and reason back to the forefront.
"Yes. I couldn't have gotten this far without you." She started crying even more seeing his emotionless face dryly state his feelings about her usefulness. He just stood and did nothing as she went limp.
"…" While he stood before Raphtalia, a notification popped up on his HUD.
Temporary race change has ended.
Race is now [Human]
"GAAAHHHHHHH!" Naofumi collapsed on his knees as he started screaming out. An excruciating pain shot through his head and all his emotions came flooding back. Rage, grief, shock, despair, exhaustion, all these feelings crashed into him all at once.
He tried breathing in to calm down, but all he ended up doing was desperate wheezing as if he was suffocating. He looked over to see Raphtalia lying there motionless, as he struggled to breathe.
"Naofumi, you must calm down." He looked up to see Momon standing above him. Naofumi looked at him with rage.
"FUCK… YOU…!" Naofumi looked back to Raphtalia as he clenched his fists in the dirt.
He hated Momon's pity.
He hated how Momon looked down on him.
He hated how strong Momon was.
He hated how Momon didn't save Raphtalia.
He hated how Raphtalia trusted him.
He hated himself for failing her.
He hated this world for bringing him here.
"Ah, so anger is the primary cause…" Naofumi thought he heard him say something, but when he looked back up, all he saw was Momon holding out his palm.
"[Sleep]" And that was the last thing Naofumi heard before blacking out with two streaks going down his face.
Author's Note:
I guess the first arc of this story is almost over, weird for me to think about. I had a hell of a time writing this one, mostly stemming from the fact that I spent two agonizing weeks writing a thousand words of content just to hate it and re-write it all, trust me the story was terrible. But I got it done and this chapter is now the longest of this story, woo.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! And thanks for all the support!