Chapter 2: Despair

I did not know how long we had been killing skeletons left and right, but we must have taken out several dozens of them by now. Trish had resorted to using her short sword once we had run out of magic potions to replenish her magic energy.

There had been a lot of close calls; Arjun losing one of his sabres to one of the skeletons and getting deep gash on his arm, Trish getting wounded on her side when one of the pike-wielding skeleton sneaked up behind her but was able to heal it up with a Recovery Medicine, I dropping Chain Sword one time and had resorted to using my knife before managing to retrieve it.

To be honest, with how vicious the skeletons were attacking, I don't know how long we could last.

Thankfully, we didn't have to worry about that anymore as the sky suddenly turned back to normal. Once that happened, the skeleton monsters started to lessen on their assaults, with some becoming a lot more sluggish in their movements. Thanks to that, we had an easier time dealing with them.

The bright orange hues colouring the cloudy sky indicated dusk. Considering that I should have arrived at around noon, we must have been fighting for hours.

"Is… Is the Wave over?" Trish panted out, exhausted from all of it.

"It appears to be." Arjun noted as he crushed the another skull under his foot. "Did Culann kill that giant wolf monster?"

"I sure hope so…"

I looked over in the direction of the forest that I had send Keel as well as a few survivors to, and where my house was with a very sick gramps.

I had no idea how far the Wave had spread before coming here. For all I know, the monsters had already went as far as my house by the time I came here. If that's the case… gramps was already weak from his sickness. There was no way he could have fought them off in his current condition.

Sure, Sadeena might be there so they would be safe from the monsters, but she wasn't any good in healing the sick in any shape or form. What if gramps' condition worsen under her watch—

"Go."

"Trish?"

My exhausted partner gave me a tired smile as she patted me on the shoulder, "Go check on your grandfather. We'll catch up with Culann and the rest."

"…I'm sorry to trouble you with this."

Without another word, I ran towards my home as fast as I can.

The cottage was still standing, but parts of it were wrecked. Windows are broken, the door was broken off its hinges, the grass outside our fence was burned to a soot, and the ground is filled with cracks all over with several bodies of Interdimensional Zombies dotted about. It's like something out of the war stories I've read about…

"Kweh!"

"Blanc—woah, easy!"

Blanc rushed out behind his little stable, snuggling his head against me. His feathers looked worse to wear, there were some scratches on his beak, but other than that, he looked fine. Guess it would take more than a few otherworldly monsters to take him down.

"L-Liya…!"

"Keel!"

A familiar head popped out from behind the broken door frame as Keel ran up to me and hugged me tight, his eyes red and puffy from crying. Running up right behind him was Rifana among a few other kids; a few surviving adults looked on by the door. Some looked to have suffered some injuries, but nothing fatal.

"You guys okay?" I asked them.

"Y-Yeah."

"Ah! B-But Mr Hohen is…!"

The way Keel and Rifana was panicking is not a good sign. I quickly followed them inside and saw what I was fearing the most.

"GRAMPS!"

I rushed over to the sofa where my grandfather was laying, messily tied bandages covered parts of the wounds dotted all over his entire body with patches of blood soaked into his tattered clothes. Clenched tightly in his hand is a massive battle axe with a jagged edge and long black hilt, dried blood visible coating the smooth gemstone on the axe head.

"Gramps! Gramps, wake up!"

"Mm…"

He is responsive, so he's alive and isn't completely unconscious. But if that bleeding gash on his pale, clammy skin mixed with his irregular pulse and quick breathing was a bad indicator of heavy blood loss, and possible infection in the wound. And with how hot his forehead had felt, his fever had gotten worse.

"He needs immediate treatment…!"

I rushed into the lab to pick up his medicine. But when I searched the cabinets and drawers…

"There's none left…!?"

Gramps must have taken the last of them before the whole Wave hit. Damn, and there's not enough herbs to make more…! There were still some Green Plants and Aero Flowers, but the regular Recovery Medicine wouldn't be enough to cure his current condition.

"Regular Recovery Medicine won't be enough…?"

Wait, then perhaps…

Reaching into my pouch, I pulled out the Recovery Medicine (Advanced) I had made yesterday. It was still untested and will be extremely risky, so I don't know how it would perform on people in severe condition like gramps.

But it might be the only chance I've got to save him.

I returned back to the living room and helped gramps drink the medicine.

"Please work… oh gods, please work…"

Some tense moments later, the flush on his face had somewhat faded slightly and his breathing wasn't as erratic as it was moments ago, now just a gentle snooze. I checked his pulse to see that it had slowly returned back to normal as well. His fever was still there, but not as hot as it was moments ago.

I let loose a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank the heavens it worked…"

I looked down at the empty bottle that once housed my original creation. The term Advanced must meant that it had a greater healing effect compared to the regular ones. It might work on more than just the common cold.

"I-Is old man Hohen going to be okay?" Keel asked.

"Yeah, gramps would pull through." I assured him, "What happened here? How did he get so injured?"

"He got those injuries protecting us from those monsters." Rifana helpfully told me.

"He fought!? In his condition!?"

I knew he was a higher level than me, but doing that while he was sick!? Was he insane!?

"What about Sadeena? Where is she?" I took a glance around the house, expecting to find a certain orca therianthrope but not seeing any sign of her anywhere.

"Sadeena? She wasn't here."

"She wasn't?"

"Sadeen went off on her usual outings and hadn't come back." Keel pointed out.

That would explain how the village was overrun by those monsters so quickly. Sadeena's overwhelming power and might wouldn't let such a thing happen.

Huh? Then, who was responsible for the lightning spell I saw? Blanc couldn't use any form of magic as far as I was aware.

It couldn't be gramps, can it…? Nah, it couldn't be. There's absolutely no way he could do that. I mean, it's gramps.

"Whoa, what happened here!?"

"Are those the monsters from the Wave?"

"Liya, you here—woah!"

"KWAK!"

The ever familiar loud voices of my party leader alerted me to their arrival, followed by a loud sqwuak from Blanc. I immediately ran out to greet them.

The white filolial had his wings wide opened in what looked like a fighting stance, his feathers ruffled up in an attempt to look threatening to my party.

"Easy, easy!" I rubbed his neck to calm him down, "They are not enemies."

I turned back and saw the extent of their injuries, which was really bad.

Fionne was missing her breastplate and shield with one of her arms in a sling, her helmet was removed to reveal burn scars around her left eye as the knight bandaged up her head. Bandages were wrapped around her exposed torso and a stick was tied around what I can only guess to be a broken ankle. Nothing weeks of rest and medication won't heal.

Culann, on the other hand, was a completely different story.

He was missing most of his armor, bandages wrapped around his forehead and torso. The most apparent of them all was the one around the stump of his missing left arm. It didn't look to be amputated, so it must be bitten off by that giant three-headed monster.

"Culann!"

"Hey, Liya."

Our party leader grinned while giving me a wave with his remaining arm, not looking like someone who had just lost an arm.

"Your… your arm…!"

"Oh, this? Yeah, that damn thing was fast for its size. Took me completely by surprise." Culann laughed, "But I've managed to pay it back for it when I got the chance."

"You're downplaying it way too much, Culann…" Fionne sighed, "We would have died if the knights didn't reach in time."

"At least I still get to put it in the finishing blow!"

"Oh, Culann, you…"

"…It was all my fault…"

I shouldn't have just ran off like that. if I didn't, Trish and Arjun wouldn't have to find me and left Culann and Fionne to fight that beast. He wouldn't have lost his arm and—

*WHACK*

"Ow!" I rubbed the rising bump on my head, the end result of my party leader's hard chop.

"Liya, your bad habit is showing again." Culann sighed, "You can't blame yourself for what happened to me. That Wave monster took my arm, not you."

"But if I hadn't just—"

"Your home was in danger. Anyone would have done what you had done."

"You could have died!"

"We are adventurers, Liya." Fionne added, "Early deaths are common in our line of work."

"There's no point in wondering about what you could have done better. And besides, it is just an arm!" Culann flexed with his remaining arm, "I still have another! It is going to be tricky to wield a spear with just one, but I'll figure it out!"

"…yeah, you're right."

Culann was never one to be beaten down by something like losing an arm… And if there's anyone who can figure out how to use a spear with one hand, it would be him.

"Is your grandfather okay?" Trish asked me, "Is he hurt?"

"He was, badly." I replied to her, "But I managed to treat him in time. He's currently stable."

"That's a relief."

"Liya…?"

Keel and the other survivors peeled out from behind the broken door, looking very cautious towards my party. I wouldn't blame them, there are hardly any humans besides me and gramps who would come to the village for anything, not to mention how bad relations between humans and demi-humans were in this kingdom.

"Don't worry. They are my friends."

As I assured them, I invited them in the house to rest up. The kids were still wary of them as were adults and kept their distance. Due to gramps taking up the sofa, we all sat around the dining table instead as I passed them some cups of water.

"Sorry if you were expecting alcohol." I told Culann.

"You made it sound like I'm an alcoholic."

"…" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"…Yeah, that's fair." He begrudgingly sips his cup of water.

I then turned to Fionne, "How's the village?"

"Bad. The Wave really hit hard." She told me, "I count at least a dozen died to that wolf monster. The sea is dyed red with bodies too."

"That bad, huh… What about the villagers—"

"I-Is Raphtalia okay!?" Rifana suddenly asked.

"Raphtalia?"

"A raccoon demi-human kid about her age. Her best friend." I explained. I didn't see her around anywhere, but I didn't see her dead body, so she could still be alive. Hopefully, she wasn't caught up too badly with the Wave. "Have any of you seen her?"

"I think I saw her on our way here." Arjun noted, "She was running towards the cliffs."

"Does she look injured?"

"She looked unharmed, but completely exhausted."

"That's a relief…" Rifana sighed.

I too let loose a sigh of relief at that. At least she is alive and well. But why did she run for the cliffs?

"Culann, you don't think…?"

"It's highly likely…"

"Hm?"

I turned to Culann and Fionne who had worried looks on their faces, "Is something the matter?"

"It's… when we got to the giant wolf monster… it was at the cliffs halfway devouring its victim." Culann told me, "And one of them… looked to have a raccoon tail."

"Raccoon…!?"

The only other raccoon demi-humans in the village are… oh dear god, no…!

"Raphtalia's parents are…!" Keel muttered in shock, "We need to go back to the village, Liya! We need to…!"

"I know, Keel." I then turn to my party leader, "Sorry Culann, but mind holding down the fort and look after gramps for me?"

"No problem." He nodded with a thumbs-up, "Not like I can do much with one arm and cracked ribs."

"I'll stay and help out as well." Fionne added, "Someone had to make sure he doesn't overdo it."

"Thanks."

"Raphtalia…" Rifana muttered in worry for her best friend. I rubbed her on the head to try and ease her worries, despite my own worrying thoughts about her.

With help from my party, we loaded the suriviors onto the cart and headed back to the village with some medical supplies.

When we made it back to the ruined village, the surviving villagers had gathered back together in the town square. The knights Fionne had mentioned weren't anywhere to be found, but I guess they are by the three-headed wolf's corpse, stripping it of its parts.

"Liya! You're back!"

"You alright? How is your grandfather?"

"Did the Wave hit you?"

The villagers all come up to me asking me about my well-being, as the kids all alighted and rushed towards their parents and relatives, although it looked like most didn't survive. From what I can tell, only about half of the villagers had survived.

As I assured them that me and gramps are fine, I looked around trying to spot Raphtalia among them, but to no avail. She was no doubt still at the cliff, grieving over her parents' death. Rifana looked to be heading over there right now.

I was about to head there as well, but Trish stopped me.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to look for Raphtalia."

"Shouldn't you leave her alone to grieve?" Arjun noted.

"But she's still just a kid."

"Liya, Arjun is right. Grieving isn't something an outsider should intervene in, no matter how close you are to her." Trish stated, "Let her get some alone time to process all of this."

"…Alright, if you say so…"

At least Rifana looked to be with her. Hopefully, having her best friend around would help her through it…

With the help of Trish and Arjun, I set up a small medical station from the cart to help with treating the injured; after that, Arjun went off to collect Culann's share of the three-headed monster's parts from the knights.

"Those who needs immediate treatment, please come to me first. Otherwise, please head to my friends over here."

Thankfully, most of the villagers that survived had only minor injuries consisting of bruises and shallow cuts. They were at first hesitant in letting Trish bandage them up, but they warmed up to her fairly quickly. There were a few that had broken limbs that I had to build casts for, or missing parts of their bodies that I could only clean up the stumps of; one I had to amputate his leg just to save his life.

The one thing they all had in common, however, was the dower look on their faces. Some of them were openly sobbing while a few just stared blankly at random directions. The Wave had devastated the village, physically and mentally. And it showed.

If only I can do more than just patch them up…

By the time I had bandaged up the last of them, Raphtalia and Rifana had returned. Their eyes were puffy and red; no doubt from crying so much.

"Raphtalia!" I ran up to her and engulfed her in a tight hug, "I'm so glad you are safe."

"Liya…"

"I've heard what happened to your parents. Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded, "I'm fine, Liya."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." She smiled. But her smile felt off, stiff like she was forcing it. "My parents told me to cheer everyone up."

"Raphtalia…" Rifana shared a worried glance with me. It was obvious that her friend was putting up a strong front, something that I'm not sure if it was healthy for her to do so.

When she patted my shoulders, I reluctantly let go of her and she climbed on top of the cart.

"Everyone!" Her loud voice caught everyone's attention immediately, "Things look bad, I know. But would our parents, brothers and friends want us to just stand around here and cry? What about those who might still be alive out there? How would they feel if they came back to the village and found it like this? I know how sad you are. I am too. But that is all the more reason to rebuild! I mean, we're a family! Right?"

"Raphtalia…"

Her smile looked so forced, so fragile for someone her age. It is not something a ten year old child should have.

If I had only reached here sooner… then maybe I could have saved her parents, could have saved her the heartbreak and sadness…

If only I—

"Liya."

Trish hand on my shoulder snapped me out of my thoughts. She gave me a worried look, "You're doing it again."

"…right. Sorry."

There was no pointing in thinking about the 'what-ifs' now. I should focus on what I could do to make better with the present problem.

"She's right! There's no point in mopping around!" I loudly pointed out getting everyone's attention, "Look, even little Raphtalia is being so strong. If she can do it, why can't us?"

"Liya…"

"Yeah! He's right!"

"If she can be strong, so can we!"

As cries of determination echoes about, the flag that symbolises the village's identity fluttered down right in front of us. It was like a sign that the village was far from being destroyed, that we were still here and fighting strong.

I picked it up and handed it over to Raphtalia, "You should do the honours."

"…okay."

One of the villagers brought over a long wooden pole and she tied the flag on the end. With a great heave, she lifted it up high for everyone to see.

"See!? Our flag still flies strong! We are still here! We can still rebuild!"

Just like that, everyone's spirits renewed with a sense of purpose and duty. The once gloomy atmosphere was blown away.

When Arjun returned with the monster parts, we headed back home. As much as we wanted to start immediately, it was clear that good spirits weren't enough to remove the exhaustion of surviving a Wave of Calamity. The rebuilding of the village was instead left for tomorrow morning.

By the time we reached back to my cottage, the sun had set and the moon was glowing bright in the night sky.

"I'm beat…" Trish sighed as she slumped down on the sofa. Culann and Fionne had moved gramps up to his room to rest more comfortably.

So far, his fever hadn't break yet but had lowered quite a bit. Looks like he would get better sooner than I had hoped.

"Thanks for all your assistance today." I told my party as past around more cups of water. I would normally serve them tea now, but we were out and hadn't restocked yet.

"Again, it was no big deal." Culann waved my apologises off, "But never would have imagine that I would end up dealing with the Wave of Calamity."

Fionne nodded, "Life is filled with surprises."

"Good and bad." Arjun suddenly spoke, startling us with his sudden presence which faded quickly when we saw the grim look on his face, "We have a huge problem."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Lord Seaetto is dead."

"What!?" The lord is dead!? "How!? When!?"

"I overheard some of the knights stating that out loud when I collected our share of the monster. From what I've heard, he died trying to stop the monsters from getting any further in."

"Yeah, that sounds like the lord alright…" I sighed. Lord Seatto was definitely a man of compassion and duty, one who would put his life on the line to protect his people. To lose such a man to the Waves was tragic…

"That seemed like a poor display of discipline and conduct to openly gossip about such a thing…" Culann grumbled but added on, "But that's besides the point. With the lord dead, the protection this village once possessed is no longer legitimate."

"Once word of the lord's death spread, the demi-humans of this village will no doubt be targeted by slavers." Trish noted, "And with how the village wasn't that accepted by most, especially by the Three Heroes Church, they would act very soon."

"That is not good…"

Lord Seaetto's protection was the only thing keeping those slavers from rushing the village and taking everyone as slaves. If he is gone…

"Wait, what about his daughter? Any news on Eclair?"

"Eclair Seaetto?" Arjun mused, "I've heard nothing about her."

No news might be better than any news. Last I heard, she was still at the capital.

"I take it you are acquaintances with her?" Culann asked.

"We were playmates when we were little. But we hadn't spoken much in recent years."

I met Eclair when I was four and she was six. Gramps had a delivery for the lord and had brought me along to show me his work. I got introduced to her and was asked by him to be her playmate. We didn't get along very well at first, but we became close friends in the end.

The last time we spoke face to face was before she went to the capital to train as a knight. We still exchanged letters from time to time, though. Last I read, she had gotten in trouble with some of the higher-ups.

"To have such connections with the local lord…" Trish noted in surprise, "Why didn't you mention that to us before?"

"You never asked."

"Why would we even ask that about you!?"

"Trish, calm down." Culann told her. She immediately calmed down as our party leader turned to me, "Are you hoping she quickly inherits the lord position and by extension preserve the village's protection?"

"That's right." I nodded. Eclair shared her father's view on the demi-humans, which is to say that they don't discriminate against them and would defend them from any racial injustice. As long as there is a lord ruling over this territory, the protection should still remain.

"If I write a letter now—"

"I'm not sure if that would be possible." Fionne noted, "We don't know how long it would take for word to reach her and if she would return in time, or at all."

"Ah, t-that's true…" I sighed. And to be honest, I'm not sure if Eclair would be suitable for the position. If there is a word to describe her, it would be musclehead. Not someone whom you want to take up the position of governor. "So what can I do?"

"…Defend the village." Culann stated firmly, "No one would come to help the demi-humans, so you have to."

"That would be the only option…"

And with Sadeena not presently around, and with no idea when she would return, I'm literally the only one capable of fighting for Lurolana. I glanced at my status and my current level of 30, a decently high level that could deal with most thugs, so I should hopefully be able to fight them off if I needed to.

"Don't worry. I'll help you out." My partner stated, "It would be distasteful to let this village get overrun by slavers after hearing that kid's passionate speech."

"I'll help too." Arjun nodded, "I don't like slavers in general."

"Trish… Arjun…"

"I would help out too, but considering my injuries…" Culann sighed, "'Me and Fionne will look after your grandfather for you, then. I doubt I would be fighting anywhere anytime soon."

"…Thank you. All of you."

What did I do to deserve people like them?

That night, they all stayed over for the night. Dinner was a simple deal of bread and stew that Trish tried to cook up, only for it to turn out some mysterious blood-red soup.

It still somehow taste good, surprisingly.

Early the next morning, I returned back to the village with Trish and Arjun, we all chose to keep our weapons on us just in case some slavers decided to get some free merchandise early.

The first thing in the agenda was to clear up the rubble and bodies. The villagers were currently staying in massive tents so the most important thing was to clear out the few intact buildings so people could have homes again. Rebuilding the destroyed houses would come later.

Thankfully, the village food storages were miraculously spared from the monsters' rampage, so we don't have to worry about food for the time being. But considering how much perishables were in them, I don't know how long they would last.

I let out a grunt as I tossed away a particularly large stone from the giant rubble that was once the village's general store, very same one the giant skeleton had punted me into the day before. I felt partially responsible for its destruction, so I volunteer to clear it away, and hopefully salvage whatever goods still intact under it all. Trish decided to help me with that.

"Never thought the damages from the Wave was this bad…" Trish noted as she tossed some splintered timber from the rubble into a quickly filling tub, "And it only get worse with each subsequent Wave… I pity wherever the next Wave would hit."

"Hopefully, it would be somewhere with a decently large armed force." I added, "And not another defendless village again…"

I then glanced over to the massive pit we had dug up to act as a mass grave for the dead. There wasn't enough space around to bury them individually, so this was the only way to do it for all of them. It was either that or cremation, but I heard not many of the villagers were fond of that method, something about their souls needing to return to the earth or something.

The hole was halfway full, and there were still bodies being dumped in. That's how many casualties the Wave had brought on.

"If either of us had arrived any later…" I shuddered at the thought of that. How many more would have died if we weren't here…?

"You can't think that." Trish told me with an assuring pat on my back, "Remember what your little friend said yesterday?"

"Yeah, I know."

Sulking wouldn't bring the dead back. The best thing I can do is to help the ones that survived through the Wave.

"Liya, Trish—"

"What the—YEOW!"

Arjun suddenly appeared behind us, startling us and making me drop the stone in my hand onto my foot.

"Oops, sorry." He apologised as I massaged my poor foot. Thankfully, nothing seemed to be broken.

"What is it, Arjun?" Trish asked.

"Take note, there are a bunch of knights riding towards the village right now."

Knights? Why would a bunch of knights be riding towards a demi-human village? Last I checked, not many of them were fond of Lurolana's existence. Even some of those under Lord Seattle weren't into the same idea as their lord.

Whatever the reason, we have a bunch of armed men coming towards the village. I have a bad feeling about this…

"AAAAAHH!"

The sudden scream confirmed my hunch about it. That came from the entrance of the village, exactly where the knights would be coming from.

"Arjun!"

"On it!"

As he drew his bow and leaped to the tallest intact building around, Trish and I ran towards the entrance. The scene awaited us there was nothing short of what I had feared the most.

The kingdom's soldiers, the defenders of the people, had their swords drawn and were cutting down the men and elderly with great brutality, all the while grabbing any women and children they could get their hands on. It was obvious now why they had come here.

These were the people that this kingdom entrusted their livelihood to, and here they are acting like slaving thugs!

"STOP IT!"

"Liya, wait!"

I couldn't stand to look at this massacre anymore and rushed towards the soldiers with Chain Sword in my hand, despite Trish's cries for me to stop. I swung my chain whip at the one that looked to be their leader with every intention of slicing into him, but my attack instead bounced off his armor with a hollow clank, indicating his defense was greater than my attack.

Shit, this isn't good—!

My thoughts were cut short when the knight I had attacked stabbed at me with his sword, his blade piercing my shoulder as he pushed me down and slammed my back onto the dirt.

The pain kicked in moments later along with a scream subconsciously came out of my mouth. Damn it!

"Hm? Hey, it is a girl."

"Really? Oh, you're right. The white hair threw me off there."

"I thought this village has only demi-humans?"

"She might be one of those bestiality freaks."

"Ah, one of those heretics?"

Anger bubbled up within my soul from their comments. "You… you bastards! What do you think you're fucking doing!? This village is under the protection of Lord Seaetto!"

"Didn't you hear? The lord is dead! Along with any protection this village of freaks had!"

News had already spread to the capital…!? This is bad… to think that word of his death has spread so far so quickly…

"Hey guys, I got this one. Get the rest of them."

"Hey, don't have too much fun, now."

The other knights left their friend in top of me to carry on with their pillaging. I struggled to get him off of me, but my current strength wasn't enough to push him off.

"You know, attacking a castle knight is a serious offense." He pulled out his blade and before I could retaliate, stabbed into my chest, "It is punishable by death!"

"LIYA!"

Libya's shout was the last thing I heard as the pain erupted from my chest from his sword plunging into me. The pain giving way to numbness, the taste of iron in my mouth, and the blurring of the knight's laughing face afterwards brought the sudden realisation of my approaching death.

To die, like this…!?

Killed by a thug masquerading as a knight…!?

No!

I refused to die like this!

With every strength I had left, I reached out at the man and before he could react, jammed my finger into his eye socket.

"GRAAAAHHH!?"

His screams of pain as I felt eyeball squishing under my finger was greatly satisfying, the corners of my mouth tilted up slightly before all strength left my body and my vision faded to black.

The moment Trish saw her partner's arm dropped to the side motionless, all thoughts of the consequences of what she was about to do left her.

"First Air Shot!"

With a quick chant most experienced mages would be proud of, the wind spell was fired right at the stunned knight, knocking him off of Liya. She then hastily ran up to him, eyes widening in horror when she saw the stab wound in his chest.

"Liya…! Oh, Liya…!"

She pulled his body close to her, not caring if her robes were stained with his blood as tears streamed down her face.

The death of the feminine man that she had known since she lost her family, the friend and greatest partner she could ever have in her entire life; she didn't want to believe the cruel reality in front of her, but the facts made it very clear.

Until she felt the slight beating of his supposedly dead heart. She immediately put her ear close to his bloodied chest, and immediately picked up the sound of his still beating heart.

"He's… still alive…!"

To not get killed from a stab wound to the chest, Trish could only think of it as a miracle, but one that would not last if he didn't get immediate treatment.

"You… bitch…!"

Unfortunately, the knight she had knocked off has gotten back up. Blood was pouring out of The Eye Liya had crushed with his last attack as he snarled at her.

"You will pay for that—GRAAAHH!?"

An arrow made its way into the gaps between his armor, piercing deep into his shoulder. Glimpsing to her right, she saw the figure of Arjun standing intimidatingly on a semi-ruined house, his bow drawn and aimed at the knight.

"Get Liya to safety!"

"O-Okay!"

"Don't you dare—GUH!"

Without a second thought, Trish pulled Liya's arm over her shoulders and ran off. The knight tried to stop them, only to get another arrow fired into his thigh. It was then followed by another into his foot. The message was clear.

Don't chase her, or else.

"Grr…!"

With nothing but an injured ego, the injured knight could only glare at the archer before limping away. Arjun let loose a small sigh of relief before shifting his aim elsewhere.

He had already injured and stopped few of the pillaging soldiers from enslaving more of the villagers, but the ones that had already been grabbed had quickly left in their caged carriages, too far for his arrows to even reach.

From what he can tell, only half a dozen villagers survived the raid, most of them were women and children. Most of the elderly and men were slaughtered as brutally as possible with a sword.

He knew the prejudice towards the demi-humans was intense in the kingdom, especially when the war against Siltvelt was still present in everyone's mind, but this level of brutality and inhumanity was on a whole another level. He would only see this kind of cruelty from those devoted to the Three Heroes Church.

'If this is what that church is spreading, then I'm glad to not be part of their religion.'

A green cloth flew into his view, which he instinctively grabbed out of the air. On the fabric was the ever familiar crest of the village, a portion the flag given to them by the governor they had just raised last evening.

"Just when things started to look up for them…"

…
To be continued…

Yup, talk about whiplash. I knew this portion was coming, and wasn't a fan of writing this part. If I wanted, I would have Liya awaken some special Vassal Weapon and destroy the knights, but the world system wouldn't allow that to happen.

I was never a fan of writing such depressing stuff, but it has to be done. In any case, I'm glad to have finally finished this chapter.

With that, I wish for all of you to be of good health and thank you all for reading this!

*Sup! So, this is the rewrite of my rewrite of my Shield Hero OC fic. This time, I'm going to make a few changes so that it would be more than just a Canon rehash.