Chapter 6: Wave of Destruction II
After Trish got her equipment checked out, we left Port Lola and headed straight for the capital of Melromarc, the Castle Town.
Along the way, Itsuki decided to pass through several areas that were well-known to be heavily infested with strong monsters; his reasons were to help quickly get me and Trish to at least the level cap before getting a Class-Up.
"There're more benefits for doing so that way." He had explained to us.
Of course, Mald had tried to pull the same 'test' bullshit with Trish, only for her to quite literally blow away the monsters with a single Zwiet spell.
That was the second time I saw someone's face turn purple from pure rage.
"So, this is the capital…"
"Quite the place, isn't it?" Trish pointed out with a smile.
"Yup, it is." I nodded.
Castle Town was definitely on a different scale than the towns I had been to up till now. It was way larger than Port Lola, and the massive royal castle was visible even from the city gates.
As expected of the kingdom's capital…
"Ha; what a country bumpkin…"
And my mood was ruined. That bastard Mald sure loved to demean other people whenever he got a chance to.
"Quit antagonising them, Mald." Itsuki told him sternly, "We don't have the time right now; the Wave will be happening soon."
"Ah yes, of course! Many apologies, Sir Itsuki."
Thanks to the detour, the trip to the capital ended up being several days longer than usual, which meant the Wave would be tomorrow. We were on a tight schedule to get everything prepared when it struck.
On the bright side, me and Trish had reached the level cap within that time; which meant we were truly eligible for a Class-Up.
We had also managed to work out our battle formation for the upcoming Wave; Mald and his two goons would act as the vanguard while Itsuki and Trish would at the rear, with me acting as both healing and support to both.
While I was glad that I ended up with my usual role in a party, I couldn't help but worry that the vanguard would try to get me 'accidentally' killed in a fight.
Well, I will cross that bridge when it gets there. With luck, it would hopefully get them expelled by Itsuki.
After navigating through the city for longer than I thought would take, we then made it to the place for our Class-Up, the Church of Three Heroes.
"Remember what you all need to choose when you Class-Up, okay?" Itsuki told us.
"We understand, Sir Bow Hero!"
"We will take your suggestions to heart, Sir Itsuki!"
I rolled my eyes at how enthusiastically the three parasites had voiced their agreement. Could they get even more obvious and obnoxious with their bootlicking?
Looking at the massive cathedral and the religion's crucifix of the three Heroes' weapons, it brought up some pretty bad memories.
The Church of Three Heroes was infamous for their discriminatory views on the demi-humans, mostly due to the Shield Hero's affiliation with them; since their teachings painted them as the devilish enemy of humanity.
They were one of the main reasons demi-humans were constantly being demeaned and discriminated against in Melromarc since its founding.
I once encountered their priests in Port Lola when I was a kid, and had my ass beaten for just speaking against their views. If gramps hadn't shown up when he did, I might actually get killed by them.
"Are you okay?" Trish asked me worriedly, "You looked pale."
"Oh, it's nothing." I assured her, "Just… never been a big fan of the church, that's all."
"I'm the same. But we do need to get a Class-Up, so we just have to bear with it for now."
"Yeah, I know."
I couldn't let my past grievances stop me from getting stronger, even if the ones allowing the use of the ritual were a bunch of racist extremists.
"Hm? Itsuki? You're here too?"
A young boy in black and white armor walked up to us with a party of his own; he looked to be on the young side, around his late teens or so, with black hair and blue eyes.
"Ah, Ren." Itsuki greeted, "You're here for a Class-Up, too?"
"Obviously." The boy sighed, "Why else would I come here?"
Judging by how they interacted and the sword with a big blue gem in its guard, he must be the Sword Hero; if the rumors were right, he had been continuously hunting monsters since the summoning.
"You better be prepared, the Wave is tomorrow." Ren then told him, "Don't complain if your level isn't high enough or you lack the potions."
"O-Of course I am!" Itsuki countered back, "I had been grinding levels this whole time too, you know!"
From how he spoke, he seemed to be one of those prideful loner types you see every so often; those kinds of guys were infamous for breaking formation and acting on their own, being extremely difficult to deal with in a party.
They were also the worst people to have as a leader, and were almost always the cause of an entire party's destruction.
Seeing the distance he had between him and his party members, he did not even care to interact with them. Heck, the two Heroes weren't even acknowledging any of our existence.
"So, for the Sword Hero, we have a loner; while for the Bow Hero, we have a glory hound." I muttered to Trish, "Is the world going to be okay…?"
"Better than nothing, I supposed." Trish shrugged her shoulders, "At least they aren't some power-hungry bastards."
"Hey, hurry up! Sir Itsuki doesn't have all day!"
"Yeah, yeah, we're coming!"
With a heavy heart, I followed after Heroes into the cathedral.
I had known that the Dragon Hourglass was necessary for the Class-Up ritual, but I had always thought it would be like an ornate hourglass.
I did not expect it to be the size of a mansion.
After being guided by one of the Church's many nuns, we entered a massive room where a giant hourglass sat in the middle of it in which red sand was steadily pouring down.
If recalled correctly, the hourglass was also used to determine when the next Wave would strike. Seeing as there was hardly any sand left on its top half, it must be soon.
Guess the Heroes' estimation of the Wave's descent was accurate enough; their weapon must have some way of keeping track of it…
On the way in, we ran into a young man angrily stomping away from another one.
"Ah! Motoyasu! And… Naofumi."
Seeing how annoyed Itsuki sounded greeting him, he must be the Shield Hero. I didn't expect to meet him here of all places.
Black messy hair and sharp green eyes with furrowed brows and a constant scowl, dressed in an armour set that looked like it was ripped off of a bandit chief, and a shield on his arm with a green gem embedded in the center of it.
He had the look of a condemned criminal down pat, with an expression that just radiates anger and hatred.
In fact, his expression looked rather familiar, like I had seen it somewhere before…
If that's the case, the other one near the hourglass must be the Spear Hero.
Blonde hair and red eyes with a face that screams casanova, adorned in white armor over some chainmail and red cape while wielding a spear that has a red gem embedded near its blade.
Looks like the rumors about his womanizing was true after all, considering that his party consists of only attractive women in rather risqué armor. It didn't help that he was currently hitting on the young racoon demi-human girl in front of everyone.
"A womanizing Spear Hero…" Trish groaned, "As if things couldn't get any worse…."
"Definitely…" I agreed with her. Was the world really going to be okay with them?
"Very pleased to meet you, my dear. I am one of the four Heroes summoned to this realm." He smoothly introduced himself to the poor demi-human girl, "My name is Motoyasu. I thought it would be best to make your acquaintance."
I had to resist groaning out loud at the Spear Hero's advances. The poor girl was obviously very uncomfortable with his advances and yet he–
"Oh… so you're one of the Heroes?"
My thoughts came to a halt when I heard her voice and I took another look at the girl in question.
"…It can't be…!"
She was definitely taller now, a height of a late teen girl with a figure to match. But I recognised that reddish-brown hair anywhere.
"And what is your name, little one–"
"Raphtalia!"
Not even caring that I had interrupted the Spear Hero, I immediately ran up to her and shoved him out of the way.
Sure enough, it was no doubt the face of the little raccoon girl I knew so well; most of the baby fat was gone, leaving her with the more angular features of a maturing young woman.
"L-Liya…!?"
"Y-Yes! It's me!" I immediately pulled her into a tight hug, "Oh, thank the heavens you are alright!"
"Liya…! Liya…!" She hugged back just as tight as she started sobbing into my chest.
I couldn't believe my good fortune; to find Raphtalia so quickly and to see her alive and well, and even grew up so much–
Wait. Grew up?
If I recall correctly, the demi-human race had a unique trait in which their bodies age up in accordance with their levels. It was this trait that caused them to be demonised by the Church of the Three Heroes.
But in order to level up, you must…
I looked down at Raphtalia's current attire; a simple one-piece dress with a leather breastplate and a sheathed sword hanging from her hip, a common apparel for a rookie adventurer.
"Raphtalia, why do you have a sword?"
"Oh, this is so I can fight with Mr Naofumi."
"Huh? With Naofumi?"
The Spear Hero looked at us, more specifically at Raphtalia, before glaring at Naofumi who returned a glare of his own, "What?"
"Where did you steal this cutie from!?"
"For what reason do I have to tell you anything?"
Sheesh, looks like the Shield Hero was definitely someone who wouldn't take any harassment without retaliation. Not sure if that was good or bad, but at least he didn't just fall into a depressive spiral from all the discrimination.
Still, Mr Naofumi, huh?
While the two Heroes were having their little spat, I gave Raphtalia a visual check over; I would rather give her a full body check-up, but considering her current physical age, it would be highly inappropriate.
It didn't look like there were any bruises on any visible skin, and she didn't seem to be hiding any injuries either. In fact, she looked way more fit and healthy than ever before.
Looks like the Shield Hero has taken good care of her, at least. Still…
"Let's go."
"A-Ah, yes!"
Without another word, the Shield Hero left with Raphtalia not far behind. The glare he shot as he passed the Bow and Sword Hero was a clear indicator of his relations with the rest of the Heroes, which was way worse than I had thought.
So it was that bad, huh? If Siltvelt knew of this, we would have another war in our hands—
"My apologies for greeting you sooner, my pretty lady." The Spear Hero walked up and said to me, "My name is Motoyasu, the Spear Hero. May I have yours?"
"…"
The way he looked at me reminded me of the guys that tried to hit on me before realising I was a guy, and those that still hit on me after finding that out.
I was disgusted just from looking at him; so disgusted that I simply gave him the cold shoulder and walked back to my party.
"Pft!"
I glared back at Trish as she was poorly holding back her laughter. Yeah, laugh it up, why don't you!?
"She's with me, Motoyasu." Itsuki called out to him in annoyance, "She's my party member, and we're here to Class-Up, like you."
"Oh, that makes sense." He nodded in understanding before turning to the Sword Hero, "You too, Ren?"
"Do you need to ask?" He rolled his eyes, "If you are done flirting with every woman in the room, mind hurrying up? The Wave is tomorrow, you know."
"Chill, chill. We still have a day, no need to rush."
Compared to the other Heroes, the Spear Hero seemed to be a lot more relaxed; not sure if it was due to his personality, or his confidence to push back the upcoming Wave.
Though definitely a womanizer, he was definitely the more mature of the three Heroes in the room; he looked the oldest among them, too.
"Oh, why if it isn't Trish."
Trish flinched next to me as one of the Spear Hero's party members, a redhead woman in rather scandalous looking armor strutted up to us with a rather condescending smirk, "I was wondering why it suddenly stunk of poison."
"I thought I smelled the stank of a skank." Trish rebutted rather quickly with a scowl, "It's the bitchy not-crown princess. Which pair of balls did you suck off to get on to the Spear Hero's party?"
Okay, wow. Trish was rather infamous for her sharp tongue, but this was way too sudden and way too sharp! Who was that woman to get her to act like this!?
"Wait, princess? Then she's that infamous Malty?"
"The one and the same, unfortunately."
Horror stories of that infamous First Princess often circulated in the adventurers' rumor mill, mostly by the victims of her malicious behaviour.
There was never anything good to say about the spoiled princess, her crimes from convicting people with false charges, to straight sending them to slavery, all for disagreeing with her.
Culann's discharge from the army was one such incident. He had stood up to her for one of the maids she was picking on; then the next day, he was suddenly indicted with charges of insubordination and had his levels reset.
"Hmph, tough words when you're doing the same with the Bow Hero." The princess huffed, "Why else would he let someone as untrustworthy as you in his party?"
"And you are? Please, everyone knows you're not as trustworthy as the people you screwed made it out to be. Why else would your younger sister be next in line for the throne and not you?"
"Y-You…!"
Trish was really letting her have it with her sharp tongue. She must really hate her.
"Okay, okay, settle down." Motoyasu rubbed on the princess shoulders, "We are going to be allies, so try to get along, alright?"
"Please, I know how not to let past grievances get in the way of work. Unlike a certain—"
"I think you had done enough tongue lashing for one day."
I quickly pulled Trish back and gave her a look which got her to hold her sharp tongue.
As much as I enjoy seeing that infamous princess from hell get such a brutal tongue lashing, it would do us no favours to get on the Spear Hero's bad side.
Not to mention that if she wanted to, that princess could pull some strings to get us in trouble with the authorities or worse; just having to look out for Mald's potential sabotage was more than enough for me.
Thankfully, the Spear Hero's party left immediately after finishing their Class-Up; the ritual wasn't as flashy as I thought it would be, just holding their hand to the hourglass, letting it glow for a minute or so and they were done. There was some smoke as well, but aside from that, nothing really happened.
"Be careful, Spear Hero. Even the most beautiful 'flower' hides the most toxic of poisons."
That would be fine, if Trish hadn't decided to provoke them one last time on their way out. Another verbal spat would have broken out had the Spear Hero didn't pull the princess away in time.
"…You have some kind of a history with the princess?" I asked her.
"In a way…" Trish sighed, "We attended the same academy in Faubrey; she was a real bitch back then, picking on anyone that somewhat slighted her and sleeping with almost all the guys on campus. It didn't help that she also got immunity from the teachers she had slept with."
"I was the only one in our year that didn't bend a knee for her, so she made it her life goal to screw me over throughout our school days."
Sheesh, no wonder she hated her so much.
"So, who wants to go first?" Itsuki asked.
"Anyone would do; just hurry it up." Ren groaned.
With that said, Itsuki allowed me to go first; talking about ladies first and all that.
That would be sweet, if I had been a girl.
After walking up to the platform where a nun was standing next to the hourglass, she turned to me and said, "Put your hand to the glass and focus your mind."
I followed her instructions and placed my hand on the glass and concentrated. The sand in the hourglass began to ripple before radiating a bright light.
A status window then appeared in my vision, with an icon of my face linked to several other icons by branching lines.
So this is a Class-Up…
Looks like I have currently four choices available for me to pick:
Cleric
Rogue
Fighter
Battle Mage
Without much consideration, I picked the Rogue.
I didn't know any healing spells, or any magic in general, so Cleric would have been useless; the same for Battle Mage. Fighter was a no go too as my attack stats was already incredibly high.
For how I normally heal people with my potions, the increase in agility and dexterity the Rogue provided would be optimal.
The hourglass lit up and smoke started pooled around me like the many others before me.
But then, the circle indent in Chain Sword's crossguard began to glow before releasing a beam of light into the hourglass.
That caused the hourglass to lit up even more to the point that I had to cover my eyes to prevent getting blinded by it. Moments later, the light began to die down and smoke dissipated.
"What… just happened?" I muttered out in confusion.
"This had never happened before…" The nun said in surprise.
"Wait, did my Class-Up get screwed up!?"
I quickly checked my status window, and breath a sigh of relief at the now missing star next to my level. Looked like the Class-Up worked; though what was with that light just now?
"Is everything alright?" Trish asked when I returned to my party.
"I think so." I replied back, "I got my Class-Up, at least."
"What was that light just now?"
"I have no idea. But…"
I unhooked Chain Cross from my belt and looked it over. That beam of light definitely came from this; it didn't look to have changed, however.
This weapon had been a complete mystery since I brought it; Kagu had no idea how it worked, especially the whole retracting chain part. All she could do was repair any damage to the chain.
"Trish, you're up."
At Itsuki's insistence, Trish did her Class-Up next; it was the same as the previous ones so whatever happened to me was only due to Chain Sword.
As the rest of the party did their Class-Up, I took another look at my status window, this time at my current stats.
As expected, my overall stats had increased, with my agility and dexterity both getting a significant boost, at least a fifty percent increase. If getting a Class-Up increased my stats this much, it's no wonder a lot of adventurers wanted one.
When we finished the Class-Up and exited the cathedral, the sun had began to set. As such, Itsuki decided that we should rest for the Wave tomorrow and headed straight for the inn.
"Ah, welcome, sir Bow Hero!" The inn's receptionist greeted us in a polite manner when we had just walked past the doors, "What can I do for you this evening?"
"Five rooms, if you please."
"Of course, we'll have the best rooms ready for you in a moment!"
She rushed out from behind her counter and up the stairs in frenzy, the shouts of orders could be heard from the floors above moments later. Heroes sure get special treatment wherever they go.
After we've gotten our room and split them amongst ourselves, with me and Trish having neighboring middle rooms while the other three guys surrounded us, we headed down to the local tavern for what could be our last dinner before the Wave.
"Oh, Itsuki! Over here!"
"Motoyasu, Ren."
The tavern must be really popular, as we ran into both the Sword Hero and the Spear Hero; the cassanova had his party of ladies in each of his arms as they hand fed him his meal.
Fortunately, Trish didn't seem to be in the mood to give out another tongue lashing right now; she did give the princess a dirty look, however.
The Sword Hero and his party were sitting at the far opposite end of the table, though they were as equally uncomfortable as their leader at the Spear Hero's harem situation.
"Why don't you and your party join us too?" Motoyasu offered much to the chagrin of the princess in his arms.
After taking a quick look around, I noticed the surprising lack of empty tables; almost all of them were full of people drinking away, most likely from the stress of the upcoming Wave.
Itsuki must have noticed it as well, as he sighed heavily, "…fine."
With much hesitation from the Bow Hero, we sat next to the Sword Hero's party while our leader sat next to his fellow Heroes; we then ordered our meals to the waitress passing by.
"The Wave is almost upon us." Motoyasu pointed out, "You guys ready for it?"
"Of course!" Itsuki proclaimed proudly while Ren simply nodded.
"Have no fear, Sir Itsuki!" Mald suddenly stood up and gave a somewhat knightly salute, "This Mald will be sure to give his all for the Wave!"
"Same here!"
"Me too! The Bow Hero's party will be victorious!"
I let out a small groan at the obvious bootlicking the three parasites were giving Itsuki; even the Sword Hero looked disgusted at their blatant display.
"Thank you, you guys."
And sure enough, the Bow Hero ate it all up.
"Not to sound rude, but…" Trish voiced out, "Do the Heroes have a plan on how to deal with the Wave?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
The three Heroes gave her a dumbfounded look, as if they were confused by her question.
"…You do have plans on how to fight it, right?"
"Kill the boss of the Wave and it will end." Itsuki explained, "It is as simple as that."
"That's right." Motoyasu nodded.
"So… your 'plan' is to rush straight to the 'boss' and kill it as fast as you can?"
"Is it not obvious?" Ren asked.
"…"
I could actually see the migraine growing in her head from the Heroes' answer.
"I think it is a sound strategy—"
"You, shut up."
Mald closed his mouth at Trish's furious tone as she turned to the Heroes, "Sir Heroes, tell me if I'm wrong; but when the Wave strikes, hordes of monsters will come pouring out of cracks in the sky nonstop; they will attack anything and anyone in their path, and will not stop attacking even after the Wave is stopped."
"That much is obvious." Ren noted, "What's your point?"
"The last Wave struck in a village, and it nearly wiped out more than a half of its denizens within a span of a few hours. More would have died if help hadn't arrived in time."
"T-That much…!?"
"Oh please, that's clearly a gross overestimation!" The princess scoffed, "If it was that bad, it would have been known! You're just making stuff up—"
"I was there!"
Everyone turned to me as I continued while glaring at the princess, "Both me and Trish were there when the Wave struck. I saw the monsters kill anyone in their path; my grandfather was left on the brink of death because of them! Do you think we would make stuff like that up!?"
"I…"
"Liya, calm down." Itsuki assured me, "I'm sure she meant no real harm."
"For now, at least…"
Trish's little offhanded comment got her some glares from the Spear Hero's party, but she ignored them and continued on.
"The point I'm trying to make is that if the upcoming Wave also strikes a town, there will be more casualties than the first; not unless we have a plan to minimise loss and not rushing in with a half-baked strategy of 'hit it till it's gone'."
"…"
The Heroes were rendered speechless at Trish's argument. And from how hard some of them were thinking, it looked like her words had gotten through to them.
"I think I get it." Motoyasu nodded with understanding, "Then we shall come up with a strategy for that. Sounds good?"
"Agreed." Ren nodded.
"It would be for the best." Itsuki noted.
"Right! So, let's all get to thinking!"
This was surprising; the Spear Hero looked to be the most competent of the three Heroes, or at least he had his priorities somewhat in order.
If he wasn't such a womanizer, he would be quite the capable leader.
When dawn came, all of the three Heroes' party gathered together outside in the streets; there were fully armed knights as well as adventurers standing by nervously, all silently waiting for the Wave to strike.
I could understand their anxiousness; after all, no one knew where the Wave would strike until it did. If anything, only the Heroes would know where it would be as they and their party would get teleported right to it.
"Just five more minutes…" Motoyasu turned to us, "You all remember the plan, right?"
Everyone nodded or voiced their agreement.
Last night's discussion ended up going on till very late into the night before we had to rest up; we ended up coming up with a decent strategy for when the upcoming Wave ended up striking a populated area.
If that indeed ended up happening, we would split into two groups:
The first group would head straight for the boss and try to defeat it and end the Wave as fast as they can. This would comprise of the three Heroes along with their more combat oriented party members as support; Trish and Mald's two goons in the Bow Hero's case, the swordsman and mage in the Sword Hero's case, and pretty much the entirety of the Spear Hero's party.
They wouldn't budge on that decision no matter how much we tried to reason with them, especially the princess; the amount of whining she made got really annoying.
The remaining party members would be the second group; we would assist with the evacuation and protection of the civilians from the hordes of monsters until the Wave's end. With luck, there would be some soldiers posted there whom we could back up.
Once the Wave was settled and the monsters had been dealt with, we would regroup in the town.
It wasn't the most well thought out plan, but it would somewhat suffice for now. At the very least, we should be able to keep the number of casualties as low as possible.
I had suggested the idea of recruiting the Shield Hero to assist with the second group, as someone known in legend for being an unbreakable fortress would be of great help to us.
Sadly, they outright rejected the notion of needing him at all, saying things like he would get in their way, or that they would never partner with such a vile person.
Were those rumors about the Shield Hero true, then? No, it would be best if I reserved my judgement until I had heard the whole story.
"It's time."
Moments after Ren said that, everything turned white and the scenery around us changed almost instantly.
We were no longer in the middle of a brick road; instead, we were now in the middle of a dense forest with the sky tinted a familiar and foreboding red. A second later, a loud sharp noise filled the air as a massive crack teared through the sky, and otherworldly beings came pouring out of it.
Yup, this was the dreaded Wave of Calamity.
I could feel my hands shaking at the sight of it all, the scenes of the last Wave played on constantly in my head and filled me with ever increasing dread and fear.
A hand pressed against my shoulder brought me out of it; Trish gently squeezed as she said to me, "Don't worry. It won't go like last time."
Her words assured me and I started to calm down, "…Right. It won't."
"Let's move, everyone!"
Taking the lead, the Spear Hero charged towards the crack; the rest of us quickly following behind as best as we could.
"Any villages, nearby?" Itsuki asked.
"It doesn't appear to be any, Sir Itsuki." Mald told him.
"No, wait! Look!"
Just then, a ball of light suddenly shot up into the air; it looked to have come from nearby.
"That's the emergency flare the soldiers use!" The mage in the Sword Hero's party, Farrie exclaimed, "We must be close to a village!"
"Two for two…"
To think that it would strike yet another populated area…
"Stick to the plan!" Ren shouted, "Split up!"
"Got it!"
We followed through and split up as agreed upon; with me taking the lead due to me being the fastest among them.
After passing at least a dozen trees, we happened upon an extremely familiar scene; monsters of unknown origins killing any unlucky person that got in their path.
The monsters this time looked to comprise of walking rotting corpses armed with weapons and armor, as well as giant flying insects; I was not sure if that was better or worse than the skeleton army of the previous Wave.
Thankfully, this village appeared to at least have some defenders; a bunch of soldiers and adventurers had formed somewhat of a defence line at the village's entrance and were barely managing to hold back the monster horde.
Unfortunately, that line looked to be on the verge of breaking down anytime now.
"Let's move–"
"Wait!"
Before we could move to aid them, the Shield Hero came out from behind them and struck his shield at one of the walking corpses; a metallic clang was heard, indicating that he had done no damage to it.
Inversely, the monsters seemed to do no damage to him as well; their attacks only bounced off him with no effect at all.
As expected of the Shield Hero; he truly was a walking fortress.
"Listen up!" He shouted at the soldiers and villagers, "I'll draw their attention, so use this chance to escape!"
"Y-Yes!"
Without another word, the soldiers quickly guided the villagers off the battlefield, leaving only him to deal with the monsters.
"Is he… defending the villagers?" Welt, the heavy armored knight from the Sword Hero's party, noted in surprise.
"Who cares? He's wide open!"
Mald suddenly drew his sword much to the surprise of everyone
I quickly grabbed his arm before he could rush at the Hero, "What are you doing!?"
"Taking down the Shield Hero, what else?" He stated, "He's the devil incarnate, the enemy of the three Heroes!"
"But we need all four Heroes to fend off the Wave!"
"Says who!?"
"Literally everyone!"
This parasite must be a devout follower of the Church if he was this fanatic; talk about the worst possible combination.
"Enough! Now is not the time for this!" Terisa, the fighter from the Sword Hero's party, pulled us apart, "We still have our tasks to do!"
"Y-Yeah, you're right." I let out a sigh and focused my thoughts. "…We'll leave this area to the Shield Hero for now. Let us focus on evacuating the remaining villagers first."
Glancing back, I saw the Shield Hero summoning an astral shield to protect another villager, all the while drawing them away.
To be willing to go that far to protect what was essentially total strangers, he seemed more than that hateful man I saw in the cathedral. At the very least, he wasn't the monster that the Church had been spreading rumors about.
It looks like there's more to the Shield Hero's crime than I had originally thought.
"But he's—"
"Mald." I glared at him, "For someone who believes in justice, you sure aren't acting like one. The Bow Hero would be very disappointed with you if he found out that you had tried to attack a defenseless man."
"Grgk!"
Do that again, and I'll inform the Bow Hero about what happened here. Was left unsaid but I was sure he knew.
After pulling the 'test' with me and Trish, Mald's standing in the party and with Itsuki was pretty low right now. If what he had tried to do here reached the Bow Hero's ears, he might lose all his influence in the party and get booted.
"Grr… fine."
There's no doubt that he would hold a grudge towards me for threatening him like this, but that's a small price to pay to get to get him cooperating.
With that settled, we left this place and headed into the village to assist in the evacuation.
Thankfully, the soldiers posted here had reacted quickly and had assigned the nearby mines as the evacuation point; a pretty smart idea as the mine's small entrance would act as a choke point and prevent the monsters from overwhelming them.
Unfortunately, the sudden appearance of the Wave had sent the villagers to a state of a panic and had made the evacuation process extremely chaotic, with many still hadn't left the village.
Which was where the four of us came into play.
We would help scour the village to help find and guide the remaining villagers to the evacuation point. And once all were accounted for, we would set up a defensive line in front of it with the soldiers and hold it till the Wave's end.
"Hurrah!"
With several swings of Chain Sword, the chain whip sliced and diced any of the insects that got into my range, preventing them from getting into the mother and child.
"Get to the mines! Hurry!"
"T-Thank you!"
Once I saw them leave, I ran down the opposite direction and continued with my search.
At this point, I would much rather deal with the skeletons from the previous Wave; at least they didn't swarm around you in massive numbers, or smelled like rotting flesh.
I had managed to find and rescue almost a dozen villagers by now; not sure how many there still were but it would be safer to check–
"Woah!?"
"Liya!"
"Raphtalia!?"
When I turned a corner, I ran into the raccoon demi-human and quickly parried her sword away with Chain Sword's crossguard.
"What the hell was that for!?" I shouted, "I nearly got my head chopped off!"
"I'm sorry! You startled me!" She apologised.
I let out a sigh; never thought I would see the day when I have to defend against her sword. I was so proud yet so sad at the same time.
"What are you doing here? Why aren't you with the Shield Hero?"
"Mr Naofumi asked me to help evacuate the villagers!"
"He did?"
Huh, I guess the Shield Hero was definitely not the monster the Church made him out to be; though it was pretty obvious at this point.
Makes me wonder if they had framed him for the crime… thoughts to ponder about later.
"Have you evacuated all of them?"
"I believe so!"
"Alright then, tell the Shield Hero that–"
Before I could finish my request, a loud clash could be heard as I turned around to see the Shield Hero barely managing to hold back the axe of a large corpse monster and preventing it from hurting the armed villagers behind him.
"That isn't good!"
"Mr Naofumi!"
I chased after Raphtalia who had booted towards the Shield Hero and was already far ahead of me.
She had gotten really fast too! What the hell had the Shield Hero made her do!?
"Raphtalia! You're just in time!" The Shield Hero cried out, "We're taking this guy out!"
"Alright!"
The Shield Hero drew the monster's attention and took its attacks, while Raphtalia dished out strike after strike with her sword. Their movements mirrored that of Culann and Fionne; a perfect combination of a defender and an attacker.
Looks like they got that monster handled; now I should do my job.
"Hey!" I called out to the villagers, "Get to the mines! Everyone else has already evacuated there!"
"B-But, the Shield Hero…"
"Get out of here!" The Shield Hero shouted at them, "I appreciate the help, but now you're just getting in the way!"
Just as he said that, a few corpse monsters charged at them with swords ready to strike, which I quickly dispatched with several swings of Chain Sword.
"So he says." I stated, "But he's right. The best thing you can do for him right now is get out of his hair and let him do his duty."
"R-Right…"
"Shield Hero! We had set up a defensive line at the mines! Once you're done here, head there!"
"Whatever! Just get lost already!"
Rolling my eyes at his prickly attitude, I proceed to guide the villagers away from the monsters and towards the mines–
"Get down!"
I swung my chain whip and got the last one out of the way just as fire rained down on the Shield Hero; the monsters around him were all burnt to a crisp by the sudden barrage along with some of the buildings caught in its radius.
"Raphtalia!"
"I-I'm fine!" She cried out from under the Shield Hero's cape, "Mr Naofumi shielded me!"
I let out a sigh of relief before turning to the ones that cast that spell; the platoon of knights smugly strode forward with a smirk on their face.
"The Shield Hero, eh?" Their leader scoffed, "You are quite the sturdy one."
"Did you order the casting of that spell?" I asked.
"So if I did? What is it to you?"
"The hell you say…!?"
Seriously!? This guy didn't look to have even an ounce of guilt for nearly endangering not just one of the Heroes, but also the villagers they were to protect! What kind of bastard does that!?
With fury in her eyes, Raphtalia suddenly leapt forward and swung her sword down at the knight, who calmly and effortlessly blocked her attack.
"If you knew Mr Naofumi was here, then why did you attack!? Depending on your answer, I may not forgive you!"
"Ho? You with the Shield Hero?"
"I am Mr Naofumi's sword!"
"Hah? A classy demi-human wants to fight with the kingdom's knights?"
"You spit on the people you have sworn to protect and hurl flames at Mr Naofumi, who is supposed to be your compatriot! I don't care if you're a knight, I don't respect behaviour like that!"
My eyes couldn't get any wider and my mouth couldn't drop any lower; how did that shy little Raphtalia turn into this spitfire of a lady!?
"You greatly misunderstood us. We just so happened to see the monsters crowding one spot, so we took the chance to wipe them all out with one stroke." He told her, "Besides, you both came out fine in the end, so what's the problem?"
"That's bullshit!" One of the villagers shouted, "You're clearly targeting the Shield Hero!"
"Yeah! Why else would you fire the spell at him!?" Another added.
"And you even burn down our homes! What kind of knights are you!?"
"Bastard knights, that's what they all are!"
"Shut your mouths!" He shouted at them, "Any more words like that, and I'll hold you all accountable for obstructing the knights' duty!"
I hold back a growl at their words, before leashing back my anger; lashing out at them wouldn't achieve anything right now. In fact, it would make things worse.
"Calm down." I told the villagers, "There's no point getting angry at these punks."
"But…"
"Besides, why waste the effort when you can let the monsters deal with them?"
On cue, the monsters that were sneaking up on the knights struck down on them. They all panicked and fell out of formation almost immediately, much to my amusement.
"Let's go, everyone." I told the villagers as I struck down a corpse monster that had gotten too close, "The knights need to do their duty, after all."
"That's right. We wouldn't want to obstruct them, after all."
"Good luck fighting those things!"
The villagers each gave them one final snarky comment before following me to the mines, leaving the knights to fend for themselves.
I regrouped with Welt, Terisa and Mald at the mines, and supported the forming defensive line with the surviving soldiers and adventurers; healing any of the wounded soldiers when I was able.
Moments later, the Shield Hero appeared with Raphtalia and a few more villagers. Together with them, rather unwillingly on Mald's account, we held the line and defended the mines from the monsters' onslaught for hours on end.
But soon enough, the cracks closed and the blue skies returned, signalling the end of the Wave.
"The Heroes must have won…" Terisa noted in surprise.
"Of course they did!" Mald boasted, "The Bow Hero was with them!"
"About damn time they finish…" The Shield Hero growled.
"It's not over yet!" I called out, "Let's take care of these monsters!"
"Right!"
The final clean up of the otherworldly monsters took us about an hour to finish. Once we were done, we returned to the village with the villagers and regrouped with the Heroes and the rest of our party.
"That pretty much takes care of it."
"Yeah, the boss was pretty easy."
"If this is all we're up against, the next Wave should be a simple matter."
The three Heroes were completely unharmed and filled with confidence; the boss monster this time must be quite easy for them to deal with if they were this cocky after fighting it. Or perhaps the Heroes were stronger than I give them credit for.
Compared to their party, however…
"Oh my, you alright!?" I asked Trish.
"As bad as it looks."
She had several shallow cuts all over her body along with a pretty bad burn on her arm. The cuts were no doubt from the corpse monsters, but the burns?
It was obvious those were caused by fire magic, and the only mages in her vicinity then were…
"The princess, huh?"
"Who else!?" She growled, "It's bad enough that she didn't even try to help fend off the monsters, the bitch has the audacity to fire a spell at an ally! In the midst of combat no less! I swear, when I get the chance, I'm gonna…"
"Okay, calm down, calm down."
I handed her a Recovery Medicine while taking a look around at the rest of the party.
At first glance, it was very clear that some of them weren't as exhausted as the rest of them; the ladies of the Spear Hero's party looked just as fresh as they were when the Wave struck.
Sheesh, looks like our party wasn't the only one with parasites; only the Sword Hero's party appeared to have competent and somewhat respectable people.
Not only that, that infamous princess had started to bare her fangs; if this was her being petty, I was so glad that she wasn't the crown princess. This kingdom would be in serious peril if that were to be the case.
After I finished dressing her wounds, Itsuki walked up and asked, "Miss Liya, how are Miss Trish's injuries?"
"Nothing too serious, thankfully." I told him, "She'll be fine after a good rest."
"That's a relief." He sighed, "Rest assured, I saw what Princess Malty did and had already told Motoyasu about it. He'll make sure to reprimand her on her actions."
"I wouldn't count on it." Trish told him, "That bitch knows how to sweet talk people to overlook her misdeeds, and was especially good with dealing with horny men like the Spear Hero."
"That's—"
"Hey, Itsuki!"
As if on cue, Motoyasu walked up to us and told us, "I've asked Malty about what you told me, and it turns out to just be an accident; she panicked from the stress of fighting the waves and misfired her spell. She apologised for hurting Trish the way she did."
"…Huh?"
"In any case, I'm going to check up with Ren. Later!"
The Spear Hero then leaves as quickly as he arrived, leaving Itsuki dumbfounded at his response.
"…had she been getting away with pulling stuff like that…?"
"She is one scheming seducing snake."
Itsuki looked completely stumped at the revelation; guess she got him fooled as well.
"…I'll inform the king about this." He said to us, "Even if she's his daughter, I'm sure he wouldn't just let this slide."
"That could work."
The current king of Melromarc was once known as the Wise King of the West; he was the hero that defeated the Siltvelt many decades ago. I doubt she'll be able to pull the wool over his eyes, even if she was his daughter.
"You're welcome to try, but don't get your hopes up." Trish told him, "There's a reason why her misdeeds were never punished."
"It doesn't hurt to try, at least."
It didn't look like he would let this one go. Guess under that desire for glory, he truly wanted to uphold justice.
"Very good work, Heroes! Thanks to your efforts, we were able to overcome the threat posed by the Wave." That bastard of a knight walked up to the Heroes and told them, "As thanks, the king had prepared a feast. You will be compensated for your efforts there, so please do attend."
"A feast!? Alright!" Motoyasu cheered.
"They sure worked fast…" Trish muttered, "Looks like the King wants to keep in good graces with the three Heroes."
"Who wouldn't…"
They were the symbols of worship in the kingdom's religion after all; any disrespect would no doubt bring the might of the Church down on them.
"Speaking of good graces…"
Trish pointed at the Shield Hero getting thanked by the villagers; no doubt seeing the person they had turned their backs on saving them from imminent doom struck a chord with them.
Once word of his deeds here spreads, those rumors the Church was spreading would no doubt be debunked.
Looks like his bad reputation would soon turn for the better.
…
To be continued…
Hey, hey! With S2 of Shield Hero over the horizon, I thought it would be good to at least update this fic till the end of the first arc. So there will be more updates coming soon!
I honestly had a bit of trouble with how to write this chapter, mostly on how the addition of Liya and Trish into the main cast would change up the dynamic between the three Heroes and how that would affect the plot moving forward.
And so far, I think I have done good with it so far.
Next up would be the banquet and boy do I have some plans for that part.
With that said, I thank you all for reading!
*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.
*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.