"Guards!" Liera snapped into action immediately, and her words got Kurose, Sera and Eorna out of their stunned states.
"Take the civilians to the lord's home! Daniel, activate the Charme defences and keep everyone safe. The rest of you, stand by and be prepared for instructions." Liera commanded.
"Understood Captain!" A person who Kurose could only assume was Daniel, responded.
The guards made a similar noise, and they split into two groups. The first group went around, gathering up any civilians and knocking on houses to ensure that no one was left behind, whilst Liera turned towards Kurose.
"Accessory Hero, what do we need to do?" She asked quickly, bringing Kurose's thoughts back to him.
Kurose looked towards Eorna and Sera for a moment before answering. "Me, Eorna and Sera need to get to the wave boss. The quicker we kill it, the quicker the wave ends. To do that, we need to get through all the other monsters that will appear." He explained quickly.
"Understood. Lord Brandt," Liera spoke, turning towards the man. "If you would please joi-"
"No, I'm not going with them." Brandt spoke, interrupting Liera. "This is my land, my people. I'm not going to stay behind whilst everyone else fights."
"Think of what will happen if you die! This is hardly a normal monster outbreak!" Liera spoke, and Kurose stepped in.
"Is now really the time for this?" He almost flinched back as Liera turned towards him, glaring for a moment before sighing.
"Fine. You can stay, Lord Brandt. Accessory Hero, can I ask you to look after him?"
Kurose didn't point out that he and the rest of his party would be in the most danger, and judging by the look Brandt was giving him, he understood that.
"Fine, come on." He quickly invited Brandt to his party before turning around. "We are heading out to give them some time to organize what has to be done here." Kurose spoke, earning a nod from Eorna and Sera.
Brandt rushed to catch up to them quickly as Kurose spoke to Eorna.
"I'll admit I can't remember much Amarita said about the waves with everything that happened, but did she say anything about what the boss would look like?" he asked.
"Not as far as i'm aware." She answered quickly. "Just that it would be stronger than the other stuff in the wave, and that we should kill it as quickly as possible."
Kurose nodded at that, already adding that to his plan. "Lord Brandt-"
"Just Brandt."
Kurose resisted the urge to groan, instead biting it down for later. "Brandt. What do you use? Weapons? Magic?"
"A sword, with a Charme embedded in it." He answered quickly.
"Got it. Eorna, Sera, same formation we used whilst traveling here. Brandt, you will be with Sera, acting as his defense, if that's fine with you?"
"Understood, Accessory Hero." Brandt answered, and Kurose simply nodded.
They quickly made their way to the gate, watching a group of people with Charmes and bows make their way up.
"Accessory Hero, do you have any Charmes?" Brandt asked suddenly, and Kurose shook his head.
He reached into his pocket before quickly taking out two Charmes. He slotted one into the pommel of his sword, which Kurose found interesting but was distracted almost immediately by Brandt dropping a Charme into his hand.
"It's only a basic Mega Charme, but it should be decent for the time being. Please do be careful, I don't wish for the death of a hero to be blamed on me."
Kurose gratefully accepted the Charme, looking it over. He still couldn't read what the text said, mainly due to his lack of studying, but he would figure it out soon. He hoped at least.
He felt like there should be something he was doing with the Charme, but he brushed it off as the pressure of the wave getting to him.
He kept the Charme in his left hand as they finally exited, and Kurose froze, looking over the area before them.
The monsters from the wave weren't close to the village, but he could see at least one group of them approaching. He wasn't exactly sure what monsters there were, so they were just going to have to try and figure it out on the go.
"Come on, let's get going. Try and take out one group before everything else comes." Kurose spoke, beginning to move forward.
He finally got a good look at the area, and noticed one wave crack closer to the floor than the others. He pointed it out to his party before speaking.
"We head to that one, and hope the boss is there, got it?" He asked, getting nods in response from his party.
It didn't take long for Kurose's party and the first group of monsters to actually collide.
From what he could tell, there seemed to be a mix of three monsters in the group. The first was a snake-like monster which Kurose couldn't find anything special about. It seemed to be the slowest monster of the group, trailing behind everything else in the group.
The first thing to meet them was a small bird-like monster, which seemed to shine slightly as the light from the wave glinted off of it. Its feathers were a bronze color, and it let out a cry before diving down towards the group of four.
"Erst Scarf!" Kurose shot the skill towards the bird looking monster, hoping to stop it before it actually reached him, but to his surprise, it dodged around the scarf, seeming to lock onto Kurose.
His Parasol came up, opening to act as a makeshift shield, but he was once again too slow. The creature's name flashed in his vision for a moment, but Kurose ignored it in favour of biting down a shout.
"Erst Slash!" Eorna's' dagger slashed through the bird easily, and Kurose looked down.
The bird had struck his shoulder, which normally wouldn't have been an issue thanks to the armor covering it, but it seemed to have pierced through the armor, making contact with his skin.
"What the hell?" Kurose spoke in concern.
He knew his defense was low, but to this extent? Maybe he should have focused more on unlocking defense based equip bonuses?
It didn't matter for the time being, that was his mistake for this wave at the very least. He knew what he had to focus on for the next.
Another cry rang out from above them, and Kurose didn't even need to see its name to know what it was.
[Interdimensional Harpy]
It let out another cry at being spotted before flapping its wings a couple more times. Some feathers came loose from that simple action, and the feathers launched towards them.
Sera placed himself in front of Kurose quickly, the feathers hitting against his armor and leaving small scratches before stepping to the side.
Kurose gave him a small smile before pointing the Charme towards the harpy.
"Firebolt: Mega" The small bolt of fire shot forwards, a bit slower than piercing light, but it still made contact with the Harpy.
It let out another cry, only to be interrupted by Brandt.
"Extending blade: Giga!" The blade of his sword lengthened, giving him the reach to pierce through the Harpy.
It let out a dying noise, dropping to the floor without any other issue.
Sera and Eorna were ahead of them, fighting the snake monster that he had spotted lagging behind everyone else.
Sera thrust forward with his spear, stabbing into the snake's side, but it didn't stop it. It let out a hiss, its fangs clearly visible as it lunged forward.
Its teeth glanced off of Sera's covered forearm, and he finished it off quickly, his spear going through its head. A slightly sizzling sound was heard, and looking down at his forearm, Sera noticed a drop of yellow liquid as the source of it.
He quickly untied his vambrace, chucking it to the floor before sighing.
"Careful of the snakes! They can produce something which damages your armor!"
Kurose, Eorna, and Brandt all heard it, but did not respond, more focused on fighting and progressing at the moment.
"Captain! Report on the hero's progress!" A scout shouted as she ran into the room.
She didn't wait a moment before continuing, something Liera approved of.
"The heroes have fought deeper into the monsters coming from the wave, and our last sighting of them was getting closer towards the crack that is closest to the ground."
"Good. Pass on the word to the guards outside the wall. The more they have hope, the longer they will fight for."
The scout nodded her head, quickly running out to relay the message whilst Liera turned to another.
"How are the men outside the wall doing? Anyone injured or dead?" Liera asked, earning a shake of the head from the man she was speaking to.
"No casualties yet, there have been some close calls, but the squads affected have pulled back. Those severely injured have been pulled back behind the walls for medical treatment whilst the others are fighting on."
Liera nodded, thinking it over for a moment. "Tell the people on the walls to redouble their efforts. Give the guards outside the walls a moment to breathe and recuperate. Get Eliza to spread out some healing salves to soothe any injuries."
"Captain!" Another voice shouted from. "Monsters from the wave are flying over our archers!"
She didn't wait a moment before going out, her mace already in one hand, and shield in another.
Her mace hit her shield, making noise which caused a few people around her to flinch, but achieving her goal of attracting the attention of the harpies.
"Come on then!" She shouted, and the three harpies above obliged. Two of them shook loose feathers, shooting them towards Liera whilst the third dived down at her, its talons intent on grabbing her shoulders.
Her shield blocked the feathers, but she noticed that they stuck into the metal of her shield. As the third Harpy came within reach, she swung her mace up, meeting it halfway.
She missed its body, her weapon instead smashing into and breaking one of its wings. It let out a squawk, awkwardly trying to flap its wings before quickly being finished off by two of the guards.
The other two harpies, now more wary, circled above her, occasionally shaking feathers off to shoot at her, which she blocked.
"Come on… It's just a matter of time…" She murmured to herself. "End the wave soon heroes."
"Behind you!" Brandt called out from his side, causing Kurose to dive out of the way of another snake lunging for him.
The snake hit the ground, stunned for a moment, and Kurose shot off a Volt Shot, the empowered skill instantly piercing the monster.
"Any sight of the others? Or the boss?" Kurose called out to the lord, using the borrowed Charme to send another Firebolt towards a [Stymphalian Bird], as he had found the name to be.
At some point during the fighting, their groups had been split into two and lost amidst the creatures that came from the wave.
"No sign of them yet." Brandt spoke, taking a moment to catch his breath.
"Well, hopefully we can meet up with them soo-"
He was interrupted by the sound of the ground shaking for a few moments, and Brandt's panicked shout before finding himself being launched to the side.
He put one hand on his side, where he had been struck as the sound of someone running over to him filled his head.
"Accessory Hero!" Brandt shouted once more, causing Kurose to wince at the volume.
He was quickly helped up by Brandt, and it was then that he finally got a look at what had knocked him over.
[Interdimensional Odontotyrannos]
It was a giant, dark coloured horse, from what Kurose could tell. The only thing unique about it was the three horns on its head, each swirling around each other to form an even bigger, singular horn.
The boss's leg pawed at the ground again before lowering its head, making its intent to pierce through Kurose and Brandt clear.
Both the intended targets dived to the side, with Kurose shooting off another firebolt which splashed onto the hide of the wave boss, seeming to do no damage.
"Of course it's resistant to fire." Kurose grumbled, shaking his head.
It was a mistake to shake his head, Kurose found, as the boss turned on him, dashing towards him with the intent to pierce him through the stomach. He jumped to the side, but he wasn't quick enough.
The boss's horn hooked through an already damaged piece of his leather armour, catching him mid jump and dragging him along for its dash.
He pointed his Parasol at it, the wind whipping through his hair as he let off another Volt Shot.
It was still slightly empowered, but nowhere close to its max power. Instead of piercing through the bosses hide, it left a slight burn mark, and made its body convulse involuntarily.
These convulsions reached its head, and the boss twitched violently, its head jerking up with enough strength to send Kurose soaring into the air with a scream.
He quickly scrambled to switch to the Aransilk Parasol, glide taking effect almost immediately as he glided to safety.
"-rose!?" A familiar voice shouted, a slight distance away. He locked onto it almost immediately, waving at both Eorna and Sera, who were surrounded by dead monsters.
He made a gesture, trying to direct them to make their way over to both him and Brandt before looking down at the approaching ground.
"Accessory Hero!" Brandt called out, even as he attempted to get closer to the Odontotyrannos. "Any idea on how to deal with this?"
Before Kurose could answer, to say he had no ideas at the moment, the boss pulled back slightly, confusing him.
But then, its mouth opened, and something flickered in the back of it. Kurose wasn't sure what it was, but he knew that neither he nor Brandt wanted to be close to it.
He quickly swapped back to the Amphelisk Parasol before shooting an Erst Scarf towards Brandt, yanking him backwards to be beside him.
The boss's mouth opened once again, and Kurose immediately realized what the flicker in the back of its throat was.
"Thread Trap!"
He shot the skill towards the bosses mouth, hoping faintly that it might buy them a second or two as he opened up his Parasol, shielding both him and Brandt from the incoming fire.
The thread burnt almost immediately, as Kurose had expected, but the Parasol was doing its job. He was thankful he had settled for Magic Defense now, rather than going for Magic attack on his enchantments. The other thing that helped was magic defense being one of his highest stats.
The flames eventually died off, and before Kurose could think of anything to do in response, he heard a cry of pain from the boss.
He looked over his Parasol, with Brandt doing the same on the other side, just in time to see Sera pull his spear out from the boss's side.
"Eorna!" Sera cried out as the boss turned its head in an attempt to hit the spear wielder.
"Volt Slash!" Eorna shouted, the skill connecting with where Sera had stabbed his spear into the boss.
It let out a groan, swaying slightly before seeming to right itself. Eorna and Sera quickly retreated to Kurose.
"Kurose!" Eorna cried out. "What were you doing up in the air!?" She shouted, getting a small smile from Kurose.
"I'll tell you later?" He offered weakly.
"Fine… Considering what's going on, I can wait." She responded with a smile of her own.
Before anything else could be said, the boss charged at them again, They all dived to the side, with Sera and Brandt stabbing at it with their weapons as it went by.
We just need a good couple of hits on it, then it should go down… Kurose thought to himself with a frown.
He had an idea, but he wasn't sure if it was actually going to work or not.
"Eorna, if I create an opening, do you think you can slash at its ankle?" Kurose asked her quickly, getting a nod in response.
"Oh! You wanna make its leg weak enough to be unable to support itself, right?" She asked. "Yep, I can definitely do that! I just need it to stop moving so much, or get a lucky hit." She confirmed.
"Great. Sera, Brandt!" Kurose called out, getting their attention. "I need you to keep the boss on you two, just annoy it, okay?"
They didn't respond, but they immediately got to work. Brandt kept using his Charme and Sword, leaving small cuts along its side, whilst Sera kept irritating its bleeding wounds with the tip of his spear, successfully diverting its attention.
Once its back was fully turned to them, Kurose ran forward, with Eorna easily keeping pace beside him.
"Erst Scarf!" The summoned skill shot forward, wrapping around the bosses front right leg as it continued to stomp after Sera and Brandt, and then Kurose tugged on it.
He thought for a single moment that it wasn't going to be enough to do what he had planned, but then he felt the boss fall forward.
"Erst Slash!" The skill cut straight through its heel, and Eorna pulled back to where Kurose was.
They both watched as the boss attempted to stand, a couple of times. Each time it tried to put its full weight on its injured leg, it crumpled back to the floor.
It still had other ways to defend itself, namely its flame breath, but it could only do that every so often, meaning that after managing to pin it down with that injury, it was simple from that point onwards to take it out.
Once it was dead, and Kurose dismissed the experience notification, he looked towards the crack closest to the ground.
He blinked at it, thinking he saw some sort of shadow moving closer to the crack, but after another blink, the crack, and by extension the shadow behind it, was gone.
Kurose let out a groan of relief as the wave ended, and he sat down on the ground, enjoying the clear blue sky once more.
"There's still some monsters around." Sera noted casually, a frown on his face.
"I'm sure the guard will be able to handle it." Brandt answered simply.
As if to prove his point, a group of guards in the distance were easily fighting against Harpies and Cerastes snakes, having gained some experience through fighting against them in the waves.
"Do you think you'll be able to make anything out of these monsters?" Eorna asked curiously.
"I'm sure our blacksmith will be hard at work with all these new materials." Brandt answered with a smile. "After you heroes have had your pick of things of course."
"Ah, right. I forgot about that." Kurose spoke, standing up slowly. "Let's see…"
He moved over to the boss, with Eorna following soon after. They quickly got to work, beginning to take the boss apart.
Matthias paused as he finally got out of the forest. The red sky had been replaced with the previously clear blue sky, signalling a clear end to the wave.
"Damn." Matthias spoke, looking towards the village the wave had been centered on. "They ended it quickly. I guess they really had it covered."
He began walking towards it, more relaxed than before now that he knew the wave was over. He still had to meet up with the other heroes and share methods with them.
"Wonder what sort of method they each have." He spoke out loud, tapping his fingers against the hand of his hammer.
He was distracted by something rustling behind him, and turned just in time to see a snake-like monster lunge at him.
Matthias sidestepped it easily, swinging his hammer down on it almost immediately after. The experience it gave him was minimal, but it did give him a chance to actually look over the monster.
"So this is the sort of stuff I should expect from the waves?" Matthias spoke, prodding at the corpse with his foot. "I mean, I know they are supposed to get stronger but this is just…" He shook his head, absorbing it quickly before whistling.
"Damn, that's a decent bit of energy. Wonder if I could..." He trailed off, looking around for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah. Better to meet up with the heroes first before anything like that."
With that said, Matthias set off towards the village again.