Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
The battle against the Fourth Wave is going well so far. With the monsters coming at them continuously, it's hard to tell if they have already destroyed the first 'Wave' of monsters coming at them. But so far, the monsters couldn't even get into close range against the defenders gathered at Cal Mira island with the constant bombardment of bullets, arrows, bolts, magic spells, and whatever weapon arts the few veteran fighters (including Sword Hero himself) threw ahead. In fact, Malty considers the fight going too well considering what happened in the Third Wave. She didn't add her own magic attack into the mix. With her weakened heart, every spell she can cast is valuable, and she wants to save them when the situation really needs it.
The Sword Hero's body suddenly freezes during the middle of a swing. That's the first sign that told Malty not everything is going as it seemed. Ren throws forth another [Meteor Sword], and then changes his weapon form into [Smartphone Sword] once again. His face remains passive, but his eye still twitches as he reads through whatever is on the screen. Malty snaps her finger at Eclair, getting the knight lady's attention to follow behind her. Flare wants to come too, but she stops the Consevatie girl with a gesture. With how overdramatic Flare acts around everything and anything, she'll blurt out whatever the Sword Hero was reading through. And Malty has a feeling that won't be appreciated by Ren, and it would not help with their situation. "Stay and provide everyone spell assist, Lady Flare. We'll come back shortly."
Flares gives Malty the look of a kicked baby filorial chick, but she stays rooted and continues to cast her fireballs at the advancing Wave-spawns all the same. With Eclair behind her, the princess turned slave quickly jogs over to Ren's side and looks down. Needless to say... she doesn't understand the symbols of the summoned heroes. "What does it say, Lord Sword Hero?"
Ren quickly looks up and throws a glance at Malty and Eclair, he leans closer and whispers to them. "Another group of Wave monsters went around us. They made landfall from the east side. And they are attacking the tourist resort."
WHAT?! Malty is glad that she left Flare behind. Even she nearly blurted out her horrified shock. The Wave-spawns... executing a flanking maneuver and trying to catch them in a pincer attack? Even worse, Naofumi was left by the onsen house, and he is caught in the middle of this attack with barely any defenders around him. Kael'thas, and the Siltvelt raiders are still with him. But they are mostly melee fighters and would be worn down by the Wave monsters very soon.
"We can't allow the Wave monsters to hurt Master Naofumi, Motoyasu, and Itsuki. And even if they manage to hide, we'll be destroyed if we are caught in a pincer. Most of the heroes' retinues are newly recruited nobles, or common folks. They aren't hardened warriors. They'll panic and crumble if we are suddenly attacked from behind. We must send reinforcements." Eclair manages to keep somewhat of a level head, and her military, and strategy training instantly kicks in. "We'll send our cavalry units. Their advantage is their speed, momentum, and intimidation factor. The last one wouldn't affect frenzied Wave-spawn, but we don't have enough space here at the beach to let them gain distance and charge again after they let loose. They'll be wasted defending this beach here. CUTE! JEAN!"
Chapter 10: Defense of Menagerie
The daughter of Van Reichnott and her attendant/sworn shield quickly runs over to Eclair. The lady knight didn't waste any time to give them command. "Get Lord Seliph Chalphy, and Lord Leif Claes. We need them to execute a battle maneuver."
"Yes, Big Sis Eclair- CAPTAIN!" The short young pinkette quickly changes her words after receiving a stern glare from Eclair, and the two of them separate, and run off to get the two knight lords that've been holding position on their side like two pairs of wings.
"Let Sir Beckter and your lieutenant Cardin take over command. You go inform Queen Mirellia on what happened, Eclair. I don't trust anyone else not to blurt out the truth and have the morale of the troops plunge to the bottom. And you being the last Seatto has a better chance to convince mother we aren't trying to pull a trick over her." Malty turns to look at Eclair next. The lady knight looks conflicted only for a brief moment before doing exactly as Malty commands. This is a crisis that needs much more than what the heroes' retinue to deal with. Mother can have the headache of informing the leaders of other nations and splitting their battle formation without causing a major panic. Not too long after Eclair left, the two crusaders came to the front after one another with Cute and Jean by their side respectively. The Reichnott girl looked confused at the absence of Eclair, but she didn't do much other than muttering something under her breath.
Malty motions them to get closer. Once they are close enough within whispering range, she doesn't mince words. "There's a second group of Wave-spawn making landfall on the tourist resort from the eastern side. We don't know if they are trying to kill the heroes staying behind to recover from the recent assassination, or if they are trying to catch us with a pincer attack. Lord Seliph, Lord Leif. Your fathers were known as the most valiant Melromarc knight lords of their generations, and those who fought in The Great War. They always charge into the most dangerous battlefields, and save the life of countless people, Highborn and common folk alike. Now it's your turn to take up their legacies. Take our riders, and reinforce those staying behind in the resort!"
Cute and Jean's eyes immediately grow wider than a saucer, their mouth enlarges too at the revelation, and Malty shoots her hand over her lower face to stop them from causing a scene. Cute's attendant Jean looks so scared, his legs give out and he falls on his butt. Lord Seliph and Leif by comparison are more composed, even if they still have the shocked concern on their faces. They recover quicker than Cute and Jean, with a salute, they turn around and run back to their small group of riders. Not too long after, they split from their battle formation and charged back towards the southeast.
They'll have to be enough to protect Naofumi and his friends, if not enough to hold back the advancing tide of Wave-spawn till the larger group of reinforcements could be gathered by the other world leaders. Their group might be small, and most of them haven't been tested in the actual war other than the brief battle of Third Wave. But they are the most elite members from their respective families to be accepted into the Spear Hero's retinue. They'll do their jobs. At least that's what Malty tells herself.
The battle around the Cal Mira tourist resort is total chaos. Some native guards remained to keep the peace, but they were more for keeping the order so the tourists, especially children wouldn't run off to watch the ensuing Wave battle. Not to fight a war. They haven't been overrun per say, and some of the Cal Mira guards are both skilled and powerful enough to hold back a small group of Wave monsters by themselves. But they can't create a solid line that stops the monsters from pouring through every direction.
"[Air Strike Shield]! [Barrier]!" Naofumi points his hand at the incoming monsters trying to harm the panicking civilians, stopping them dead in their tracks. He has his fully limit break [Geo Shield] {Five Stars} on his arm. Out of all the shields his level is high enough to use, this is the one that gives him the highest defense rating aside from his Saiga, the [Crown Shield]. A Wave battle isn't the best time to activate his saiga due to its constant stamina drain. He would bring it out if the Wave Boss is right in front of him and there is a need for the highest stats in a brief period of time. But for now, it's a battle of attrition. He would help no one, and would need others' help if he exhausted himself.
As for [Geo Shield]'s weight... he doesn't have to worry. He is being protected by his Siltvelt escort. Kael'thas is staying right by his side, sending out his red bird familiar to perform what's a fantasy equivalent of bombing runs: raining fire on top of the Wave monsters. Besides him, the rest of the Siltvelt raiders form a thick wall of steel and muscles led by their warchief Nazgrel. The Shield Hero doubts a fly could get close to him, unless all the (totally not orc) raiders and their direwolf steeds are bleeding on the ground.
Three riders run through his wall of Siltvelt protectors and dump half a dozen people by his feet. He didn't do any search and rescue training with Motoyasu, but they are working just fine. With his Siltvelt protectors, Naofumi acts as the rock staying in the middle of the tide of monsters. Motoyasu and his companions run out into streets overrun by the creatures coming out of the Wave with his filorial children to search for any survivors and bring them over. Without a word, Motoyasu rides out with Katarina and Bertia again in an attempt to find more people being cut off by the Wave monsters.
Naofumi is about to throw a healing spell on the wounded survivors, but someone beats him to it. He turns around, wondering if Kael'thas is feeling generous towards the 'mon'keighs'. The healing spell has a golden shine, which suggests it's a miracle healing, not his fire spells. But who says the (totally not) elf prince can't cast miracles? He certainly acts like a zealot all the time. And then the Shield Hero noticed a golden aura around Lori (aka Mein Jr. by Malty), his red filorial bird. She actually winks at Naofumi after noticing his gaze. She already unlocked her ability to cast miracles before she gained her humanoid form... before she even grew into a monarch? Oh, well. He's not complaining. Naofumi quickly cast another [Bountiful Sunlight]. The new golden orb slowly rises into the night sky, just as the previous mini-sun burns out. The spell's regenerative effect is a major reason why the raiders from the Frostwolf tribe are able to keep fighting the Wave monsters till now. Normally, they are supposed to be used as quick skirmishers, not shock troopers or frontline fighters. That's probably another reason why Sadeena was able to quickly kill a group of them.
"We can't hold this line much longer, my king." Kael'thas whispers to Naofumi, and the (not) elf prince is speaking the truth. The great cleaver used by the raiders are very powerful weapons, able to cut down multiple targets with a single swing. But the weapon burns out its user's stamina like crazy. Especially when used against heavily armored targets. And unfortunately, this monster Wave is mostly made of creatures covered in thick carapace. [Bountiful Sunlight] recovers wounds accumulated on the raider's body, not their stamina.
"We'll pull out after Motoyasu makes another round- '' Naofumi suddenly loses his voice. The ground is shaking, and it's not caused by the tidal Wave of monsters. Two months and countless battles after his summoning, Naofumi Iwatani still doesn't consider himself a professional soldier of this world. But he did slowly begin to build up some experience. What he is hearing, and feeling right now isn't caused by a stampede of monsters coming from the sea, but a charge of mounted warriors from the land. Unless the monster Wave has already fought through the gathered warriors to the north, and has some kind of cavalry, it would belong to their reinforcements.
Seliph Baldos Chalphy has no memory of his father. He grew up on the valiant tales of Lord Singurd that flew right out of a knight novel. From his step father Duke Arvis, from his uncle Duke Oifey, and even from King Shannan while he was fostered in the Kingdom of Isaac. His father was good friends with his step father. He took care of uncle Oifey and King Shannan when they were young like an elder brother, and a father to them both. But he himself has no recollection of Lord Singuard. He was still a babe when his father passed away from the wound he suffered in The Battle of Silverpass. It doesn't stop him from looking up to his father's example, and striving to live up to his family legacy. House Chalphy are the descendants of Baldr the Paladin, they are the most valiant, noble, and fair defenders of the weak.
Marquis Leif charged in front of his own formation, but not due to lack of courage on Seliph's part. Just like himself, Leif also strives to live up to the legacy of his own father Lord Quan, and the Lance Ritter of Leonster are the world's best spear wielding knights. They are the natural arrowheads of any attack formation. Unlike Seliph himself, Leif wasn't lucky enough to inherit the crusader's holy weapon from his father Quan. Gae Bolg had been lost to Siltvelt during The Great War. But that would do little to stop the master knight from being the sharpest lance of their battle formation as Chief God's holy black fire manifested around him.
Marquis Leif's wrath from his family's tragedy, and his sense of guilt from not being able to do anything to stop it due to his young age at the time burns much brighter than the earth lance Gae Bolg itself. He pulls a standardized steel lance from his back, and slowly lines it up in front of his own steed. The Chief God's holy fire wraps around his weapon, giving it a slight increase in length and turning it into one of the most deadly weapons during a cavalry charge. The carapace of the Wave-spawn in front of them didn't provide any resistance as they got split apart like wet paper. Right after him, Princess Nanna and Sir Finn are his twin wings as always. The female paladin wields Lands Sword passed down from her mother, smashing monsters like a hammer in close range, and draining their vitality from the distance. The golden, diamond shaped spear tip of the Brave Spear burst into a thousand star showers in the hand of Sir Finn, not letting the Wave monsters have a single chance to get closer to his lord, his lady, or himself. After the three champions of House Claus, well trained Leonster Lance Ritters also hold their own lance forward as they arrange themselves into an arrow, splitting the tide of Wave monsters behind their lord to tear a road made of broken carapaces, flesh, and blood.
Seliph pulls out his family's most sacred artifact, Tyrfing the sacred sword. He can feel Baldr's blood burn red in his veins as the blade of his sword glows with a faint golden shimmer. Just like the Third Wave... or his fight against the ancient, zombified thunder lizard... this is what calls him. His duty to defend the innocent. "Grünritter! CHARGE!"
All around him, his family's green armored knights begin to rearrange themselves even mid-charge. Opening up like a pair of wings slightly behind Leif's Lance Riter. Unlike the descendants and vassals of Njörun the Lance Knight, the knights of House Chalphy favor swords to honor House Chalphy's ancestor Baldr the Paladin. But a standardized, two bladed sword is more useful when fighting on foot, or serving as a ceremonial purpose. After countless generations, House Chalphy had adapted their own war strategy after close 'communication' with both the steppe culture of Issaach, and the raiders from Siltvelt's Pride Land. A thick spined, single bladed saber is much better to be used on horseback. And it's still close enough to their family's holy artifact than a lance.
As their combined force runs through the Wave of monsters, Seliph manages to catch a glimpse of Siltvelt raiders lined up in the middle of a street. He pushes down the immediate instinct to charge right at their ancient enemies. The majority of Siltvelt army brought along by Siltvelt delegation is stationed on the island's northern end in an effort to stop the monster Wave from reaching the resort section... which means they are the same group that escorted Lord Shield Hero back to the capital during the last days of the Three Heroes' Church's rebellion! This was Princess Malty's command, to protect the three cardinal heroes left behind to recover after the recent assassination, and delay the second group of monsters from hitting their main battle formation from the back. He gives a light tap to the head of his raptor, making Falchion run ahead to catch up to Leif. "Leif! I found Lord Shield Hero!"
The dark aura around Leif slowly disappears. While the Chief God's holy fire would grant its user immense damage potential, it unfortunately takes away most of their ability to reason. Luckily, those who are faithful enough to enter such a state can be called back by people they are close to. Seliph doesn't spend as much time with Leif as his half-brother Julius, or even his friends from the Kingdom of Issaach due to the distance of their respective fiefs. But their fathers were best friends, and Leif's mother Lady Ethlyn was Seliph's aunt. So both Leif and himself maintained an effort to communicate with each other through letters when they weren't spending time face to face. His voice is thankfully enough to bring Leif back to full consciousness. With a quick stare and a nod, Leif turns his steed around, and guides their group back towards the street where the Siltvelt raiders have laid down their defense.
The Pride Landers didn't relax when they saw their 'reinforcements'. Their hands actually tightens around the hilt of their weapons. Seliph wasn't surprised at the alartness and paranoia shown on the Siltvelt raiders. They have been enemies over thousands of years. The young count would be more surprised if the Pride Lander immediately opens their arms and welcomes the Melromarc knight. But in an attempt to reduce the chance of triggering an in-fight, Seliph rides to the front of their group and opens his mouth. "Is Lord Shield, Spear, or Bow Hero present? We, Grünritter of House Chalphy, and Lance Riter of Leonaster are your reinforcements!"
"I'm here! I'm the Shield Hero." A hand raises up and starts furiously waving behind the wall of fur covered bulging muscles. Not too long after, the raiders open up a narrow path between them to let Seliph, Leif, and their fellow knights through. They quickly run through the raiders to give them time to rearrange their defensive line before the monsters reach them again. Behind them, a young human man with dark hair, and Q'ten Lo features with a shield made of a giant slab of multi-layered rocks is waiting for them. He is obviously not the Spear Hero Seliph and Leif more familiar with, but they recognize his face from the few instances they saw him. This is the Shield Hero without a doubt. "I had someone send Itsuki back to the Menagerie hotel. He's the Bow Hero, in case you still get confused by our names. He got hurt the most when we were electrocuted. Motoyasu is still running around the other streets, looking for survivors."
"Lord Sword Hero received your message, Lord Shield Hero. Princess Malty dispatched the two of us as your first group of reinforcements." Seliph and Leif go down on one knee together with their knights. "Our duty is to ensure you and your fellow heroes' safety, and hold this second Wave of monsters at bay, so they can not join the first group and attack our army's back. I'm sure more reinforcements must also be on the way."
"GOOD! I don't know if it's The Burning Legion controlling these monsters, but they are acting like they are an actual army, not mindless animals. They were chasing after and killing everyone on the street when we came out here!" The Shield Hero is clearly shaken, as his words aren't the most organized. But what he said still makes Seliph share a quick look with Leif. They haven't discussed it officially with the heroes on account of The Hero Conference being so close, but they have overheard these talks from them. And as the descendants of the Twelve Crusaders, they knew much more about Medea's old gods than even most theocrats. Most of their knowledge comes from their family's oral tradition passed down through the ages that survived many theological religious purges throughout the eras.
Technically, with all of their powers coming from the Twelve Great Dragon Lords respective, they are followers of Gaia no different from the Loptr Empire their ancestors fought against. But as humans who are loyal to the nation of Melromarc, they are the faithful of The Chief God, and pay respect to Alaya, the guardian of humans. So when the Shield Hero revealed that he heard from the current Avatar of Alaya talking about this Burning Legion behind the current Wave of catastrophe, they took the threat seriously instead of treating it with hesitation, disbelief, or consider it some kind of conspiracy cooked up by the Cardinal Heroes to win more prestige and authority. But right now, these hypotheses aren't important. They need to find a way to get through the current crisis first.
"We don't know how much reinforcements those fighting on the frontline could spare, milord." Seliph tries to remind the Shield Hero in the most diplomatic way. Of course, the question is less about how much troops the frontline could spare, and more on how much they want to spare. Right now, the army on Cal Mira Island could be considered the most elite, and numerous troops in the world. They are the personal guards for all the rulers, and their most powerful allies and political opponents. They didn't spare any men or resources for their own safety. But on the other hand, they are also the most disorganized 'coalition' one could imagine on Medea.
Everyone has their own goals, and is trying to preserve their own forces while wasting their opponents' (maybe even some of their allies'). Who knows how many troops these blood sucking balloons would be willing to send out? As for the death of one, or maybe even all three of the Cardinal Heroes... they'll be fine. They are the chosen of the four legendary weapons and they could at least save their own lives. Even if they all die, there's of course the Four Saints' Barrier. It's not like the lives sacrificed to fuel it would come from actual social elites like them. As a knight, and as the son of Lord Singuard he hates to think about these disgusting political moves. That's one of the reasons why he had no trepidation to pass the title of Duke to his uncle Oifey, and choose to serve only the military affair of House Chalphy. But with his previous education as the successor to House Chalphy (he technically still is, until Uncle Oifey has his own children), he understood it.
"We'll fight with the assumption that what we have right now is what we'll have by the end." Seliph lets out a breath of air he's been holding back. It seems like even in his mild distress, the Shield Hero is still keeping some wisdom and a cold head. It doesn't matter if he understood Seliph's implication or not. "We need to build some defensive fortification if we are hunkering down... I can do it with my shield, and I'm thinking about starting to construct our perimeter around Menagerie Hotel. That's where the civilians are hiding. But I need someone to tell me how to build a proper one."
"I can do that, Lord Shield Hero. I wasn't old enough to remember the Great War, but my elder brother David taught me all he knew and experienced during the siege on Leonster, and the defense of Thracia." This time, Lord Leif steps forward. Normally, his retainer Sir Finn would have been the better option. He was actually old enough to fight during the Great War. And while he spent most of the time during the Siltvelt occupation protecting Leif and Nanna instead of fighting on the frontline, he would still have better understanding due to his experience than Leif who learnt all of this knowledge on parchment. But at the moment, Sir Finn would be more valuable to hold up their frontline. Leif's talent to the Chief God's holy fire makes him a better relentless attacker, than an unmovable defender like Sir Finn.
"Good! We have no time to spare. Tell Motoyasu to stay here and help with the defense when he comes back with his children. Show this to him. So he knows you aren't lying." The Shield Hero seems to think of something, as he takes down an accessory he's been hanging on the chest of his armor. It's a little string tied to some wooden carving, with a piece of filorial crest feather on the bottom. At first, Seliph thought it's some kind of good luck charm. But as his hand touches the piece of accessory, he can feel a mild shock and his blood boiling hot inside of his vein. This magical charm has the power of Alaya inside, and right now it's causing a reaction to the power of Gaia in his body. Before this point, he was only taking a leap of faith in Naofumi's words, but now he has undeniable proof that he has indeed met with the avatar of Alaya. He gives a quick tap on Leif's shoulder, his friend and cousin will know what to do.
Naofumi's stride back to Menagerie hotel feels like an instance thanks to his filorials Lial and Lori. By the time he arrived with Leif, people wearing Cal Mira Island clothes were gathered on the ground outside of the hotel. They are throwing crates, barrels, and furniture onto the street, trying to block some of the pathways off to create checkpoints, and constructing barricades. Above on the balcony of the hotel, people wielding arrows and guns lined up, ready to provide cover fire. Some of them holding modern looking firearms are dressed with the same camo cloth, goggles and hood like those Shiltfreeden agents who helped free him from the Bitch Lord- Wait a minute, he actually sees the same agents who helped him there. Right, that Tanya with the pig head did say something about her working for the Whip Hero.
"Lord Shield Hero, if you can start creating barriers on the paths these Cal Mira Island defenders are trying to block off? I'm sure they'll be happy for your help. And it'll give me a chance to see how your abilities work and plan our defense." Leif's words shake Naofumi out of his own thoughts. Right, because the Siltvelt raiders, Melromarc knights, Motoyasu and his companions are still fighting on the front to buy him time. Not wasting any time, The Shield Hero immediately starts to cast his [Air Strike Shield] on the streets pointed out by Leif, and then using a [Shield Change] to turn them into giant slabs of rocks.
The people around Menagerie Hotel are clearly startled by the sudden appearance of what's essentially a city wall. Some of them fall over and try to crawl away, others jump up and down while screaming, some even knelt down and started praying for this Chief God's miracle. Naofumi didn't bother to stop and explain to them the giant rock walls are his doing. He focuses on blocking the streets. Erecting multiple levels of stone barriers in case one is breached. Besides him, Leif only stared at the Shield Hero's handiwork for a brief few seconds before he recovered his mind. The young lord quickly begins to point his fingers at the ground in front of them, instructing Naofumi to start laying down more stone barricades to help the defense of Menagerie hotel.
"We lack depth to our current defense. If the Wave-spawn breach any fortification point, they could crumble our formation and kill everyone hiding in Menagerie. But we don't have enough manpower to create a defense fortification with depth." Leif lets out a brief sign as Naofumi finishes up the construction of his stone barriers. "But Lord Motoyasu's filorial children could jump over our barrier. They can perform fast raids on our enemy to relieve our warriors when they need to recover their strength."
"It'll have to do. Hope we actually get more reinforcements elsewhere." Naofumi nods his head and lets his hand drop down to his side. He sits down on the ground and takes a few deep breaths. This is the first time he continuously used cast shield abilities without any break since his level reset. He doesn't know if they are the same as normal people without a legendary weapon using weapon arts. Probably not... since there would be no need for stonemasons if people could construct a city wall in a few minutes using a shield like him. Regardless, he feels exhausted after his work. Leif quickly takes a few wide steps, leaning Naofumi's arm over his shoulder and begins to lead Naofumi towards the inside of the barricade he constructed for the Cal Mira people.
The Shield Hero feels a mild sense of powerlessness, and uselessness. As the Shield Hero, he should be the one to stand on the front and take the Wave monster's worst assault. That's even what Malty told him. Yet in all the battles so far, he's the one who gets constantly saved by someone else. The first time, he would have been overrun together with Lute village's militia if those knights didn't show up in the end. The second battle... he was the first to lose any ability to resist when Lautrec's goddess sealed away his shield. And right now, he had his level reset after Three Heroes' Church's rebellion and is being constantly sheltered in the backline. Only using his shield abilities, and miracles to support the troops fighting on the front. But he also remembers Malty's warning of his (and his fellow heroes') life tied with the difficulties of the Wave itself. So he can't even risk his own life without putting everyone else and their world in danger. For now, all he can do is contribute what he can while keeping himself safe.
"Lord Shield Hero?" While Naofumi is resting, he hears an unfamiliar voice calling out to him. The Shield Hero looks up, and sees a young girl with black hair, and a pair of black feline ears atop of her head. Her face reminded him a little of Cal Mira Island's manager. "You were the one that constructed this stone barricade for us, not some miracle from the Chief God. Am I right? I saw they were emerald colored shields, before they turned into stone barriers."
"Yes. We don't know how much reinforcements we'll get from the frontline. We need to hold down this fort till the Wave stops." Naofumi gives the catgirl a quick nod before closing his mouth and continues his rest. He has enough stock of healing, and recovery potion for both magic and stamina. He had fed all the herbs his own retinue and his fellow heroes had collected into his shield as soon as his level was high enough to reopen his alchemy shield branch, to let them slowly cook into high quality potions. But they should be saved in a pinch when the situation truly deteriorates into 'do or die'. He's already informed of the side effects of chucking down potions, and right now he has enough time to sit down and rest to naturally recover his stamina. But there is something he could do. The Shield Hero takes out his stack after stack of potions in front of him, the catgirl's eyes slowly turn into a saucer at seeing this much potion coming from a single person. "Distribute these to every defender. I think we'll need them."
"Of course!" The dark haired catgirl begins to wave and call out the people scattered around their newly constructed fortification. A group of two dozen adults, and teens run over. None of them carry any weapon. Probably the braver of the tourists who volunteered to help defend Menagerie hotel. Leif gives Naofumi a half bow salute, and runs back on his mount to inform their troops fighting on the front and bring them back. Not too long after, the Siltvelt raiders are the first group to return. All of their muscles are covered in sweat, their breath is as heavy as the giant wolves under them. Some of them are sharing their mount with warriors wearing Cal Mira Island clothing. These brave defenders have been fighting on the beach and the street of the resort even before Naofumi and Motoyasu's group joined the fray. They look even more exhausted than the Siltvelt raiders, with a good number of them completely leaning their bodies on direwolves' backs. If the (not) orcs aren't holding onto them from the back, they would probably fall off their mount during the sprint. The raiders immediately dismount their steed as soon as they clear over the barricade. They sit down on the ground with their great wolves, using every moment to rest and recover their stamina for the rest of the Wave battle.
"Father!" The catgirl runs over to Nazgrel, who is coming at the back of his raiders. Of course, she's not calling out to the leader of Siltvelt raiders, but the black haired man with cat ears in front of Nazgrel. Naofumi wasn't wrong with his assumption - she really is the daughter of Cal Mira Island's leader.
The Melromarc knights came back next. They also dismount their steed, but they run up the barriers and line up alongside the Cal Mira Island defenders. It seems like unlike the raiders from Frost Wolf tribe, the Melromarc knights haven't spent all of their stamina yet fighting the Wave monsters. Motoyasu and his children bring up the rear. With his children being powerful filorial monarchs, they have much greater stamina and speed than human, or demi-human. They are perfectly capable of kicking some monsters away, and then immediately turn around to run for their lives. As they come close to Naofumi's stone barricade, the filorial flock suddenly scatters, leaving nothing but empty space between Bertia and the Wave monsters chasing them. The dark mage turns around on her steed and holds up her palms in front of her chest, the fur on her black fox familiar's back stands up as a wyvern shaped dark aura forms around her. "[DARKNESS TERROR Wave]!"
A powerful tide of dark energy erupts out of Bertia's hand and sweeps the monsters away. The spell is still as powerful as Naofumi witnessed on the plain near the village of Balafon. The Shield Hero still remembers the first time the shy, nervous noble girl showed him what she could do with her dark magic. She didn't even dare to show it to Motoyasu, due to the fear of him showing disdain towards her power. But now, she is apparently confident enough to use her most powerful dark magic whenever she is needed.
Motoyasu, his companions, and his children clears over the stone barricade faster than the Melromarc knights. Naofumi feels like his heart drops to his stomach when he sees Motoyasu's face. The eyes of his fellow hero twitch in a way that looks like he is holding back tears. He is clearly also biting the inside of his mouth. Normally, Motoyasu tends to be the happiest, and the most optimistic one of them due to his childish nature. To have him look genuinely sad... he had probably seen a good number of tragedies with his own eyes. Naofumi quickly takes a few steps forward. "Are you okay here, Motoyasu?"
"I... I couldn't save them all..." Motoyasu's voice sounds as exhausted as he is lost. This further confirmed Naofumi's worry, his friend having witnessed deaths the Wave monsters caused to innocent people who were only here to spend a vacation. Katarina and Bertia quickly lean into both of his sides, lending their strength to support the Spear Hero. Naofumi hesitated for one brief moment, before he joined in and pulled them all into a group hug.
"Remember what I told you? Even Superman... er... I guess Ultraman from your earth, can't stop every tragedy. I'm sure you did your best. And our job isn't done here yet. We need to continue to do our best to protect everyone hiding in the Menagerie Hotel." Naofumi carefully observes Motoyasu's face. He sees his fellow hero's eyes slowly go from unfocused, to filled with resolution once again.
"Yeah! You are right. Our work isn't finished. Let's do this!" Motoyasu pulls away from their group hug, and gives Naofumi a light tap on the shoulder with his fist. The Shield Hero's eye focuses on the weapon form he is using. A silver shaft, with a long, golden, elongated diamond shaped spear tip, with two twin spikes extending horizontally to its sides like small pikes. It's the same weapon the knight Finn uses, and it makes Naofumi feel slightly confused. It can't be even stronger than the dragon scale weapon they fully enhanced through Gaelion's scales, can it? Motoyasu seemed to notice Naofumi's puzzlement this time, he gently flicked the shaft of his weapon with a finger on his left hand. "[Brave Spear]. It's not my strongest weapon form, but it cuts all my stamina consumption by half."
"Half stamina consumption, hmm... It's a pretty useful ability." Naofumi nods his head, and he instantly understands the reason why Motoyasu chose this form. Right now, they are facing near countless numbers of low level monsters. Canonfodders from the Wave to exhaust them, basically. Any ability or boost to extend their stamina is much more important than raising their damage output, and this weapon form could basically help Motoyasu fight twice as long as he normally could. "Is there a [Brave Shield] too?"
"Unfortunately not, Lord Shield Hero." The much older Sir Finn explains. He is over forty years old, yet the blue haired man still looks like he is in his mid thirties with his well shaved face and handsome face. A charming, boyish face mixed with the maturity that comes with age and experience. Naofumi imagines he must have an army of admirers. "The brave series weapons were originally constructed by the Three Heroes' Church, as a countermeasure against heroes who have gone rogue. So there is only Brave Sword, Brave Spear and Brave Bow. The exact method to create them has been lost to time, but there are still some of them left behind. So we can not use its creation method to make a shield variance."
"That's a shame." Naofumi immediately waves away the sense of disappointment in his head. Yes, it's a shame he out of the four summoned heroes can't have access to one of the more useful abilities. But he already has other things his fellow heroes lack. The ability of his fully limit break alchemy shield to automatically produce high quality potions without doing anything already feels like some kind of cheat code if he is actually in a video game. Plus, he already knew he could absorb an artifact of other weapon time and unlock a shield variance with their properties. But these weapons would be more helpful if they are wielded by other skilled fighters who know how to use them, like Sir Finn. So he doesn't dwell on this point. "Are there any more ways we can bolster our defense before the next Wave of monsters reach us?"
"There should be, my king. The past heroes declared Cal Mira Archipelago as eternal neutral ground. Where no other nations could try to conquer them, or to have their wars on Cal Mira soil and its surrounding seas. But its past lords should still have built it as a fortress in case any overly ambitious idiots want to challenge the heroes' edict." Kael'thas' eyes slowly move from Naofumi to the large, black haired (and furred) cat man. "I knew past Phoenix Princes have helped construct a defensive arcane network. And I'm sure Siltvelt wasn't the only nation who has helped contribute to Cal Mira Island's overall defense. Now is the time to use them. Why were none of these countermeasures activated?"
"Ah... I'm afraid you caught us at a bad time. Prince Kael'thas. You see... we have warriors, but don't have too many powerful, or knowledgeable spellwrights. Those of us who have magical potential, who we send to study spell works in foreign nations often choose to stay and continue their study and research rather than return to their homeland..." The large cat man begins to wipe sweat off his forehead.
"You don't know how to, or lack enough spellcasters to activate these countermeasures. I'll take care of it." Kael'thas waves away Menagerie Hotel's manager, no longer content to let the man waste more time with his long explanation. He takes another arrow out of his elaborate battle robe. Naofumi notices the arrow head has a more elaborate build than his usual 'cloud piercer' which has a hole through it to create its noise, this one is curved into the shape of a fiery red bird, making it look more like some kind of artistic product that should sit in a museum. Kael'thas tosses it into the sky in the brief moment when Naofumi was lost in his thoughts, and it makes a different noise than the normal cloud piercer. It sounds like the loud shrieking of a bird, and as it reaches the height in the sky, it explodes into a cloud of light that looks like a red bird too.
Not too long after, a bright white bird flies towards them... no, there is actually a second bird right behind the first one. But with its dark feathers and aura of black flame, Naofumi didn't notice it behind the one that looks more like a flying beacon. They land on the ground and quickly change into two people. The first one is a young, pale man who has the same elven-like features as Kael'thas, but has long silver hair instead of gold and he wears a set of white robes and the other has dark skin and unexpectedly thick muscles... that's Muhammad Avdol. Both of them go down on one knee in front of Naofumi. "We are yours to command, my king."
"They are Cleose Fallension, Prince of the White Phoenix, and Muhammad Avdol, Prince of Bennu. Both of them are spellwrights on the same level as I. Between the three of us, we should be able to activate and maintain any defensive countermeasure Cal Mira Island has." Kael'thas points to the two newly arrived Siltvelt princes and gives a brief introduction to them both.
"Do what you have to. Don't waste time." Naofumi gives a quick Wave to them all, beckoning them to do as Kael'thas say. All three Siltvelt princes give him a nod. The two newcomers stand up and enter the Menagerie Hotel with Kael'thas. Naofumi climbs up the stone barrier he constructed himself, and stands alongside the defenders. In the distance, he can see countless monsters still rushing at them. And right now... he can do nothing else but to hold them back for as long as possible. Hopefully till any reinforcements reach them, or this Wave is stopped for good.
End Note:
4th wave battle continues, and this chapter we mainly shine a bit more light on the side characters. But don't worry, Naofumi and Malty will get their spot light later. Although to be fair, with the vessal heroes being veterans who are way more over leveled compared to them, this fight would have realistically carried by them to show what they are capable of in an all out battle.
A little bit of explanation on a less known character: Cleose, the elven king/prince from Chinese Strategy RPG 'The Legend of the Fay Realm 1-2'.
In the first game, he is one of the mastermind and final boss for the game, ruling over one of the largest country and had the ambition to unify the entire continent (the fan community still has some debate if he, or the player character was the actual villain of the game since unlike Trash, he is shown to be a capable and wise ruler inspite of his ambition and the epilogue implies the state of the world only got worse after his death). And the second game was a prequel set a millenium before the first game, when he was still a young prince and one of the main characters. His canon self actually didn't give him a last name, and Fallenscion is the name of the elf kingdom.