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.
"Naofumi!" Malty's eyes finally recognize the identity of her rescuer as he jumps back onto the ground. She wouldn't call the Shield Hero's landing graceful, as he clearly wobbled on his feet, and created a small crater on the beach. And deep down, she knows Naofumi is severely underpowered thanks to her mother's effort to politically snub the two of them. But seeing his familiar face, and knowing the man who had been with her during their fugitive days running from the rebelling Three Heroes' Church still fills herself with a sense of reassurance. It didn't stop her from chiding him. "You should have stayed in the Menagerie Resort! It's dangerous out here!"
"I'm the Shield Hero. More than my shield, or my levels. There's no way I'd sit this battle out when you are out here." Naofumi slowly stands back up from his crouching position, he turns his face to give Malty a nonchalant smile. "Don't worry. I'm not here to throw my life away! We owe our lives to Kyubey, Farkas, and everyone who sacrificed for us. I'm only here to make sure you are safe. I could at least do this."
"I'm here too! Don't I mean anything?" Motoyasu lands right behind Naofumi, and he's not the only reinforcements to come from the sky. Janne D'Arc and Abaddon Abel crouches down on Naofumi's sides. Their landing is much more graceful compared to the two heroes thanks to the wings on their back.
Malty nods her head. It's good to know that Naofumi at least understands the severity of their situation, at least from a logical perspective. Of course, she also knows that the Shield Hero is someone highly sentimental, and could act on impulsive emotion at a moment's notice (not unlike her father, come to think of it). She quickly remembers Gaelion's warning, and decides this is information the two newly arrived heroes need to know about. "Gaelion sensed something similar to his father from the Wave. He said we might be facing an Earthbound deity. Like Fitoria."
The reaction from the four newly arrived combatants are very different. Janne and Abel exchange a quick, almost knowing look. Naofumi's previously aloof looking face becomes grim and serious. Motoyasu for the most part looks bland, like he is confused by something. "So we are fighting a mental bird in this Wave?"
"Motoyasu... I don't think Gaelion meant we are facing a bird like Fitoria. Probably more on someone of her power level." Naofumi's head slowly turns to look at the Spear Hero. He both looks and sounds tired. And moments like this is why people, especially those who don't know Motoyasu well tend to think the Spear Hero is stupid.
"Oh, right! That makes more sense! We have to be careful because she's strong, Naofumi! She beats all of my children without breaking a single sweat." Naofumi's words seem to finally get to Motoyasu as he nods his head, looking more serious than before. And then he stumbles on his feet, much like Naofumi and Malty herself. All three of them turn their head back towards the Wave, and see the giant, red spider is moving towards them. A single voice begins to ring inside Malty's head, almost like it's pierced right into her brain: Feed... FEED! More... MORE!
Chapter 13: Brave Man Fight Titanic Arachnid
Raphtalia runs on the edge of the stone wall, quickly passing bottles of healing potion to wounded fighters from a wooden crate on her shoulder. The defensive barricade Naofumi created with his shield abilities is much narrower than an actual city wall. With most of the defenders on it, there's barely any room left for anyone or anything else. Thankfully, her body is agile due to her tanuki physiology, so she doesn't have to worry about feeling down the wall.
That's what she believed till a huge Wave of malicious aura hit her. She nearly blacked out, and by the time she came back, she noticed two things. First, the crate of healing potions is no longer on her shoulder, and second, a golden haired woman is holding onto her arm. That's the only reason that her body isn't down on the ground with the crate of shattered healing potions. "Th-thank you. What was that?"
"You are welcome." The woman gives her a quick smile, she leans back, pulling Raphtalia back onto the stone wall. Raphtalia could easily feel the golden haired woman is much stronger than her in spite of her slim build. That sense is further affirmed when she looks at the sword on the woman's back. Or rather, the giant slab of solid stone that's carved into the shape of a sword with a hooked tip. Raphtalia doesn't consider herself a real fighter, but even she can tell this weapon has more in common with a mace, or maybe a hammer than an actual sword. The golden haired woman turns her head towards the North where the Wave opens up in the sky. "You felt that immense wave of malice, didn't you?"
"I almost blacked out. Is that what it was? Malice from some... thing?" Raphtalia also looks in the same direction as the golden haired woman. She feels worry for both Naofumi and Malty. They are going to fight something that nearly caused her to faint without even standing in front of her face. She wants to go to the side of her surrogate parents... but she knows that she would only be a burden to them rather than helping them.
"Yeah. I felt it too. So does Lord Seliph, and Leif. Sir Janne and Sir Abaddon said something about a demon breaching into our world. It has to be that demon." The golden haired woman nodded her head. Her face looks grim... and Raphtalia belatedly realizes that she doesn't even know the woman's name. But there are more important things to worry about right now. "I'm sorry, I have helped our warriors holding down this fort. I'll talk with you later, Lady Raphtalia."
"Ye-yes... thank you..." Raphtalia's eye follows the golden haired woman till she turns around and joins the rest of the defenders at the other edge of the stone wall. She pulls her giant stone sword out with one hand, and starts to conjure miracles of healing light with her other hand. The valiance of the golden-haired woman makes Raphtalia feel a sense of uselessness once again. She's been following Naofumi and Malty for two months now, but she still can't do much to help when it comes to a large-scale battle. She is... probably stronger than most new recruits, maybe even some of the adventurers thanks to the level she gained following Naofumi. But she isn't skilled enough to fight on the front line as a well trained soldier, and definitely isn't brave enough to fight on the front without panicking. Most of her night terror is gone now, but she still sees her parents get torn apart by Wave spawns once in a while in her dream. And her magic... Most of them are more like parley tricks. Illusions that might have been useful to deceive some people (she can't forget how the only victim of her illusion magic so far being Naofumi and Malty due to the unspoken threat she received from Fuckboy when she was his slave), useless against unthinking beasts. Hopefully, whatever training she's going to receive from the granny master will be worth it...
The sound of people arguing draws Raphtalia's attention down to the ground outside of the big resort. She has to blink a couple of times to make sure she isn't imagining the scene. The Throwing Weapon Hero seems to be having an argument with that young white tiger girl who is trying to hold him back from... help fighting the Wave monsters, perhaps? She doesn't know what's going on, since from their brief encounter in the tropical forest, that girl seems to be entirely devoted to the mad man. Out of curiosity, and knowing she isn't helping much on the fortification, Raphtalia slides down the rope to get closer to them.
"You can't just charge out there, Master Tairou!" As Raphtalia gets closer to the struggling hero and his companion, she begins to hear them more clearly over the sound of fighting and screeching from the ongoing battle. It seems like the young girl is worried about her sworn hero putting himself in danger. That's a sentiment Raphtalia completely understands. She's worried sick about Naofumi and Malty herself now that she isn't anywhere near the two of them. The girl's older brother notices her approaching behind Tairou and Atla, and gives her a nod.
"I have to! This is what I'm summoned here for!" The Throwing Weapon Hero is flailing and struggling against the white tiger girl's hold. He isn't exactly a giant, especially compared to someone like Farkas or Yatsuhashi, but he's still a good head or two taller than Atla. Yet he's not going anywhere with her arms wrapped around him. Moments like this makes Raphtalia feeling (only slightly) jealous about certain breeds of her kind's natural affinity for fighting. If she has a similar affinity for fighting, she could help Naofumi and Malty more in Wave battles... NO! Stop wasting time thinking about things like this.
"Maybe you should let Master Throwing Weapon Hero make his own decisions? Miss- Lady Atla? He is a hero, and it's duty is to fight in the Wave of Catastrophe. I still remember Master Naofumi almost getting punished for helping defend a small village, but not showing up during the main Wave battle during his first Wave battle." Raphtalia reaches out and gives a gentle press on Atla's arm. That's apparently the wrong thing to say, as the little white tiger girl's face spins around and begins to glare dagger at her.
"YOU! Don't compare Master Tairou with that Shield Hero who can't even tell who is good for him! And don't butt into things you don't understand- MASTER TAIROU!" In the short moment when Atla was distracted, the Throwing Weapon Hero managed to break through her hold and ran... towards the back of the resort? Raphtalia supposes the backside could use some help too, but isn't the eastern side of the wall under the most pressure because that's the direction all the monsters were coming from? While she is lost in her thoughts, Atla begins to run after the Throwing Weapon Hero, while chastising her own brother. "Why didn't you help me hold back Master Tairou, Big Brother?!"
"Miss Raphtalia has a point. Lord Throwing Weapon Hero would be punished if he doesn't show up in the Wave battle." Fohl nonchalantly shrugs at the whole situation, and the way he addresses the Throwing Weapon is much more distant than his younger brother. Raphtalia gets the suspicion that he's only using her argument to appease his younger sister, because he isn't very compelled to help.
"NO! That's not what Master Tairou is going to do-" Atla's desperate screams are cut short with the sound of a loud bird screeching. Raphtalia turns her head around... and she immediately notices a familiar mostly white figure with some pink feathers mixed in bird being led out of the Menagerie Resort stable by the Throwing Weapon Hero. She's much more slim compared to herself before the level reset, but Raphtalia still recognizes Firo. "He's going to go after the Shield Hero!"
"COME ON, FIRO! Let's go help Naofumi-sama fight back this Wave, and save him from the Bitch!" Tairou jumps onto Firo's back, his words clearly further emboldened Firo. With another loud screech, Firo jumps up the tall defensive wall, and disappears over the north of the barricade. Raphtalia is somewhat aware that it's her fault that he got out of Atla's hands, and might be taking Firo to her doom with him.
"This is all your fault! Who knows how many monsters will be out there! Master Tairou will get swarmed to death!" The surrogate daughter of the Shield Hero feels a strong punch on her shoulder. It took a few more seconds till the pain registered in her mind as she crumbled on the ground. She grabs her hurt shoulder with her good hand and looks up, seeing the white tiger girl glaring down at her looking ready to punch her head into a pulp.
"Fuck off! And FUCK YOU TOO! I'm not letting you hurt Raphtalia! You mad cat!" Atla didn't get a chance to act on her fury, as Keel barrels into her from the side. Sending both of them rolling on the ground. They begin to punch, kick, slap... and scratch at each other. Atla's inherent strength as a white tiger doesn't seem to help her with Keel constantly rolling her around and wrestling her onto the ground. Fohl quickly runs over to them, and after suffering a few stray punches and kicks from both Keel and his little sister, he finally manages to separate the two of them.
"Knock it off, you two! Atla, if you cared about Lord Throwing Weapon Hero, it's more important to chase him down and bring him to safety than blaming others and acting out." Fohl spread his arms out, holding Atla and Keel at arm's length from each other as they continued struggling against his grip. He turns his head to look at Raphtalia herself next. "Don't just stand here! Help me separate them, or go get someone to go after the Lord Throwing Weapon Hero!"
"Ri-right! Kuro, Yuki, Kou, Sakura! I need your help to chase down the Throwing Weapon Hero and Firo!" Raphtalia lets out a scream at the wall where Motoyasu's filorials are fighting. She turns over to Keel before seeing how they react, and she helps pull Keel away from the white tiger siblings. As her friend starts to calm down in her arms, Raphtalia turns around just in time to see Motoyasu's children jump down.
"What's going on here? Are we needed to help out fighting the Wave? How exciting!" Golden arcs of lighting dance around Kou's body as he shuffles his feet. He's smacked on the top side of his head by Yuki. "OUCH! What's that for, Yuki?"
"Stop acting childish, Kou! Master Motoyasu entrusted us to protect the people left behind in the resort. This isn't some game!" Yuki's delicate nose twitches at her younger sibling. She seems to notice her rude behavior, as she takes a deep breath and schools her face into something more courteous before addressing Raphtalia. "Miss Raphtalia. What seems to be the problem?"
"The Throwing Weapon Hero... he went after Master Naofumi on Firo's back! I don't know how powerful he is, but Firo still hasn't grown back to her monarch form yet!" Raphtalia recalls the brief fight Tairou had with Malty and Motoyasu... his tomahawk throwing looked strong and could have probably taken Malty's head off if it connected. But he didn't fair very well against the Spear Hero, got knocked on his ass only a dozen exchanges between them (by which she meant Motoyasu had been dancing circles around him, and took him down immediately after going on the offense... it was even more embarrassing than the 'duel' Naofumi had with Motoyasu after their first Wave battle), so he can't be that strong. "They'll get killed by the Wave monster horde!"
"Really? Does this mean we have to chase them all down? How bothersome..." Sakura lets out a yarn as she stretches her arms up. Her eyelids begin to sink lower and lower. "This Wave battle is already bothersome... Sakura only wants to take a nap with Motoyasu and Bertia."
"Not now, Sakura!" Yuki throws a stern glare at Sakura's way. The lazy looking pinky didn't immediately stand at attention, but she did open up her eyes instead of keep pretending to be asleep. Yuki turns her attention back to Raphtalia once again. "Master Motoyasu told us to stay behind and help defend the people hiding in the resort. It wouldn't be right for us to leave and go chase down a fool wanting to die for no good reason."
"Who are you calling a fool- MURPH~!" Atla looks ready to pick another fight with Yuki this time. Thankfully, with Keel already taken away by Raphtalia, Fohl could easily hold his own sister back by wrapping both of his arms around her struggling body. She continues to scream death and murder at everyone. "I don't care! I'll go help Master Tairou myself if no one else goes! And if he gets hurt or Chief God forbid, dies. I'll kill all of you for not lending him aid~!"
"I would like to see you try. The dumb bird tried to murder Master Motoyasu. It didn't end well for her. I personally made sure of that." Yuki narrows her eyes and returns Atla's blazing scorn with her freezing contempt. Raphtalia has to wonder if Yuki's cold reception at the idea of helping the Throwing Weapon Hero has something to do with her bad blood towards Firo.
"Kuro thinks we should help! Rina and Tia are worried about Moto." Kuro points his finger up at the wall. Everyone turns to look at the direction, and sees Katarina and Bertia still fighting on top. It's hard to tell what's going on from a distance and the people fighting alongside them, and it's even harder to make out their faces. But Raphtalia is willing to believe Kuro. She's worried sick for both Naofumi and Malty after all. "Kuro will take Kou and Sakura. Yuki can stay. Yuki's healing ability is a big help here."
Yuki stares at her sibling down for a few seconds. Her eyes didn't look as piercing when she was addressing Atla... or Kou and Sakura. But Raphtalia still gets the impression that she's trying to stare Kuro down. Not that it has any effect, as Kuro looks completely aloof, not even bothering to maintain a staring contest with Yuki. After a short while, Yuki simply gives Kuro a curt nod. "Very well. But you are the one telling Lady Katarina and Lady Bertia."
The giant crimson spider moves faster than Malty expected. It doesn't immediately get into everyone's face since it's at the center of the island on top of a mountain. Yet it easily climbs down the cliff like it's running on flat ground. Its size also allows it to completely ignore the thick tropical forest surrounding the mountain like they are nothing more than a patch of grass. The very foundation of the island itself, already weakened from the spiders that were tearing it apart, begins to shake like it's about to break apart. As it moves closer, the spider Wave boss begins to look more and more massive. It hovers everyone's head, like a giant fortress atop of eight pillars that rise into the sky itself. No wonder Gaelion called it an Earthbound deity. The only thing that Malty had seen on the same size of it was the giant tree in Fitoria's realm. She can't figure out in her head how they are supposed to even fight something like it.
"Well. As they say. The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Prince Tact doesn't sound as impressed as Malty herself. In fact, he lets out a loud snort, and swings his hero weapon forward again. His star whip, which had split apart to spawn into countless black scaled vipers, wraps itself together once again, and turns into a giant snake as thick as a tree thousands of years old. Which is still to say, smaller than each one of the giant spider's legs, though not by much. The giant snake lunges forward at one of the crimson spider's legs, and tightly wraps its body around it. Seemingly trying to trip the Wave boss onto the ground while it barrels forward.
What happened next takes Malty (and probably a lot of other combatants) by surprise. The frontal of the gigantic spider Prince Tact's whip snake wrapped around is turned to dust, instead of his whip being torn apart, or even successfully trips the giant spider down. But the giant frontal leg isn't the only thing that crumbles into ash. So is the morphed snake which is connected to the Star Whip itself, and it continues to rot towards the handle which the Whip Hero is currently holding. For the first time since Malty saw him, Tact actually looked panicked as his feet shuffled uselessly backwards. Clearly unable to outrun the rotting effect of his hero weapon. "Wh- what the heck is this?!"
"Behold, [THE WORLD]! BEND SPACE TO MY WILL!" A spherical barrier suddenly shimmers around the distressed Faubley prince. It manages to cut off the rotting effect before it reaches the Whip Hero, likely saving his life. Malty turns around and casts her head back towards the direction the sound came from. She sees Dio the Gauntlet Hero holding both of his arms outwards. The star gauntlet around his hands turned into a pair of ornamented golden gloves, with glowing purple runes covering its surface. "I'll take over defense, but don't directly touch it."
Malty looks back at the giant spider. It has crossed over the tropical forest, and almost reached their formation on the beach by this point. So in short... they need to find a way to kill this Wave boss that's larger than most castles in the world, without directly making contact with its giant limbs... something that's clearly very doable.
"Tisk, I got this." Tact makes a hiss that reminds Malty of a cat having its tail stomped on. But he didn't say anything else to the Gauntlet Hero who saved his life. The Whip Hero quickly recovers from his blunder as the star whip reforms once again within Dio's protection bubble. This time, Tact swings his whip down once again, the body of his weapon grows straight like a spear before it hits the ground, as its head digs into the ground. It seems like the Whip Hero had learned his lesson from his last exchange with the titanic arachnid, and decided to go for a more sneaky approach. But he doesn't seem to have any time left. As the time between Dio saving him from that rot sorcery and him reorganizing his new offense, the Wave boss is already upon their battle formation. Losing a leg didn't cause it to have any visible slow down.
"[Meteor Shield]!""[Mercy Barrier]!""[METEOR SPEAR]!" An emerald meteorite shell suddenly appears right in front of the spider's legs, on the side where it only has three. It seems like Naofumi had come to the same strategy as Tact, trying to trip the titanic arachnid with its own momentum generated by its enormous body and deceptively fast speed. A coat of golden shine quickly covers over his emerald meteor shell, with the form of a goddess holding her arms up to her shoulder at the center. The two elite demi-human templar knights Balmus left Naofumi had added their own miracles to his shield weapon arts. Motoyasu also throws his attack at the boss monster's leg in an effort to cause some damage. Their combined effort still wasn't enough to stop the advance of the titanic arachnid as its leg smashes through their combined barrier, but it did slow down a little and allowed the forces of the Whip Hero to arrange themselves.
"[Battle Formation: CLOUD DRAGON]!" The sound of a woman can be heard even as the followers of Prince Tact rearrange themselves into what look like a V shape, with its two wings pointed out towards the giant spider, and the point in the back. But the formation itself isn't a single layer of V. Countless more layers form up behind and connected with the first line by Tact's (wo)men... and even the Siltvelt army lead over by Tenzen, making it look like a long worm (or a serpent 'dragon' as its name implies, Malty suppose). What's more, a white mist began to come into form above the head of the army. It begins to change shape, until it turns into a cloud that resembles an actual serpent dragon.
With a loud boom, the titanic arachnid collides into the waiting mouth of the 'Cloud Dragon'. The heaven and earth itself seems to quake between their clashes, and the literal cloud dragon above the army's head shakes, but doesn't get shattered. The combined army defending Cal Mira Island was able to stop this earth bound deity of a Wave boss.
Warriors, and mages at the pinnacle of Prestige Level range (Lv41-100) can break heaven and shatter earth with their weapon arts and spells. But all nations still keep a standing army that's mostly composed of common level soldiers. To the uneducated, this act seems to be an oxymoron, even self-defeating. If a level 100 warrior and mage could bring down a literal mountain, what is the use for a low level standard army? The answer to this question lies with a very simple fact: talented commanders who can utilize battle formations and combine the might of an army. So when a prestige champion fights against an army, they aren't fighting individual common ranged soldiers. They are fighting the combined might of thousands, even tens of thousands fighters all at once. Even a champion who had broken through the barrier of prestige level range and into epic (Lv100+) can do nothing but escape when they are pitted against talented commanders who can fully combine thousands of men into a single formation by themselves.
And the phenomenon known as the 'Battle Cloud' is the ultimate achievement of a commander's ability. An aura of the army's naturally flowing life force that floats above the army they are leading. So long as this 'Battle Cloud' doesn't get destroyed by their enemy, none of the soldiers within the army could be harmed. Malty can't help but wonder who is leading the combined army at this moment. Even her father, the venerated 'Magician of the Battle Field', or Melromarc's greatest frontline general Diaz Gazelle Anderson, Melromarc's greatest army commanders are unable to consistently produce a Battle Cloud.
Father's specialty was using strategies to confuse and mislead his opponent, letting them expose their own weakness before he hit them with a decisive strike. General Anderson is most well known for his courage, and his valiance of going straight on the offense till he pressures his enemy into a total rout. Both are great army commanders who can lead tens of thousands of men under them without them descending into total chaos. Both their command abilities aren't their strongest points. And they could only form a 'Battle Cloud' with their men in small numbers in the thousands (still a great achievement for most commanders). But above ten thousand, they could only produce a Battle Cloud in the most specific circumstance where their whole army is fighting for a single goal with high morale. To be able to generate a Battle Cloud with a coalition army that's technically still enemies against each other against this Wave boss... the one leading the army must have been a genius among genius, even if she only did it out of coincidence. Malty stands up on her toes, trying to take a good look at who is leading the army at the front. She manages to catch a large bundle of long red hair in her eyes.
"Rias Gremory the Crouching Dragon, of the Azure Dragon Clan, Gremory Hall. She's Lung's subordinate." Malty turns back to look at Lord Dio again. The Gauntlet Hero apparently read Malty's curiosity and decided to answer her unvoiced question. "She is one of our two best young commanders alongside Prince Kael'Thas Sunstrider, the Young Phoenix of Sunstrider Hall. But I didn't know she was this talented commander either. Gremory must have broken through her limit when I wasn't looking."
"The enemy is being stopped! Don't stop, men! Continue the pressure!" Lady Rias is fully focused on commanding the army and doesn't let gossip behind her back distract her. Immediately, the fighters under her that managed to stop the giant spider's charge begin to advance and start to hit the Wave boss' thick carapace covered body with long range weapon arts. Motoyasu, and the two high ranking Sons of Biscas also join their assault. As the daughter of Melromarc's best army commander, Malty was taught the arts of leading a battle. She may lack Father's talent, and she wasn't the most diligent student either but she still recognizes most of the common battle formations in war.
[Cloud Dragon] formation is considered both the best, and the most advanced defensive formation, but not for the defensive buff it grants to its user. That honor belongs to the [Square Fortress]. But unlike a purely defensive, and more importantly... Stationary formations like [Square Fortress], [Cloud Dragon] boost the army's defenses without sacrificing any of its mobility... or offensive capabilities. Allowing it to instantly go back on the counterattack when an opportunity presents itself. Right now, Lady Rias is using [Cloud Dragon] formation's advantage to its fullest.
But the army under the command of Lady Rias only stopped the giant spider Wave boss's charge, not its ability to move its body and more importantly... its ability to fight back. The spider rises up its right frontal leg, its sharp, segmented limb looking like a scythe the size of a giant warship, and it falls down on the army's head with the force of the fallen sky. Lady Rias' [Cloud Dragon] formation might have stopped the leviathan Wave boss from trampling over the army under her command, but there will definitely be casualties after the Wave boss' assault.
"Once more - [THE WORLD - SACRED HAND PRINT]!" At least that's what Malty thought, until a pair of purple colored, ethereal looking hands appeared right over the army's head with the sound of Lord Dio echoing in her ears. The Gauntlet Hero was not merely bragging, or making empty promises when he told Prince Tact, and seemingly everyone else that he would defend them. Giant purple hands meet sharp crimson carapace-covered limbs in the air, with a loud crack, the titanic arachnid's remaining front limb pierced right through Lord Dio's defense. As the defender who conjures up huge barriers to protect an army, the Gauntlet Hero is at a natural disadvantage. Since he needs to distribute his barrier evenly among everyone he is protecting, the attacker can focus their full strength at a single point. Especially with the Wave boss is an earthbound deity, someone who might already be stronger than the veteran hero.
But to Malty's surprise, the pair of giant purple hands didn't immediately shatter as they were pierced through by the titanic arachnid's front limb. Normally, a defensive barrier, no matter how unyieldingly steadfast would crumble into nothing if it's been pierced around the center. Yet the same principle doesn't seem to apply to whatever hero ability used by Dio. In fact, the pair of purple hands seems to take advantage of its opponent's hesitation as its fingers coil around, wrapping themselves tightly around the giant spider's limb, holding it in place even tighter than what Lady Rias managed with her army.
The princess turned slave looks back at Lord Dio. To her shock, she sees a trail of blood slowly dripping down from the corner of the white tiger warrior's mouth. Blood also seems to seep through the seams of the star gauntlet around his hands. Whatever ability he used to protect the Lady Rias' army has left him badly hurt. But the Gauntlet Hero doesn't back down. He stands, with his legs and back straight. At the moment, his figure begins to remind Malty of Naofumi when he was risking it all to protect his friends.
"I kept you all waiting for long enough, huh?! [WHIP WEAPON ART: LAND SPIDER]!" Prince Tact seems to realize that he is no longer at the center of everyone's attention. He lets out a loud laughter, as eight dark pillars erupt out of the ground and climbs into heaven. Six of them were right beside the titanic arachnid's remaining legs still standing on the ground, while the last two pointed straight up at its head aiming at the same point. With a loud bang, the tip of Tact's whip shatters on the spider's jaw without penetrating its head. But the seven pillars that opened up near the boss monster's legs were able to destabilize the ground hard enough that earth itself began to crumble and shatter underneath the spider's huge legs, sinking it into the ground. That seems to be the plan the Whip Hero was going for: to immobilize the titanic arachnid's deceptively blinding mobility by burrowing its legs deep into the ground. "What are you waiting for?! Hit its eyes! Its eyes can't be as hard as its carapace!"
Malty thought Prince Tact was talking to her at first, so she prepares a fire spell even if she can't see the spider's eyes that's probably on top of its head, and she doubts she has enough mana reserve to hurt a leviathan monster like this. But then she feels a shadow cast over her and looks up, only to see Prince Tact's previously beached airship flying over her head once again. Its enchanted canons all pointed downwards, and released those specially constructed cannonballs on top of the titanic spider's head. Clearly, these special made ammunition had much better effect than the regular firearms Tact's (wo)men used against the other spider monsters as the boss monster lets out a loud, and painful screech.
As explosions, smoke, and whatever magical effect ravages the titanic spider's head, Gaelion flies over to its side where it lost a leg. Orange fire leaks out from the edge of his jaws till he lets out a single Wave of continuous flame from his opened mouth. "[YolToorShul]!"
"You call that a fire breath?! You third rate failure of an incarnate!" The little dragon girl following Prince Tact apparently has his arrogance rubbed off her. She leans her body down, placing both of her hands onto the ground as her body begins to change shape and expand. Until the little girl is no more, replaced by a gigantic red dragon spreading its wings and taking into the sky. She spins around, flying onto the leg besides Gaelion and opens her own jaws. "In the name of [Shulmaartoor] (Sun - Terror - Inferno) the lord of Inferno Flame: [TRUE VALFLAME]!"
A continuous stream of crimson flame leaves Shulmaartoor's mouth, engulfing the joint of the titanic dragon's leg. The light emitted from the infernal flame lord's fire is so bright, it first glows bright white... and then turns darker than the blackest night. It feels even more powerful to Malty than the same spell used by Duke Arvis during the Third Wave battle, and it made sense. The crusader of the inferno was only able to use his own power thanks to the blood of the dragon lord Salamander (the lesser name of Shulmaartoor apparently, just like Gaelion's true name was Grahlahneystrun). But now, she's witnessing the power of House Velthamor's patron demi-god.
"BAH! You want me to show you my real power? How about you try to conjure thunder against me?! You pet kitten of a mortal?!" Gaelion stops releasing fire from his mouth and snaps back at Salamander, he leans his head back and releases a shout as world shaking as Salamander before him. "In the name of [Grahlahneystrun] (Battle - Live - Storm) the Lord of Raging Storm: [TRUE MJÖLNIR]!"
Gaelion opens his maw. Unlike Salamander, a purple orb of cracking lightning forms around his mouth. Golden, and white arcs dance on the surface of the electric sphere as he releases it from his mouth at the titanic arachnid's arm he was roasting moments ago. A figure jumps off from Gaelion's head, and it takes a brief moment for Malty to recognize it as the Sword Hero Ren. He seems to be chasing after the thunder orb released by Gaelion as he holds the legendary sword in front of him. Instead of being turned into charcoal like Malty feared and half expected, the Gaelion's thunder orb begins to seamlessly merge with his sword and wrap around it, making it look like Ren is holding a blade of purple lightning a hundred times longer than his own body. He brings it down on the wounded leg of the titanic arachnid as the sound of a thousand birds crack around him. The leg of the Wave boss in front of the Sword Hero splits from its body and falls onto the ground.
But the peril for the Sword Hero isn't over. The abdomen of the titanic arachnid coils around, and shoots out a Wave of webbing towards its assailant. Ren was lucky enough not to get caught, but the much larger Salamander and Gaelion aren't as fortunate. Both dragon lords were swarmed by a tide of sticky silk, their powerful leather wings unable to flap fast enough to create the lift for them to stay in the air as they plummet toward ground. So is the Sword Hero, who is already beginning to fall towards his death. But even as he begins to lose control of his body mid air, Ren manages to swing his sword wide enough to take the second leg that was already burnt black by Salamander.
"Quick! You have to save Ren!" Naofumi gives Janne a push, beckoning her to take to the sky to save the Sword Hero like she did to himself in the last Wave battle. And to the former battle saint's credit, her wing does flutter in a way that indicates she is ready to bolt into the sky. But someone is even faster than her. The griffin girl besides Prince Tact shoots into the sky like an arrow, and her body transforms into a royal griffin in the air as she snatches Ren off the air and pulls away before the Wave of spider silk could immobilize her too. With the life of the Sword Hero saved, Naofumi turns his face to look at Malty next. "Boost my attack, Malty!"
"[Unstoppable Force]!" Malty's body moved before her mind, using the same spell on the Shield Hero that killed the ancient thunder lizard. It didn't occur to her to question if Naofumi would have enough stamina to last through the entire fight against the Wave boss, if he's having the severe stamina drain of having his Saiga out, and having the same enchantment on him.
"[Air Strike Shield - KOTEN ZANSHUN]!" Naofumi didn't waste a single second. He immediately conjured up a floating round emerald shield above his hand, and threw it at the last leg on the titanic arachnid's left side like a disk. He didn't immediately collapse like he did when fighting the ancient thunder lizard. Although that might be thanks to Motoyasu holding him from the side as his body is covered in sweat almost in an instant. He quickly pulls out a stamina potion from his shield and chugs the liquid content down his throat. Clearly, Naofumi doesn't believe this fight will end any time soon.
On the other side, Naofumi's aim was true as his destructive disc slices right through the titanic arachnid's last leg on its left side. The Wave boss, already hubbling on its 'last leg', begins to turn over and fall towards the ground. For a brief moment, it looks like Salamander and Gaelion are about to be crushed to death by the turned over body of a giant spider. But the two dragon lords immediately begin to release a stream of fire from their maws, burning away the sticky webbing around their bodies and manage to escape their cruel (and somewhat comedic, if it had happened) fate at the last second. The colossal body of the titanic arachnid Wave boss kicks up large chunks of dirt, dust and sand into the air as it finally plunges into the ground, effectively generating a smoke screen around the point of impact.
"Don't let up! A boss monster like this wouldn't be killed by a fall! Continue the pressure till it's been reduced to dust!" Lady Rias is showing the alertness of a good general even as their enemy seems defeated. With her command, the elite troops under her command let out another Wave of weapon arts into the dust cloud. The Whip Hero's airship also continues its firing from the sky, and his royal griffin throws Ren onto the ground not far in front of Malty's group. The magical beast spins around towards the boss monster once again, its majestic wings flapping at the cloud of dust and sand, sending out a strong gust of wind that blows the cover away.
With their vision cleared by Prince Tact's royal griffin, Malty sees the titanic arachnid lying on its side in a massive crater. Its imposing figure looks somewhat pathetic as all four legs on its right side flails and struggles uselessly around, unable to right itself, or reach any of its attackers. But the princess turned adventurer doesn't dare to relax just like the Shield Hero. It's still a Wave boss of gigantic size, who nearly killed the Whip Hero earlier if Lord Dio didn't step in. Who knows what other foul sorcery it's capable of. What the spider did next completely surprised Malty. The top of its carapace armor on its head opened up, and a humanoid figure slowly emerged out like a butterfly breaking through its cocoon. In spite of the person burrowing out from the head of a spider, there is no blood and gore covering her body. No, she has pure white hair flowing like the smoothest silk down her back, and wears a white dress in the same color as her hair. The woman wouldn't look out of place in a church, if not for the red, segmented scythe she holds in her right hand. Which looks like it's made of a severed leg of a much smaller spider she emerged out from.
End Note:
The title of this chapter is actually an homage to Dragon Quest, the grand daddy of Japanese style Hero stories (which like Superman, modern writer is increasingly taking a cynical view and mostly being made fun of). In China, Dragon Quest's title is translated to 'Brave Man Fight Evil Dragon'. I personally don't have a problem with writers want to deconstruct the whole hero trope established by Dragon Quest, however, I do have a problem with how many of the writer 'deconstructed / subverted' this whole hero narrative in them took the most low effort way by simply made the 'hero' character into useless, dumb clowns.
The 4th wave battle is getting to the final point with the hero coalition taking directly on the wave boss this chapter, and yes, it's Kumoko.
Also once again, Dio is totally NOT meant to be Dio from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Not going to stop me from stealing some of his signiture reference though. Anyone who read my old Rosario Vampire story might notice Dio used the same ability as Yukari at the point where I cut off my story. Yes, it's a barrier ability for both of them, not Dio's stand ability Time Stop. It's actually a reference to the original Ogre Battle on Super Famicon/Nintendo where the World Arcana's effect is an anti-magic barrier. I upgraded it for Dio where it's a dimensional barrier, since that's one of the few things that could give a challenge to Kumoko.