Chapter 10: It arrives
Day 27
5 hours till the wave
"Come on! Move it. You better be geared up by the time we teleport, or it's your ass!" A knight shouted. The entire village was in motion. The cooks were making the final meals before battle, the knights were stocking up on weapons and potions, and even the villagers were gearing up with the limited resources they had.
It was a hard debate, but Naofumi had to limit the amount of people he took when it came to his villagers.
He didn't have the money for proper equipment. There were a few who had gotten some magic clothing along with the filolial's, like Keel; others weren't so lucky and had to rely on the subpar armor bought en masse.
He wanted as few casualties on his side as, and if possible, none at all. So he handpicked 11 of his best fighters who already had the best equipment cause… Well, they were his best fighters.
Raphtalia, Keel, Rifana, Sadeena, Alia, and Strelitzia would be his main party. Zalton would be there too. Not really for fighting but to act as a messenger to relay orders. Everyone else was sufficiently strong enough to stand by his side, alongside Strelitzia, who would be their main spellcaster.
The final four were Delia, Brayden, Dalton, and Atorie, for pretty much the same reasons.
Their filolial would also be joining alongside them as well. Sakura, Dynn, Tsubasa, Teba, Zeal. The only one who wasn't going was Chino, and that's because Rifana corrupted her by being the prison's main warden. Not that it mattered much. The forces he had would do just nicely.
"Everything is going smoothly. Everyone should be prepared by 2:00 p.m., partied up by 3:00 p.m., and have a final dinner break by 3:30. That leaves us with around an hour and thirty minutes of extra time." Melty explained
"You know Melty. I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Is any of this for real or not?" Naofumi pondered as he started down from his manor's window.
"W-what?"
"A scattered dream that's like a far-off memory... a far-off memory that's like a scattered dream... I want to line the pieces up... yours and mine."
"Naofumi, stop quoting things for your world. You know I won't understand."
"Sorry, it just resonated with me. I died, was reincarnated, and was framed for rape. And now I'm a lord in the same country that hates me, while also preparing to fight a rift in space-time. No matter how much I think of it, I can't really grasp how little sense this makes." Naofumi sighed.
"When I first came to this place, I was expecting a normal fantasy Isekai experience. But this is turning out to be more troublesome than I first imagined."
"I mean. From an outsider's perspective, yes. But we've been here for longer and had to deal with things that your world hasn't. I'll say you only scratched the surface of what this world has to offer." Melty reassured… unfortunately, that didn't help Nofumi at all.
"Not helping."
"Well, sorry. I'm not used to dealing with the philosophical ramblings of an otherworlder." Melty grumbled. "Look. After the world threw everything at you. You were able to turn a horrible situation into something grand."
"Yeah, with your help."
"Even without my help, I still see you doing well. Who knows? Maybe you'd become some kind of god of defense or whatever."
"That sounds like the stupidest ending to a novel ever."
"I'm trying to boost your morale, you idiot."
"I know. You're a great princess, Melty."
"I—I am?" Melty blush. It was the first time Naofumi complimented her. Usually, their conversations ended with their argument being interrupted, so this truly caught the crowned princess off guard.
"By the way, that's the only compliment you're getting from me for a while," Naofumi said as he left the room.
"Of course." Melty sighed. "Never change, Naofumi. Never change."
/~/
"Shield hero, I'd like to have a word, please." A gruff voice asked. Sitting on his newly made chair in the living room was Aultcray, the acting king of Melromarc.
"I thought Melty forbade you from talking to me?" Naofumi scoffed
"Melty has temporarily restored my authority as acting king. So I'm ignoring those orders so we can talk. No insults, no accusations, just a talk. Man to man."
"Why in the world would Melty think that's a good idea?"
"Because my daughter desires to fight in the waves with you. No matter how much I plead, she expressed that she isn't planning on changing her mind."
"And what does this have to do with me?" Naofumi asked as he leaned on the wall.
"I don't like you. I'll probably never like you."
"Well fuck you too."
"Even still. Melty and Mirella trust you, so I'll begrudgingly trust you too. So I ask. Protect Melty with all your might."
"So that's what this is about." Naofumi sighed, lowering his guard.
"A man must throw away his pride sometimes to make sure his family is safe. It's not easy to ask the god of an enemy nation to protect his child, especially after all it's put me through. So I'll make this one thing clear. If something ever happens to Melty under your watch, I won't hesitate to smite you. And that's not a threat. It's a promise."
Before Naofumi could respond. Aultcray had already left the room.
Sigh "Zalton. Add another person to the watch list, please."
"Already ahead of you." Zalton came out of the wall, using a portrait of Naofumi's Shield as a door. Taking the note and putting it in the "Give to Melty later" bowl, Zalton left the same way he came, closing the portrait back as he disappeared.
When Naofumi curiously opened the painting, he found that it was just a wall and had no secret passage to speak of. He ended up chalking it up to Zalton's shenanigans and left the room as well.
/~/
Countdown
9:04
"We just hit the nine-minute mark. Are you all ready?"
"Yes, Master!" The villagers saluted.
Ren looked over to his team. Eclair, Ake, and Terius squads all saluted Ren and stood at attention. Ren's party was the one he had since day one, minus the man in armor who was over with Itsuki now.
Speaking of Itsuki. He was partnered with 3 knight squads from various noble houses, along with his original party, which also hasn't changed as much.
Now the Motoyasu party was the most concerning. His knights were also from various noble houses, but his main party wasn't even that. He only had 3 girls with him, and none of them seemed to have any combat experience; they couldn't even hold a sword for a few minutes without getting winded. It honestly astonished Naofumi to see how little he took his party seriously.
"If Myne doesn't show up, we'll have to do this wave without her. That means we have to work even harder.
"Yes, Lord Spear."
Malty is missing? Thank God. Naofumi thought as he wondered what mischief she was up to now.
/~/
"This makes no sense. How can the bars be this resistant to fire!? Malty raged as she shot another fireball at her cell's door.
"Just give it a rest already. You're not escaping in that manner." The slaver sighed as he continued to read his book.
It was a rule book on various games they would play, so he could call out Rifana's bullshit whenever she tried to switch up the rules. She confiscated it many times, but her deputy Chino would always give it back.
"Shut up. Do you know who you're talking to?
"As far as I know. You're in jail. Status means nothing here." The slaver replied.
"When I get out of here. I'll personally have you hung!"
"Like the last 25 times." The slaver scoffed as he turned another page
/~/
"We have 5 minutes left. This is your last chance to quit." Naofumi turned to his villagers and Filolial, all of whom seemed confused by his question.
"Quit?"
"We're going into a life-or-death battle. It's so dangerous that I can't guarantee your survival. If you don't want to put your life at risk, take this moment to leave." Naofumi explained.
Reactions were varied. Some were calm about this; others shook a bit at the mention of possible death. But the response was all the same, and no one dared to leave the party.
"I mean. We already knew that." Rifana replied nonchalantly
"Fine. But if you die, it's not my fault."
"Bubba. You're so bad at being a villain." Keel Insulted.
"Yeah. We have already come so far. We aren't going to quit just because "Oh, scary monsters can kill." Delia mocked.
"It's not just for friends who live now, but our parents who gave us the will to live on."
"And master who gave up the opportunity to do so." Brayden and Strelitzia added.
"The wave ravaged this place before, and many died because of it. If we're going to back down when we can fight back, then none of us would be able to sleep at night."
"This is for everyone we lost. We'll get revenge for the Lurolona we lost. That's why we stand here today." Raphtalia finished as the kids let out a cheer. Naofumi, however, could only chuckle.
"That was probably the cheesiest speech to ever be spoken."
"Come on. We spent all day on that!" Keel whined.
"Well, I'll give you some credit. But I do ask, what would you have done if I didn't ask that question?"
"Let's not worry about that." Raphtlia swept the conversation aside.
"Well, if that's really it. Stay alive. Village morale must stay high, or we'll get nothing done."
"He's doing it again."
"That just means he cares about you all," Melty added with a chuckle.
"No, I don't. It'll just be a hassle." Naofumi grumbled as he stepped forward. The counter had hit the 60-second mark and was going to teleport them a minute from now. Overkill or not, his task was to stop the waves, and then get the reward money. A simple objective. All he could do was hope it's actually as simple as it sounds.
"You know Melty. These waves may sound scary. They can take your world; they can take your heart, cut you loose from all that you know. But if it's your fate, then every step forward will always be a step closer to home.
"Naofumi, shut up."
Naofumi chuckled. "And here I thought you wouldn't notice." Naofumi chuckled some more as the timer hit zero. The sky started to crack as he and the legion of knights and villagers around him suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.
/~/
The four heroes appear first, with the rest of the army landing right behind them. The once sunny blue sky had turned into a bleeding red.
Zombies, skeletons, locusts, and even giants fell from the cracks, slowly converging toward the largest source of life, that being the village of Ryute.
"Shit, this is where I get my wood."
"Not the priority, Naofumi." Melty nagged.
"Right. Squad B, you know what to do. Everyone else, follow the plan." Naofumi ordered before turning to Motoyasu and Ren. "Do you two have skills that can draw in as many enemies as possible?"
"No, that's usually a tank skill."
"Of course." Naofumi groaned. "Motoyasu. Take my place; I'll go with Ren."
"But shouldn't we follow the plan?"
"This is plan 1, subsection 12. 'In the event, the heroes can't draw in enough monsters, use the shield hero as bait." Naofumi explained...
"That was a thing?"
"Read the battle plan next time!" Naofumi groaned. "We're running out of time. Sakura."
"Gua." Sakura jumped out of his pocket and transformed into her queen form.
"Get on," Naofumi called out to Ren.
"I'm not comfortable riding on a giant-"
"[Rope Shield!]" Naofumi tied up Ren in a bundle of rope and tugged it, pulling him into Sakura's feathers. Once he was inside, Sakura took off to the middle of the battlefield.
"[Hate Reaction!]" Once he got to the center, Naofumi leaped off Sakura. Using a skill. It was one he unlocked from Itsuki's method (Job Level). It unleashed a field of red energy, making every monster covered in its radius focus solely on Naofumi.
"Perfect. Move now! [Shield Prison!]" Naofumi covered and encased himself with the ball, as
Ren and his squad engage the monsters, killing them pretty quickly as they blindly focus on breaking into his prison.
"Back away!" Naofumi shouted. As soon as his prison broke, Sakura picked him up and rushed him out of the area.
"Here comes the next wave! Sadeena!"
"You got it. Dragon Vein! Hear our petition and grant it. As the source of your power, we implore you. Let the true way be revealed once more! Give us the power to overcome the obstacle before us!"
Sadeena stuck out her harpoon and gathered the wind cast by the filolial. Spinning it around a bit, she swung it, sending out a slash that cleaved through a hoard of approaching monsters.
"[Storm Wall]" Sadeena made three more slashes on both sides, enclosing the monsters in an invisible wall of electrified wind.
Itsuki and Motoyasu teams then attacked, bombarding the monsters with a hail of magic and skills before they even had a chance to attack. And before long, the second wave was destroyed as well, with Ren and Naofumi squads moving in to pick off the stragglers.
The battle continued to be a breeze, as the third, fourth, and even fifth waves of monsters were dispatched just as quickly as they arrived.
Naofumi had full control over the battlefield and played with the monster's aggro with no care in the world. Aside from the giant, the monsters couldn't hurt him. Add his skills to the mix, and barely anyone got hurt. And even if they were, he'd heal them immediately with his newly upgraded healing spells.
Everyone did their part and tore through the forces with ease, and that was the flow of the battle until the boss finally showed its face. It was a chimera with a snake tail, a lion and goat's head, and dragon wings. It breathed fire into the air as its forces all gathered around it.
"What? It's an undead wave. Why is the boss a chimera?"
"Blame the developers."
"THERE ARE NO DEVELOPERS!"
"Right. I forgot. Switch to plan A, section 12." Naofumi ordered. The knights moved immediately, understanding the instructions. The villager and Ren, however, stood there confused.
"For fuck's sake. Fall back and keep the monsters away from the boss.
"Ohh. Yes, master. The kids ran off to follow orders. Ren went along with them, but Naofumi grabbed him by the collar. "Not you! You're fighting the damn thing!"
"Right. I knew that.
/~/
Ryute
"Come on, guys, into the cave!" Dalton shouted. He and Delia were outside the cave, escorting the villagers inside. Thankfully, no monsters were able to enter the village. And those that did somehow make it close were immediately dealt with.
"Move it, cat boy!" A ball of black liquid splashed onto the ground, splattering itself onto Dalton, who didn't move away in time.
"Great. Brayden's here." Dalton groaned as the puddle started to reform.
It was a boy with black hair and eyes. His hair was short, but he had two black squid-like tentacles wrapped into a ponytail. Aside from his hair, he wore black shorts and a white shirt that was covered in various splatters of ink.
"Finally. The second shift has arrived." Delia jumped down from her box and stretched a bit. "Let's go, Teba. I've been bored."
"You do know this is a life-and-death scenario, right?"
"Classic Teba." Delia scoffed as she leaped away, her bird following shortly behind.
"Five kills after thirty minutes. That's how you know nothing is going on." Brayden complied, drinking some water that Dalton gave him.
"Guess the king went overboard… which is a good thing?"
"Yes and no. The people may survive, but I'll surely die of boredom." Brayden moaned as he slowly slid off his box.
"Knowing our luck, masters luck. I'm sure something will happen sooner or later." As Dalton finished his sentence, a scream was heard from inside the cave.
"Okay, my luck."
"And you say black cats don't bring misfortune."
"Shut up! Maybe someone fell and—
As soon as Dalton got up, another scream was heard, followed by an explosion coming from the village. "Fucking karma, I was joking!" Dalton yelled.
"I got the village; you take the cave. Later!" Before Dalton could protest, both flew away in a ball of ink.
"Kuro, you awake?" Dalton asked. Looking on top of his head, he saw that Kuro was still asleep. "Of course you aren't." Dalton drew his knife and ran into the cave.
/~/
Cave
"Ahh!"
"Shut up, I'm coming!" Dalton grumbled. This was the 7th scream he heard in the past minute, and it was starting to get annoying.
"Get down!" Dalton shouted. "[Fast Fire.] [Lava Disc!]" Splashing oil onto the ground, Dalton set it on fire. He then used earth vein, melting the rock into lava, and then using wind magic to throw it.
"Man, I hope I didn't hit anyone." Dalton rushed down the hallway, with the only indication of his plan working being a deafening silence. Whether it was the death of the monster or the civilians, however, was the real question.
It was extremely dark, with the only source of light getting further and further away. It was days like these that Dalton was glad he was a fire mage. Illuminating the cave, his light gave him a visual of the victims, a family of 3, who were hiding. One of which was holding their daughter's mouth shut as they squatted behind a rock.
"Go. I-"
The woman put a finger to her mouth, suggesting he'd quiet down. He had no idea what all the fuss was about, so he tiptoed over without paying much attention to his surroundings. That was when something pounced on him, tackling him to the ground and knocking out his light.
"Gross! [Fast Explode!]" Feeling some saliva fall on his face, Dalton threw his hand up and blasted the monster away with an explosion.
"Run now!" Dalton order.
"Thank you!" The woman, along with her daughter and husband, ran out of their hiding space and past Dalton. He didn't like sending them off with a monster on the loose, but it'd be best to move them away so his more destructive abilities didn't accidentally kill them. Speaking of destruction.
Dalton scattered more oil across the floor and set it ablaze. Whatever this creature was, he was planning on sending it to the hottest layer of hell. But what he didn't expect was for the monster to be one of his own personal demons.
"No. i-i-it can't." Dalton stepped back as his heart rate skyrocketed. He wasn't scared, for whatever he was feeling was far beyond that. Something that he could only describe as pure terror, so much so that he couldn't walk properly and fell to the ground. That first attack didn't even hurt him, but he felt like he was going to die.
The thing that gave him all his scars. The creature used his arm as a chew toy before mercilessly ripping it off for a light snack. The monster mauled his brother alive and used the rest of them as food for their young. He didn't believe it was possible. He hoped he never had to see this monster again. But alas, fate was cruel in its jokes, as what stood before him was a black, two-headed dog.
Lodged within its torso was a rock, and its face half burnt off by the previous explosion. Through all the damage, however, it trekked on. And the scared cat knew it wasn't close to being finished.
"Stay away. Stay away! STAY AWAY!"
/~/
Clang
"What the hell are you doing, Captain!" Ake shouted. He held back the blade of his captain to protect Teba, who was recently injured by said captain.
"Are you an idiot, Ake! To think you'll blindly follow the shield hero into battle."
"Yes. Along with the other four heroes, the princess, and the king!" Ake pushed his captain's blade back and swung for his neck. The captain, however, grabbed the blade and held it in place.
"Do you honestly think the king will help the shield hero? The princess was right about the shield's brainwashing. Then again, you've always been a demi lover, haven't you? The captain kicked Ake in the stomach, sending him back and disarming him.
"You're insane. [Fast Fireball!]" Ake got up and shot a fireball at his captain.
The knight dodged the spell and closed in on Ake in an instant. Bringing his sword down, the young knight brought up his shield and winced in pain as he took the full force of the attack.
"You set the village on fire, broke formation, attacked an ally, and are now assisting the monsters that are currently destroying the city! Is your hatred for demi-humans so massive that you'd endanger the lives of innocent civilians just to hurt a few?
"Absolutely! Do you think we'd allow the shield hero to take command? If Melromarc has truly fallen so low that we'd allow a criminal like him to become a lord, then I think we need to take actions into our own hands. We'll follow the princess who's strong enough to not fall for the shield hero's deceit. Then we'll save the heroes and the king from this delusion that they're in!"
"[Ultra Stamp!]!" Brayden swung a hammer made of ink down onto Ake's captain. The knight barely rolled out of the way and shot a crossbow bolt, but the hammer morphed into a shield and blocked the hit.
"This got out of hand very fast."
While that was going on, Delia drank some water from her flask while choking out a knight who stuck a dagger in her side. Not only did it cause her to bleed a bit, but it also ruined her favorite and only dress. And that made her kind of pissed.
"Perhaps you should go help some Delia!" Brayden exclaimed.
"Hold on. She's still conscious somehow." Delia dropped her flask and started to punch the girl in the face. "Atorie?"
"I am fighting sixteen people; don't call me!" Atorie shouted.
"Alright then, sheesh. Have you tried asking Dalton? Where is he?" Delia stopped punching the poor girl and started to dump water onto her face as she asked.
"Something got into the cave. I'm sure he'll be fine."
/~/
His chest was pounding, his mind had gone blank. Every thought, every action, it all felt impossible. All he could do was crawl back and watch the monster inch closer and closer. Until it finally attacked.
Dalton instinctively held up his hand as the dog bit down. Tears of pain, but mostly of terror, streamed down his face. It was happening all over again.
He was so frozen with fear that a monster was able to get the drop on him. Even with his arm currently being bitten, he could only remember the creature that made him lose it all. His village, his parents. Even his brother, who was stripped of his arms.
Was it fate for his family to die in the waves, to die by the jaws of these dogs? It has to be the case. Death was doing everything it could to make it happen. Not that it matters anyway. He couldn't even muster the strength to fight back, much less run; his instincts only told him to do one thing. And after a while, it was the only option he had.
"SOMEBODY, HELP!"
"Never fear. Kuro is here!" Kuro woke up and sent the dog away with a flying kick. "Nobody hurts big bro!" Kuro shouted as various balls of energy converged onto him.
"Take this! [Windmuster, Flashing Reverse Heartstopper Wild Windmill Sidewinding Twist. Kick!]"
In an instant, Kuro moved so fast that he disappeared from sight. Reappearing above the dog, Kuro spun midair, generating a strip of wind that followed his foot before bringing down the dog's chest.
The kick sent the dog deep into the ground, as the winds ravaged through its torso, ripping it apart. If Kuro wanted, he'd be able to take a good look through its chest. But that wasn't his priority. He left the dog in its crater and immediately ran over to Dalton.
"Dalton. You're bleeding. Dalton… Dalton!" The bird did his best to tend to his friend's wounds, even going so far as to rip off pieces of his dress to do so. Dalton, however, didn't notice the bird and just sat there with his hand on his chest, breathing very heavily and mumbling some nonsense.
"Don't worry, Dalton, I'm here. You're safe now. You can rest now." Kuro hugged Dalton, using his wings to act as a blanket. He could feel his heartbeat going down, and the breathing slowly coming to a stop.
Some of the villagers even came over to help after hearing his screams. But Kuro allowed nobody to get close. Not until he knew his brother was mentally stable.
"I hope the others are doing fine."
/~/
"This is not fine!" Brayden shouted as he stopped a blade. He and Ake had been dueling the captain for a while now. Surprisingly, Ake's captain was tough. Even worse, that attack from early on actually broke Ake's hand. And unlike Dalton, who was more magically inclined, Ake was a melee combatant and was now forced to fight with one arm.
This didn't seem to be a problem at first, but after the captain started to focus specifically on Ake, Brayden had to pick up the slack and use his ink to protect the young knight. Needless to say, he was both annoyed and pissed.
"[Splash Down!]" Leaping into the air, Brayden crashed to the ground in a ball of ink. Some of it got onto the captain's armor as he dodged it, and he scoffed as he rushed forward to attack.
Ake came in from the side and parried the captain's hit, allowing Delia to come in for a kick. She was done torturing her stabber and was now ready to deal with the captain. Throwing another kick, the captain blocked it with his shield and swung at Ake.
Suddenly, a yo-yo wrapped around his sword and pulled it out of his hand. He tried to get it back, but Tsubasa and Atorie were quick on the attack, wrapping him up before pummeling him into the ground.
"[Wave Break!]" Brayden tossed a ball of pure ink to the ground. Thinking it was a trap of some kind, the captain burned his way through Tsubasa's restraints and avoided the attack. The ball, however, wasn't a trap, and suddenly released a wave of ink that blew up the ink on the captain's breastplate.
He was launched back, and his armor was severely damaged. It was then he realized how fucked he was. He quickly scrambled to get rid of any ink he accumulated up to this point, but it was all in vain. Another wave came, and this time, the ink on his helmet blew up. This disoriented him and gave him no time to dodge the other wave that blew up his breastplate, completely destroying it in the second blast.
When another wave came out, he was adamant on dodging this one and leaped back. But Delia was quick to kick him back to the ground and hold him in place.
"Damn yo-" He was going to curse her, but he stopped himself after realizing the girl's foot was covered in ink. And after he got kicked, he now had a time bomb stuck on his back. Leaping away in the nick of time, the bomb went off, blowing him up.
His back was severely burnt, and the main area of the explosion caused a deep gash in his upper back. The captain tried to get up; the pain was too unbearable, and he soon passed out on the ground.
"God, that guy was insane."
"Quickly. We need to enforce the front line. How's Teba?"
"My arm is fucked up. I won't be able to use my bow in this condition." Teba replied.
"Go to the medical tent. We'll-" Brayden stopped as the sky slowly turned back into blue. The cracks started to close, and monsters stopped falling from the sky. It was these, along with the cheers from them that signified the end of the waves.
"Oh, thank God." Brayden slumped to the ground in exhaustion. "That was harder than I thought."
"You do know we aren't done yet." Delia nagged as she picked up Layta.
"Ughh. Fine." Brayden got up and looked around. "Guess we should report what happened?"
"What about Dalton? He's been gone for a while." Delia asked.
"Maybe he's still guarding the civilians?" Brayden generated some ink and formed it into a grappling hook. He got this idea after watching Zalton use it once… once.
"I'll check on him later. We need to get you patched up before you bleed out."
"Fine."
/~/
"[Dreifach Stormcall!]" A sheep girl swung her umbrella, sending out a streak of purple lightning that ravaged its way through the enemy forces.
Her name was Strelizia. A sheep demi-human with copper-colored hair. She wore a white and black dress with white boots and a white umbrella she was currently using as a spell-casting focus. Naofumi never understood why some of his best fighters had the most unorthodox of weapons and fighting styles, but he couldn't care less because they were effective.
Strelitzia was a pure mage alongside the likes of Dalton or Alia. Unlike them, who decide to focus on the earth vein. She used the blessing she received to further enhance her lightning magic, taking in the leftover elemental energy from the clouds to throw out pure plasma at her enemies.
Her destructive power helped a lot during the waves. But it helped fend off the hordes of would-be assassins trying to kill the shield hero.
Speaking of assassins. The battlefield was now in chaos. While the boss was being fought by the four heroes, three squads of knights broke formation and went over to Ryute. The line then quickly broke as more broke and rushed at Naofumi and his party the second the boss was killed.
"Melty. What the hell is going on?"
"How am I supposed to know!?
"Sorry. Force of habit." Naofumi chuckled. "This is getting out of hand. We need to finish this now."
"On it, master. Yuki, Princess, Rifana, Alia. Let me use your power real quick."
Strelitzia opened her umbrella and stabbed it into the ground.
Dragon Vein. Hear our petition and grant it. As the source of your power, we implore you. Let the true way be revealed once more! Give us the power to overcome the obstacle before us! [Four Elements: Land of Storms ]" An explosion of fire, water, earth, and wind expanded into four different directions, catching most of the knights within the field of effect.
To the north. The knights were attacked with an unbearable heat that occasionally attacked anyone inside with an eruption of flame. To the south, a whirlpool sucked anyone in and dragged them deeper and deeper until they drowned.
To the east, tornadoes and high winds flung the knights around. Some were unfortunate enough to be thrown into other areas and were subjected to the same conditions as the rest. And finally, to the west, the knights fell into a pit of earth that began to slowly close in on themselves The current group of knights were doing their best to stop it, but it was futile.
"Huh, not bad."
"I still think using Earth vein is cheating," Strelitzia grumbled. "Though I will admit, it makes cooperative magic a lot easier."
"Good. Now stop on the earth side; we need them alive."
"Right away."
"Aww. A few more seconds."
"No Rifana."
"Boo." Rifana pouted.
As ordered, Strelitzia stopped the spell, ejecting all the victims back onto dry land. Those who were affected by it were quickly captured, and those who weren't were taken down before they had a chance to regroup.
The wave was pretty much over. He and the other heroes went over to Ryute to talk things over while the knights and villagers dealt with the remaining monsters. There, they also saw the aftermath of Squad B's battle and arrested the knights there too.
He didn't know who or what caused all of this. But Naofumi knew that it was the result of someone in Squad B's, or Lurolona's, death. He did have his fair share of enemies, but a force like this with the sole goal of killing him made him and Melty realize the seriousness of the situation.
It wasn't just one random dude. But a whole army of people within Melromarc wanted him gone. And with no confirmed target or way to retaliate, all he could do was wait.
/~/
"Our God. is an awesome god he reigns-"
"Your Holiness! Your Holiness!" A sister exclaimed. She had rushed into a choir practice with a mountain of papers in hand.
"That concludes choir practice for today. Now go along with your daily duties."
"Yes, Pope Balmus!" The sisters respond. As they all left the room, the pope sat down on a bench as the sister came up to him.
"Ahh, sister Kayla. What report might you have today?"
"Will God's chosen be listening?" The sister asked.
The pope immediately tensed up and secretly did a signal behind his back. Scuffling was heard in the room for a moment before a woman in white fell from the ceiling and handed the pope the note. Disappearing as quickly as she disappeared, the Pope chuckled as he responded.
"God is always listening. But his chosen one has no power in this chamber."
"Then I'm here to report. The wave went on with zero civilian casualties and only minor injuries from a random dog."
"That's good. Now. What's the real report?" The pope ordered.
"Y-yes sir." The sister stammered. "The forces of slavers and priests we gathered were unable to kill the shield hero and were captured. Here's the list of assets we lost."
Kayla handed the pope the paper. On it were all the armor, weapons, people, and allies they lost in the battle. What's worse, the report stated that only two of the shield heroes' followers were injured with some minor injuries, making this loss even more humiliating than it already was.
"This loss is truly a drastic one. The shield hero has already taken the princess and king under his control and even got the three heroes on his side. Tell me, sister, what do you think may happen if we allow the shield hero to gain more political power?
"...We'd be unable to-"
"We'd be unable to touch him!" The pope shouted, causing Kayta to flinch. "The shield demon is already using everything at his disposal to build an army. Imagine if he gets to Siltvelt, or Shildfreeden, or any other country that worships him. There goes Melromarc, stomped under the foot of the person we oppressed. We're the church; we're not going to be outdone by the shield demon and his petting zoo. He must be eliminated quickly, or we'll lose all the power we gained. Am I clear?"
"Y-yes, Lord Balmus."
"Good. I'll allow anything as long as it stays out of the eyes of the queen. If she catches wind of this, then it'll be trivially easy for her to stop us. Stay out of sight. And make the attempt on his life as discreet as possible. And if worse comes to worse, I will personally go forth and purify the devil myself. You are dismissed."
"Yes, Lord Balmus."
/~/
Character Entries Unlocked
Brayden
Weapon: None
Magic: None
The squid kid. His species of demi-humans have dominion over ink, allowing them to morph it at will. He likes to paint (Very badly)
Strelitzia;
Weapon: Umbrella?
Magic: Lightning
Grand fashionista and lightning mage. Her umbrella was her mother's, a big motivation for her fashion obsession. She and her team made the filolial their clothes, and now she's working on everyone else's. (She wants to change dresses, but for now, she has to alternate between two.)
/~/
Mache Kun: The long-awaited wave with the full power of the Lurolonan special forces on display. In all honesty, the kids could have handled this themselves, but better to be safe than sorry, you know.
Also, I don't know if you realized, but this is indeed a crack fic. Have fun, leave a review, and thanks for reading.