The wave

"I'm not really feeling this armor. I don't need to look even more like a criminal" Naofumi complained. Three days after their disappearance, Naofumi went over to Elhart's store to pick up his armor. The blacksmith proceeded to take the shield hero into the back and pulled out the custom armor that some primal tribe would wear to go hunting with.

"You should have specified a design. This is the best I can do when going in blind."

"What am I supposed to tell you, It's armor!"

"Many things actually, for example. You could have asked for a breastplate with two pauldrons and some bracers. Just that would've given me a good template."

"And you didn't use that design you just came up with why?"

"I didn't think of it before. Besides, you can really pull off the bandit look."

"Oh, screw off," Naofumi replied as the final pieces of his armor were placed.

"So the waves start later today. You think you're prepared?"

"I would be if I knew where Sakura and Raphtalia are."

"They're missing!?"

"Yeah, they're too far for my tracker to find. And oddly enough, their levels keep going down for some reason. I tried to find them but I wasn't able to track their general direction."

"I'll try to keep an eye out then kid. But I'm sure they can handle themselves."

"I hope so."

/~/

With his new armor strapped to his body, Naofumi went back to the inn to make some final preparations for the wave. As he reached his door he could hear some chatter coming from the inside. Pulling out a balloon, he kicks the door open and tosses it at the closest person he can see. Only for it to immediately bounce off the raccoon girl inside.

"Talia get down, surprise dodge ball match?" Sakura grabbed one of the pillows on the bed and tossed it at Naofumi who didn't even try to dodge.

"Oh, it's just Naofumi… hey!"

"Where have you been!?" Nafoumi chopped the bird girl on the head and shook her by the shoulder.

"Sakura left a note… Oh, right you can't read."

"Don't make me turn this crest on!"

"You know that's just a joy buzzer at this point."

"Then you can have raw food for the rest of the week."

"You wouldn't."

"Don't tempt me." Naofumi tosses Sakura to the side and goes over to Raph.

"Raph?"

"We traveled to Fitoria's domain to train. She helped us out a lot in certain areas. She even did this weird ritual that-"

"Lowered your levels," Naofumi interrupted.

"Yes but there's more. It seemed that by lowering our levels, we got stronger?"

"Stronger?"

"Yes, I felt faster and more light on my feet."

"Sakura felt the same."

"But that's impossible, lower levels should make… what the hell!" Now that they were closer, Naofumi opened their stat screen and found that it was off the charts for their level at the time. Being comparable to someone that was level 46.

"How is this possible?"

"She said something about a… powdered method.

"Power up method." Raphtalia corrected.

"Yeah. That's what Sakura meant."

"Hmm." Naofumi went over to the power-up method menu. All it showed was Ren's power-up methods at the time, but it was somewhat distorted. 'Could this be another case of Ren's power-up method? But there can't be multiple, right? Well, it can't hurt to ask.' Naofumi thought.

"Sakura. Can you get Fitoria on the line?"

"Yeah, give me a second." The cowlick on Sakura's head started to spin around, reminding Naofumi of a radar dish. It spun around for a good minute before finally standing up and pointing east.

"Got her."

"...yeah that's weird. Anyways can you ask her about this level of ritual?"

Sakura is seen thinking for a minute before pulling out a notepad. She then scribbled down everything she got from Fitoria and handed the note-pad over to Naofumi.

"Geez, your handwriting looks like a right-handed child trying to use his left hand."

"Sakura never said she was a professional."

"I could tell." Naofumi did his best to understand what the paper said. And when he swapped to his power-up method menu, there was some static-like with Rens. He knew the method existed because of Raphtalia's growth, so the only thing he had to do was to believe it would work. And just like Rens, the screen went from static to clear again, with a new method on the menu.

"This is unreal, the sacrifice of levels for permanent stat gain is a pretty busted ability. And at the same time, I confirm that they're different methods and how to acquire them. But why didn't I have one till now?" Naofumi complained.

"Fitoria says you can't gain something that you don't know of. This is one of the reasons why getting along with the heroes is important."

"And she didn't tell me this before because?"

"Ummm… She said she forgot?"

"Figures, you birds have terrible memories," Naofumi complained. 'Now thinking about it. If Fitoria knows this, does that make her a hero? But there should only be four right?'

"Anyways. Even with this method in hand, I don't think we should reset anything now. You two went down 14 levels."

"THAT MUCH!" Raphtalia cried.

"Yes, so I suggest we do a last-minute grind. We don't know what we'll encounter during the wave so it's just to be safe."

"But I just got back. Can't Sakura rest for a bit?"

"No." Naofumi grabbed Sakura by the arm and started to drag the bird out of the room. Raphtalia, who is used to their shenanigans at this point, followed shortly behind the pair.

/~/

"Alright, ten minutes till departure. Raphtalia, is your sword sharpened?"

"Yes sir!"

"And what of your armor, fit well."

"Yes, my arms feel snug and protected."

"Great."

"HEY! What about Sakura?"

"We don't have enough to replace your sword, so you're going weaponless for now."

Sakura already has a replacement. Sakura is talking about a pair of armor."

"You can't transform in armor, so that is a no."

"Bummer."

"And what do you mean by replacement?"

"Sakura got one from Fitoria." Sakura drew a long black blade that Naofumi assumed was her broken sword from her sheath.

"See."

"Well, there goes my gold then," Naofumi muttered.

"What was that?"

"N-nothing. But if we're all ready then be on guard."

"That's cool and all but why do you have to do this in my shop?" Elhart complained.

"I'm not doing a meeting in the street. Also, can you cancel that pre-order?"

"Kid, I'm halfway done, no. Sakura, can I check out that sword real quick?"

"Sure, why not." Sakura handed over the blade to Elhart who immediately felt the ominous energy from it.

"Geez, the stats on this thing are off the charts. What is this thing made out of?"

Dark Typhoon

Enchantment: Error

A blade that draws in the power of the dragon vein.

"She said something about a powerful dragon she killed years ago. Then she commissioned it to be made into a sword out of spite."

"What is up Filolial and Dragons?" Raphtalia asked.

"They exist, that's what!" Sakura exclaimed.

"That's not a good enough excuse."

"Well if you were planning for Sakura to have a tragic backstory then she doesn't know what to tell you."

"It's just a natural thing between predators Raph, you'll get used to it."

"With what happened during training. I hope I don't." Raphtalia muttered as the clock hit zero.

A bright light filled the room, as the world of the party distorts around them. The blacksmith shop they were once in was soon replaced by fields. The sky turned blood red and started to crack while dispensing monsters far and wide. The sound of footsteps can be heard as the heroes and a few of their party members rush down the hill they were on, and immediately get into combat.

Naofumi looked over to Raphtalia as he noticed she was shaking a tad bit. But a pat on her head got her to calm down a bit.

"You better not be quitting on me again."

"Not at all. Just a bit cold."

"Then let's get moving. Don't want a repeat of the last wave."

"Sakura would say that's not happening," Sakura replied. Pointing her finger at a nearby village.

Naofumi took out his telescope and saw legions of zombies make their way to the village.

"Shit. We need to move now, Godspeed!" Naofumi shouted. At the command, Sakura transforms and lets Raphtalia and Naofumi get on. Immediately dashing towards the village as the passengers were secured.

/~/

A group of farmers stood at the entrance of the village. With their pitchforks in hand, they stab at several bees trying to dive bomb them with their stingers. At first, they were doing well, but they started to get overwhelmed and were forced to retreat as soon as many more monsters stormed the front gate.

One family in particular who was outside when the wave happened attempted to run back to their home, but they were stopped in the town square as monsters poured in from all sides. Being trapped, the father picked up a nearby plank of wood and stepped forward, but a heavy wind pushed him, and several other monsters to the ground.

"Now Talia!"

"[First Radiant Lash!]" A long whip of light formed in Raphtalia's hands, sending out a wave of blinding light that cut the heads off the already disoriented creatures.

"You missed one." Sakura slashed her sword and sent an arc of wind at a huge zombie. Slicing its body in half as soon as it made contact.

"Show off."

"Tell me something Sakura isn't."

A rope flew past Sakura and latched onto an axe that was about to strike her. Raphtalia immediately moved and slashed the head of the zombie with her sword.

"Observant, that's what." Naofumi jumped down off the building he was on and hit Sakura on the head. Of course, dealing no damage. "We don't have time to bicker. Sakura, try to get as many people as possible to the mines, they'll be hidden over there. Raphtalia, you're with me."

"Alright." Both girls replied.

"And no tornadoes, we do not need to further any damage caused."

"No promises." Sakura transformed and gathered the family on her back before jumping away.

When she did, Naofumi swapped to his thunder dragon's shield and started to move.

"So, what should we do?"

"Clear the village, and keep others from getting inside."

"That's not a plan, it's an objective."

"Then stick to the objective! [Shield Prison]" Naofumi covered a man who was about to be stung within a ball of shields. When the bees collide with the shield, their stingers get stuck on the chains, allowing Raphtalia to swiftly cut them into two.

After killing the bees, Raphtalia then slid under a giant zombie's legs, cutting him up on the way through and bringing him down to the ground.

"Get to the mine. You'll be safer there"

"B-but my daughter, she at home and-"

"My bird will handle it, now get moving."

"W-what?"

"Move, now!"

"Yes sir!" The man ran off in the direction of the mines. A zombie appeared from a building and tried to bite him, but its head was blown up by a beam of light as soon as it appeared. Naofumi turned around to look at the source and saw Raphtalia with her hand outstretched.

"I told you about master Naofumi. I'm prepared." Stabbing her blade into the zombie she brought down earlier, she wiped the splatter of blood off her face without issue. Naofumi can only look on in pride and annoyance. As Sakura was correct about Raphtalia turning into an asset. But his mental complaining would be put on hold, as more monsters attacked them.

Naofumi moves in front of Raphtalia and holds back attacking monsters. Letting Raphtalia move in and cut a few down. He would then release the monsters from his shield and start to move with Raphtalia. Blocking any attack going her way so she can counter with an even stronger attack. This method would allow both of them to kill several hoards of monsters without taking much damage.

/~/

'Neila, get over here immediately.' Sakura thought as her ahoge spun around. A few minutes later, a blue Filolial arrives and starts to run by Sakura.

"12 minutes, you're late!"

"Kue k-."

"No excuses, stop neglecting your leveling. Gather the Filolial here and take the humans to the mountainside." Sakura commanded.

"Kue '' The blue Filolial ran off into the area of the stables as Sakura continued her mission, Running over any monster she saw.

Sakura kept moving through the area and happened upon a child crying as she was surrounded by a group of monsters. Sakura quickly made her way over and jumped into the middle.

"[Zweite Air Rise!]" Slamming her hands to the ground, all the monsters around her get blown into the air but a sudden gust of wind. Immediately afterward, she does a spin and spreads out both of her wings." As the source of your power, the Filolial princess orders thee. Let the way of all things be revealed and blast my enemies away with a powerful wind. [Dreifach Gale Burst!]"

A powerful gale of wind extends from Sakura's position and blasts all the monsters away, sending them into carts and buildings alike. After the cast, Sakura falls to the ground in her human form, taking in deep breaths of air.

"Are you okay bird lady?" A child asked.

"It's fine. Just gotta get used to casting spells of that caliber. Go find your parents and get to the mines, you'll be safer there."

"Are you sure it is safe? Did my father make it there?"

"I'm sure he did. Now get going okay, bird lady will watch out."

"Alright. I trust you." The little girl starts to run off. Leaving Sakura to ponder alone.

"Huh, bird lady. That's a first."

/~/

Raphtalia and Naofumi continued their assault on the wave. But no matter how many monsters they killed. More would make their way inside and take their place, keeping them in a constant state of tiring combat. When Naofumi started to get tired, Raphtalia grabbed him by the hand and dragged him into an alleyway."

"What are you do-"

"Shh," As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and mislead my enemy. [Zweite Mirage"]

As they ran inside, both of them disappeared in the bright orange light. As the monsters come by, they are misled by a fake version of them running through the streets, and they follow after it.

"What was that?"

"An illusion. That should give us enough time to rest for a bit."

"That sounds like a blessing." Naofumi slumped to the ground and took out a bottle from his shield. Gulping it down, he felt his stamina slowly come back to him.

"So, any plans before we go back out there," Naofumi asked as he tossed another bottle to Raphtalia.

"I have one. But I'm gonna need you to draw in as many as you can."

"I haven't even heard of the plan yet and I already hate it."

"Yeah. Sorry in advance."

"Fine." Naofumi let out a sigh as he summoned an airstrike shield as a platform for Raphtalia. He then snuck his way into the town circle and gave out a pretty loud yell to draw the attention of all the monsters.

Surely enough, they all soon came running at Naofumi. With the agro directed towards him, Naofumi encased himself in a shield prison and constantly supplied it with sp so that it would not break under the pressure of all the monsters.

And after a minute, Naofumi can see a blinding light start to shine through the top of his prison. And he heard the voice of Raphtalia chanting.

"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and call down a pillar of light to purify the enemy! This one's for you father."

Raphtalia brought her hand down as a circle appeared in the air. "[Zweite Holy Ray!"] The circle gave off a radiant glow and released a pillar of light that burnt through the creatures in the area. After the dust cleared, Raphtalia looked on in horror as not only a few monsters survived, but Naofumi's shield prison broke, and he was currently holding the ray in place.

"MASTER!" Raphtalia called out as she jumped down.

"WAIT!" Naofumi shouted. Raphtalia stopped running when she was commanded, but she was still weary of her master's health.

"Next time, when you do this. Maybe use one of your illusions, and not live bait!" Naofumi's shield flashes as it shifts its form from the pipe shield, to the thunder dragon's shield. The shield then glowed a blue aura as the magic beam was seemingly eaten by a dragon's mouth.

"[Dragon emperors counter!]" A transparent dragon appeared from Naofumi's shield and flew towards the attacking monsters. It then released an attack similar to Raphtalia, as it shot a beam of light from its mouth, and obliterated the remaining creatures.

Naofumi, after releasing the skill, falls to his knees. When Raphtlia was running over to him, he pulled out and started to drink some kind of water from a vial, and got back onto his feet immediately.

"Master, are you okay?"

"It's Naofumi, and yes I'm fine."

"What was that… dragon you just released?"

"It's a new shield I copied from Ren. It allows you to absorb a spell or skill and reverse it back for half the damage. Your blast was strong enough to hurt them, and allow me to deal the finishing blow." Naofumi patted Raphtalia on the head who started to wag her tail.

"Good job. Never do it again."

"Yeah… Sorry." Raphtalia replied visibly flustered.

She then heard a thud behind her. Turning around and drawing her sword, she sees Sakura holding a zombie by the neck on the back of a giant zombie. With some corpses lying all over the ground.

"You missed a few. And don't mind me, you two keep flirting."

"We were not!"

"Don't need to be embarrassed. It's all-natural." Sakura twists the zombie's head, and a crack is heard as it ceases to move.

"I assume you're finished?"

"Everyone has been evacuated. Sakura has checked twice."

"Good. Let's move up to the gate so we can-." Naofumi turned his head towards the sky and saw a light fall down. He was going to block it but he was grabbed by Sakura and dragged away from the area of the blast.

An explosion went off and left a pretty small crater in the ground. Searching around for who casted the spell, Raphtalia saw a figure coming through the gates dashed and slashed her blade at the closest monster, while Sakura jumped into the air and landed on another. But as their swings were about to connect, they stopped inches before it reached the monster's face, as they suddenly realized the monsters were actually knights.

The knight captain and boy who Sakura slid across the ground were caught off guard and wasn't expecting this sort of speed from the shield hero's companions. But the captain jumped back and drew his sword, he then pointed it directly at Raphtalia.

But before he could move, his sword was grabbed by a rope and pulled through the air, landing in Naofumi's hand.

"I need to use this more," Naofumi muttered as he got closer to the knights. "The hell are you doing, idiots? There could have been people in those buildings!"

"And us," Raphtalia added.

"I call this barrage to purify the monster filth in the area. Hitting you was just a bonus."

"The monsters have all been cleared, you saying that is a lie."

"Actually, Ms... Bird. The captain speaks the truth, I wasn't aware of any people in the area." The knight Sakura was standing on corrected himself.

"Huh… Well, that one is telling the truth. But the captain definitely knew we were here."

"Maybe I did. Maybe that strike was just a call from God to promptly smite you to the grouch shield demon."

"Well if you're saying maybe like it's an accident. Then I guess we'll accidentally not save you guys from that."

The knight turned to where Naofumi was pointing and saw a giant zombie making its way toward them. The captain attempted to run but a rope caught his foot and lifted him into the air with the air of an airstrike shield.

"Like my new combo skill? I can't have you leaving so soon."

"Curse you, you devil. I hope you burn in the deepest layer of hell! Someone, get me out of here! "Yes sir."

A knight drew his sword and got in front of the captain in time for him to block the monster's claw.

Holding the zombie back, he felt his foot slipping as the zombie put more and more weight on the blade. "Raphtalia."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

Raphtalia sighed as she ran forth and cut the zombie down. She then walked over to the captain and cut him from his rope, dropping him on his head."

"Captain are you-"

"Shut it. Leave the shield demon to the monsters, let's go aid the three heroes." A majority of the knights left along with the captain, while a couple of others stayed behind. Suspiciously to Naofumi, all of the knights that left were wearing a rosary from the three heroes' church, giving Naofumi an idea of who planned this.

"Sakura, you can get off him now."

"Right. Sorry." Sakura got off the kid and went back over to Naofumi.

"So, what now?"

"The village was cleared faster than I expected. I say we head into fields and-." Naofumi was about to continue, but he was cut off by a loud boom of thunder.

"Sakura guesses the heroes are doing well then."

"It's just thunder. That doesn't mean their-." Naofumi was cut off again, but this time. A flash of purple lightning fell from the sky and struck the ground.

Naofumi can see dust form in the area the lightning hit, as the cracks in the sky started to die down.

"Looks like I stand corrected."

"What was that!" Raphtalia asked.

"My guess would be Ren or his new pet." He was gonna mention Draco but didn't want to say it in front of Sakura.

"There still seem to be monsters out in the fields. So we're far from finished just yet. Sakura, can you pull them all?"

"On it." Sakura hopped onto a nearby building and used it as a platform for a high jump. Naofumi then watches as she crashes to the ground and summons a large cyclone in the area, dragging everything inside closer and closer to her.

"Kid that Sakura used as a footstool."

"M-me?"

"Yes, you. Think you can gather everyone to shoot another beam like that?"

"No, but we can do something on a smaller scale. Everyone together, help the shield hero and prepare the ceremony spell!" The kid took command and formed everyone in rank. They all start chanting together in perfect unison, and form a giant ball of flame in the air.

"Ceremony magic: Fire Squall!" The ball in the air exploded and rained down flames on the monsters trapped in Sakura's Cyclone.

"Great, you form your men into a perimeter around the city to make sure no monsters get inside. We'll finish off the rest."

/~/

As the heroes were walking back from killing the boss, their path was blocked by what looked like a sea full of corpses. Looking over the hill they were on. They see Naofumi, Sakura, and Raphtalia destroying everything they see in sight.

After watching them fight for a bit. They see Sakura jump into the air, and leap towards them with an aura of wind surrounding her.

"DIE YOU LIZARD!"

"So the bird wants to fight, bring it on." The dragon by Ren's side tosses away her bow and surrounds herself in an aura of purple lightning. But before she can jump, a rope grabs onto her legs, and she was pulled out of the sky.

"Hey, I said no to attack allies, and you clearly weren't going to bitch."

"But Naofumi, it's a dragon."

"No," Naofumi demanded. Leaving Sakura dejected.

The heroes decided to finally come down from their hill as Naofumi started to stack up the corpses in the area into a huge mound of zombies.

"Where have you been? You missed the whole boss!" Motoyasu complained.

"Unlike Y'all, I had to deal with the defense of an entire town. As well as all the extra monsters left afterward." Naofumi tosses a torch into the pile, and starts to burn all the corpses.

"The knights could have handled it."

"The knights were late and were more of an inconvenience."

"So you tie him up like a pinata."

"Yes, he tried to "purify" me as well as destroy several houses in the area. I say that's a reasonable response compared to the others. So where's my share of the boss' loot?"

"Draco saved some. Give me some." Draco picked up the snake tail on the ground and handed it to Naofumi.

"Huh, Chimera viper."

"Why does he get a share?"

"He did defend a village by himself. I say that I should give him a reason." Ren replied.

"I won't complain either. But bringing a knight close to death like that isn't okay." Itsuki added.

"I'm not here to be lectured. I've done my job, so I'll be going back to help with the repairs. I suggest you guys should do the same." Naofumi walked off while dragging Sakura to the ground by her collar. Leaving Motoyasu pretty infuriated with how he treated her.

"You can't still be telling me he's innocent after that display."

"I already told you what I know. You denying the truth won't help anyone." Ren said as he followed Naofumi to the village.

"Whatever. Come on Itsuki, let's head back to the castle."

"Actually, I plan on getting more info from Ren."

"Come on, don't tell me you believe him too!"

"The whole trial was pretty suspicious. And now we have possible evidence of Naofumi being innocent. Don't you think it's something to look into?"

"No, Myne would never lie!"

"That's just denial. The trial has been postponed, so justice will truly be on the side of the correct party." Itsuki replied as he walked off.

Bonus Story: Change the name

As the source of your power, the Filolial queen commands thee!"

"Wait." Raphtalia interrupted.

"What?"

"You aren't a queen yet."

"Of course Sakura is. She got a cowlick and everything."

"Technically, Fitoria is the queen. So that would make you a princess if she is still in power."

"No, Fitoria is the queen of her flock. I'm the queen of my own… soon enough."

"Actually, Fitoria is planning on retiring soon. So what Talia-chan says has a bit of truth to it."

"Oh come on."

"The chant has to be accurate Sakura."

"Can't I just say I'm the queen? No one would complain."

"Unless you want your fame to be given to Fitoria."

"Fine, Sakura will change it. As the source of your power, the Filolial Princess commands thee."

Bonus Bonus Story: Mission failed, we'll get them next time.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU FAILED!"

"Sorry sister Layla. Most of the knights we replaced didn't have the mana to cast a full-powered Judgment spell, so we had to settle for the weaker Sanction spell. His demi human companions were also very agile for level 30s, so they were probably under some pretty power boost magic."

"Great, now we have to add demi-humans to the list of assassinations."

"I don't think that will be necessary."

"L-lord Balmus?"

"If we can separate him from his slave, then killing the heroes would be trivially easy."

"But sir. He's all around them constantly."

"He is. But I have a plan to get rid of them. Get the knights to intercept one of Belokaus carts, and tell the princess it's time for a duel.