Unyielding Rage

Chapter 16: Unyielding Rage

White. It's all that could be seen for miles. Naofumi floats within the uncaring void once more as the multicolored spirits floated around him. Time did not exist, or at least it worked on a different set of rules, he didn't bother counting after last time, for all he knew he was dead, and he was just waiting to go to the afterlife.

But as he waited, he felt an overwhelming emotion of anger. Thinking over the last few weeks he was here, very few things went his way. Anger went to frustration, as the church hunted him down for just existing. And finally, frustration to rage, as both Raphtalia, Sakura, and even Ake are now out there fleeing for their lives, running away from an enemy they surely can't beat.

All of this and more is what pushed Naofumi over the line. The balls of light that were around him all retreated as a red ball of flame landed on his shoulder. The only ball that didn't leave was the green one, constantly bobbing up and down to get Naofumi's attention, but nothing could stop the shield hero.

Reaching out for the red ball, flames poured out and went down his arm. Naofumi screamed out in pain as the flames converged onto his fist and formed into a shield, with the red ball implanting itself in the middle.

/~/

The pope laughed at the defeat of the shield hero. He had finally purged the world of the greater evil, and finally had the power even greater than the heroes. He turned to his followers as they all bowed at his command, singing the praises of the great pope who took out the shield demon. But as the dusk cleared from the explosion, one of the nuns got up, and pointed his finger at the cloud in fear.

"Shield of Wrath II"

Black flames came out from the dust and flew towards the pope. The pope's shield held firm against the onslaught, but everyone that was outside of the shield's radius was quickly incinerated.

"I-impossible."

"He survived judgment."

"But nobody can survive that!"

Walking out of the smoke. Naofumi's shield was currently in the form of a red and black shield, with flames bursting from it. He seemed to have a limp from the previous attacks, but he slowly made his way over to the pope.

"Hold still followers. It seems the devil just needs another dose of purification." The weapon replica glowed as the followers poured their mana into it. Some of them fell to the ground due to exhaustion, while the rest sat back and watch the pope.

"[Brionic!]" A circle appears in front of the replica spear. A large beam of light came from the spear, and crashed into Naofumi's shield.

The skill was powerful as it pushed Naofumi back, but the shield hero didn't waver. He stood strong and successfully tanked the beam, sending back another torrent of flames that broke through the popes barrier, burning him and several others.

"BURN, BURN, BURN!" Naofumi's shield slowly grew larger as the flames of the shield turned black, and burned hotter than before.

"This is impossible! The shield hero should not have this much power! [Divine Grace] The pope tapped his staff on the ground, purifying all the curses set onto them by the flame. The pope knew he only had a limited amount left, due to his small forces, so he prepared one last attack.

"[Sanction!]" A circle appears in front of the replica spear. Seven beams of light circle around Naofumi as they flare up, soon bringing down a beam of light similar to judgment upon Naofumi.

Instead of raising his shield to block the attack this time. Naofumi swapped his shield and pulled the pope by the leg. Catching him, Naofumi held the pope up into the air, as the beam of light crashed into him instead. Naofumi was also caught in the crossfire, as the explosion hit him as well, but he stood tall.

"I… will not… fall to you demon! [Phoenix blade]" The pope limped towards the shield hero and swung him blade down, lodging it in his shoulder.

Naofumi however looked on unfazed and grabbed the blade, preventing the pope from pulling it back.

"I-impossible! You're just the shield hero! This can't be po-" The pope was silent as he was encased into a ball. The sky turns purple as a cage of spikes descends down, and floats the pope inside.

"Within this virgin of cold core, who shall swallow even your screams with her embrace, suffer in anguish as your entire body is stabbed and skewered! [Iron Maiden]!"

The sky turned purple as a chamber of spikes descends from the sky. The pope is risen up into the air, and screams can be heard from the chamber, impaling the pope from all sides. Once the chamber opens again, the popes skewered body falls to the ground in front of all of his fathers.

"The devil killed the pope, run for your lives!" The terrified nuns all make a break for it, as Naofumi walks closer and closer. The few loyal nuns in the area all hesitantly draw their weapons, as they go to avenge their fallen boss.

"No, we must flee!"

"Sister Layla, we can't let him go free. He just killed the pope!"

"Balmus was a fool for attacking with such a small force. Devil or not, the shield hero should not be underestimated."

"You dare speak ill of-." The sister was slapped by Layla and was sent to the ground.

"If you want to die, Ventali, then by all means go for it. But if you come back to me once you're burning." Layla kicked Ventali, sending tumbling towards Naofumi's feet. Once she realized where she was, she quickly thrusted her dagger, but her hand was pinned to the ground by the shield hero's foot.

"You b-" A torrent of flames comes out from Naofumi's shield.

This final act was what broke the survivors' will, and they all decided to run away as well.

/~/

"Agh. Damn it, why does it hurt so much!" Sakura winced.

"I think it was laced acid of some kind." Ake replied.

"What sane person puts acid on a crossbow!"

"We're dealing with the church. That means that none of them are sane." Ake pulled out another bolt from Sakura's shoulder, causing another yelp of pain.

Coming out of the bushes. A knocked out man in white is tossed face first into the camp. Raphtalia appears a few seconds later, seemingly hiding with the use of her illusion magic.

"It seems we lost them. A couple were coming in this direction, but they seemed unorganized for some reason. That's why I decided to bring him."

"Oh, so he's not your new boyfriend." Sakura teased.

"Don't make me grab lemon juice."

"Sakura's sorry. Not again please." Sakura hid behind Ake in fear of Raphtalia.

"I don't think we should be joking around here, Naofumi sacrificed his life so we can escape."

"He's not dead."

"How do you know?"

"Because of this." Raphtalia pulled down the top of her sweater, revealing her slave quest. Many of the men in Ake's squad looked away at first, but they turned back around once the women said it was safe. "My crest would have disappeared if Naofumi was dead. That only proves he's alive."

"Woah, you really are a slave huh."

"Yeah, didn't we establish this yesterday?"

"It was… I just owe someone so much money now." Ake muttered as he pulled another acid arrow out of Sakura.

"Agh. So we should go back and find him."

"Sakura you were shot in at least seventeen different places, you need rest."

"Sakura will rest once she knows- agh… once she's Naofumi is alright. She will not settle for anything else until then."

"*sigh* Fine." Raphtalia picked up Sakura and placed her on her back. "If you try to move I will drop you."

"Sakura will keep that in mind next time you ride only Sakura's back."

Raphtalia started to run towards the direction they escaped from, with Ake and his crew falling closely behind. They were confident that they would find Naofumi, and were prepared for anyone they had to fight, or so they thought.

/~/

"Returning back to the area, they see the remains of the destructive battle that just took place. There were craters, holes inside of the craters, and even blood and flames scattered across the battlefield.

Bodies lay on the ground. Some are missing their head or legs, while others aren't missing their bodies, but are charred or burned on all sides.

"Be on guard guys. This place seems off."

"To think the pope the pope will do this. To his own men as well." The witch cried.

"I don't think it's the pope. These flames are black."

"Black?" Raphtalia asked.

"Yeah. Black flames are a common occurrence of a flame being cursed by magic of some kind. I'm pretty sure the church avoids using any curse magic entirely."

"So this is someone else's doing." Sakura replied as she sat on the ground.

"It's a high possibility that-"

"AGHHHH!"

Hearing a blood curdling scream from the forest. The party all turn their heads towards the source. At first they see nothing, but then, they see a man carrying a flame slowly walking forward.

"Naofumi!" Raphtalia ran over to Naofumi, but Sakura felt something was up. The second Raphtalia touched Naofumi, Sakura swooped in and carried her out the way, just in time to avoid the explosion of dark flame from Naofumi.

"Aghhh."

"Sakura. Are you okay?"

"Sakura wasn't hit. But something is happening to Naofumi."

"I know. He'll never attack us like time."

"Well he did." Being dragged back to the others by Raphtalia. The party watches as Naofumi moves. He had been visibly injured, carrying a sword wound in his shoulder, burns to the majority of his body, and a noticeable limp, but he kept walking, even through all the pain.

"Master Naofumi. It us, can you hear me. Master Naofumi!"

"Burn… burn… burn. BURN!"

"He is not listening, he just keeps saying burn."

"Ake, what is this?"

"I don't know. I'm not well versed in the shield heroes church."

"And you call yourself a fan." Sakura stood up and went into a stance.

"Sakura, you can barely walk, much less fight."

"I can hold the pain off for a minute… probably. You guys just find a solution. "[High Quick]"

Despite Raphtalia and Ake's plea. Sakura ran off towards Naofumi. Remembering what happened earlier, Sakura kicked the shield, and backflipped away immediately. Dodging the flames that sprouted from the shield.

"Okay, while she is doing that, grab all the holy waters you can find."

"Yes sir!" Everyone saluted.

Ake just carried a commanding presence. Everyone in his crew was quick to act with the utmost efficiency. Even Raphtalia, who wasn't even paying attention to the order, was quick to follow Ake's commands as he asked.

"As the source of your power, the disgraced knight orders thee. Let the way of all things be revealed and guard me from the blazing heat. "[Dreifach Fire Guard]" A red aura surrounded Ake. The knight was confident and didn't even think twice as he ran towards Naofumi.

"Sakura, move!"

"Okay." Sakura jumped out of the way, and more flames came to Naofumi.

Standing his ground, Ake holds out his claymore and defends against the flames. Even with his fire defense boosted, the flames still got past his undefended areas and burnt him greatly, but the knight kept up.

Taking a step forward, Ake felt like he was entering hell. His arms felt numb, and he thought he could feel his blood literally start to boil as he got closer, and when he was about to succumb to the pain of the flames, a wind surrounded him. Sakura had pushed past the flames as well, and shielded Ake. Grabbing her hand, Ake passed on a [Flame Guard] to her, and they both marched on.

"This… is… the worst pain."

"Naofumi, if you're in there. Sakura is not sorry for this."

Breaking through the flames, Sakura punched Naofumi in the chin and sent him into the air. But before he could be fully launched, Ake grabbed Naofumi by the leg, and slammed him to the ground.

"N-NOW!" Falling to the ground, Ake called upon his squad to move in. All carrying various sizes of holy water found from the corpses, they all throw it at the pinned shield hero. The shattered glass was ineffective against Naofumi's natural defense, but the holy water caused major pain to the shield hero.

Dark smoke rose up from Naofumi's shield as the holy water took effect. Naofumi yelled out in pain as the holy water started to purify both him and the shield, making everyone celebrate.

/~/

Regaining his senses. Naofumi wakes up once more in the realm of white. The spirits however were nowhere to be seen, instead being replaced by a giant blue dragon.

"Who the hell are you!?"

"I am Teshub. The dragon emperor you carelessly absorbed. May I ask, how my first rent payment is doing?"

"So you're the one who did this to me!?"

"Not exactly, I just removed the limiter from that annoying Filolial set. It was you who decided to delve into the powers of wrath."

"Sh-" When Naofumi held out his hand, he noticed that his shield was nowhere to be found, sparking laughter from the dragon.

"Ha, you're inside your shield. Did you really think you can use your abilities here? Oh, humans are so dumb."

"Inside? How did I…"

"You're bordering between the realms of the spirits. You've been close to death so many times that it's becoming a chore to keep track of how many times you've come." The dragon chuckled.

"Spirit?"

"No, that was your third question. If you want any more, you'll have to make a deal with me. I want you to pass on this shard to my offspring, and in doing so, I'll help quell your little temper tantrum." The dragon laughed even more. "Of course, I think you don't have-... did Gaelion just-"

"Who the hell is Gaelion!?"

"Nothing important. Now be gone with you." The dragon swiped his hand, and a dark light filled the room once more, engulfing Naofumi in the sludge of shadow.

/~/

Opening his eyes, Naofumi finds himself back into the human world. As he started to get up, he was quickly tackled down by a Raphtalia and Sakura.

"You're awake. Thank God, you're awake!"

"I didn't know if you'll ever wake up again. Never do something like that again!"

"Did you just speak in the-."

Sakura squeezed him tighter and moved over to his ear. "This is the only amount of affection… Sakura is showing… to you for a while, better make it count." Sakura whispered weakly.

Naofumi took in the embrace, then noticed the wounds and dark burns on her arms. Looking over to everyone else, and noticed that Raphtalia had some burns, and Ake seemed to have the worst of it, having burns all over his body.

"I… did this?"

"Don't worry, it's just some minor wounds. We'll… be… f-fine." Raphtali and Sakura collapsed to the ground around the same time.

"No no no no!" "Zweites Heal, Zweites Heal, Zweites Heal!" Naofumi was pouring all of his MP in healing, but no matter how many times he tried, the burns didn't go away. "No. You can't die on me, not today."

"Shield hero stop, you're going to-"

"Get off me. I'll heal them if it's the last thing I-" Naofumi felt his head ache as he fell to the ground. Coughing up blood, Naofumi notices his MP and SP was at zero, and his health was slowly dropping to cast the spells. "I… must… save." Trying his magic once more, Naofumi coughs up his final pit of blood, and falls unconscious. His last moments awake were that of several people shouting orders, and him being carried.

Extra Story: Rens huge mistake

"[Dark Flame Pallet!"]

"[Lightning Retribution!"]

Lightning and black flames clash, spiraling into a pillar of flame that lit up the sky. When the pillar cleared, Draco came down from above, and kicked the dragon hard into the ground.

"I'll finish this off with one strike." Ren jumped off a set of rocks and started to fall. His blade bursted into dragon-like flames, as he came crashing down upon the dragon. "[Dragon Buster!]"

Driving his blade into the dragon's chest. The dragon roars in pain one final time, and falls limp to the ground.

"We did it!" Draco celebrated before falling to the ground.

"It seems you're getting a lot stronger."

"Of course I did. I'm a top grade dragon after all." Draco got up and walked over to the corpse. She then started to dig through its flesh and claw out its chest.

"Draco, what are you doing?"

"I'm searching for his core, it's really deep."

"Core?"

"That purple crystal you took from that lightning dragon that you stupidly made into a shield. I'm calling dibs on this one." Draco takes a bite out the crystal and goes blank.

"Draco… Draco?" Ren snapped his fingers, but he got no response. He then proceeded to shake the drake girl which actually wakes her up this time.

"Huh, what?"

"You were talking then went silent, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Now let's stop being lazy, this cave isn't too far, we'll be rich!"

"Hey, don't just run off alone!"

/~/

Catching up to the dragon, when Ren entered the cave he did not expect to find what he did. No mountains of treasure, no ash of the fallen adventures, it was just furniture. Tables, chairs, and somehow a couch was all inside. Over in the corner, he goes through piles of clothing, and only stopped once he found the pile of undergarments as well.

"Draco, you sure this is the dragon's cave and not some hobo's place?"

"That's what the memories are saying. But If I push here." Draco hand balled up into a fist and punched through the wall. Gold then started to pour out into the cave's main area.

"See, I told you." Draco pulled on the wall next to her and opened some sort of hallway area, with the room next door being the gold pile the dragon was hiding.

"Why did you break the wall if there- forget it, I'll investigate further."

"You sure you don't want some of this?"

"It's a dragon's cave. They'll definitely be some good swords around here."

Ren walked off into the hallway. What he said to Draco was only partially true. He did want to find some swords, but he also wanted to figure out the deal with this weird cave. No matter how hard he thank, he could only think of why Drake would have all this stuff around. Those thoughts were quickly put on hold, as he heard a sneeze.

Immediately running to the area. Ren slid open the stone door blocking the path, only to find a dog girl holding a chubby dragon, with three dragon eggs around her.

"Ohhh, fuck!"