Vol 1 Chapter 21 (1/2)
Chapter Twenty-One: The Wave of Destruction
We arrived at the village at what appeared to be the exactto wreak havoc
The knights and adventurers that had beaten us there where fighting back as best they couldand looked like it ht break at any moment
“Raphtalia, help evacuate the villagers”
“But… What will you do?”
“I’ll distract them!”
I ran for the defense line and juht into the thick of it There was a crowd ofthem with my shi+eld
The hits registered with a reverberating, e at all
But they started to take notice ofup with Raphtalia
“Queeee!”
The locusts swar in iant bees, and what looked like zombies
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Whether it was because of my shi+eld, or because of the Barbarian Are
“H…Hero!”
“Listen up! I’ the monsters off, so use the chance to escape!”
I saw a nunized
“O…Okay!”
Everyone backed off and ran, leaving me to hold the line alone
“Hey…”
What rong with these people?
I was ready to sigh in annoyance, but the s and claws
I could hear clashi+ng and clanging, but I wasn’t taking das prickling at my skin It made me sick
I kept on hitting them
Clang!
Seriously, rong with the people? The wave of destruction had just come, but I was already annoyed with them all
“H…Help!!”
The owner of the inn that we’d stayed at was being chased by monsters
The h him, but just before they did, I shouted: “Air Strike shi+eld!”
The shi+eld appeared in the air to protect the innkeeper With it just appearing in uy was surprised, and he turned to look at me
“Run!”
“Th…Thank you!”
He stuttered out his gratitude Then he ran aith his family
“Yaaaaaaaaaah!”
A screa silk
I turned to look, and there was a wo overtaken by a hoard of monsters
She came relatively close by and…
“shi+eld Prison!”
The cage appeared and protected the running woman
At the sudden appearance of the cage the monsters turned their attention towards me
That’s it I’ht here Come after me, just me
Before the effect of the skill wore off, I drew the attention of the monsters and ran
Huff… Huff… “Who else has been left behind?!”
I was looking around quickly, trying to find any stragglers when, all of a sudden, aat me I immediately threw up my shi+eld to block the attack, and there was a shower of fireworks
“A zombie…”
According to the infor, it was called an Inter-Dimensional Zombie
It was nothing like the locusts and bees I’d been fighting up until that point
It held a weapon in both hands, and it earing armor
“daot no choice…”
At the very least, I needed to keep his attention on e
But if I had a choice in the ht over where the other “heroes” were fighting
Enemies continued to erupt froet even one of them to pay attention to me, my life would be that much easier
“Hey, zouys stink!”
I started to run faster The locusts, bees, and zo me, and they had other monsters with them But they all ran at different speeds, so certain monsters pulled ahead of the others
The problehts on the nearest target: me
“damn, not you all too!”
I felt relatively safe, thanks to the shi+eld I really wanted to avoid their attacks if I could, but that didn’t seem possible this time
But I had to stop their advancement
First, I would stop the attacks from head-on, then try to push back
If only Raphtalia were there It didn’t seeood to stand there and continue to be attacked
But if I didn’t have a way to fight back, I didn’t have a way to fight back All I could do hat I could do…
“Air Strike shi+eld!”
The shi+eld appeared in the air
Thearound me If they all came at me at once, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold them off
“If they all came at once…”
“Hah!”
I climbed over a zombie and jumped up onto the Air Strike shi+eld Then I ran to the other side, where there were less monsters, and jumped down, my shi+eld at the ready
damn… The locusts were all over e a few of the disgusting things They were starting to weigh me down,
daain I couldn’t jump out of the way
If I couldn’t get any distance from them, I could…
“Animal Needle shi+eld!”
This shi+eld came with a special effect, the Animal Needle shi+eld (small)
Apparently if an enemy attacked the shi+eld where it was covered in needles, it would take da was lower than what I had been using And any danificant Even still, it was the only option I had for dealing any dae at all
It wasn’t like I didn’t have a shi+eld with a counter ability, but I didn’t think that it would be effective against groups of enemies
“Take that!”
I ran at the monsters, and tried to punch them with my shi+eld
Clang!
There it was again, that ineffectual sound So apparently I really couldn’t hope to do any da attacks When I did, the shi+eld shot out needles that stuck into the enemies It wasn’t much, but it made them pause in their tracks and created a space in the line All I could do was use that to e and try to buy some time
“This one could be trouble…”
There was a zo his weapons madly
He had an axe in his hand, and before I could block it with my shi+eld, it bit a deep into my shoulder
“Ahh!
A searing pain shot through my shoulder, and blood sprayed from the wound
I fell back a few paces
It hurt Why did I have to subject myself to this?
Why did I have to get hit with an axe to defend people that ridiculed me? It made me feel like a fool
Calm down… Think
The problem wasn’t only that I failed to block the attack, it’s that I was using a weak shi+eld But If I used a shi+eld with a higher defense rating, I’d be unable to inflict any dae on the enemy
damn! shi+elds are so hard to use!
“Hero!”
“What the hell? What are you doing here? You’re in my way! Get the hell out of here!”
There were a nu tools
A them were some of the people I had just helped
“But you are all by yourself, Hero!”
That was THEIR fault, not mine! Did they think I was alone because I wanted to be?
That adventurer I’d helped to escape was there with them
“This is our village! We can’t just leave it!”
“Fine then! I will be the shi+eld Help me defend the line until the evacuation is complete! Get into a proper foret them!
“Yes sir!”
Honestly, I needed the help Not only was I unable to attack on roup would put us in a different league Working with Raphtalia had made that very clear
I changed back to the Light Metal shi+eld, and ers ran to draw the attention of the monsters
“Get an attack in and back off We’ll break up their advance Then I’ll jump in and take their attacks”
“Yes sir!”
To protect them, I ran to the front of the formation and took the ene tools to attack theat them from behind me
One jab wouldn’t do it, but after getting hit ten or twenty times, the monsters started to fall
“Squeee!”
If the ers behind me, I jumped in place to block them
“Relax! I’ll take all of the da the monsters!”
They looked relieved At the very least I figured it was safe to assu to be protected They say in battle that whoever shouts the largest will a But that was good for me Just like I’d said, if they would help me, I’d protect them
“But even still… There are soto wrap up?!”
“What are the other Heroes doing?”
“Ha! They’re fighting the waves and ignoring the people!”
“But they…”
One of the villagers fainted when they heard that
Just then, I saw a large shadow appear on the ground And thataway in a heartbeat
“Ugh…”
There was a giant zoger but earing er axe
I stopped one of his attacks with my shi+eld, but it was so powerful that it made me dizzy, and I reeled back
Like I would die here!
I grit ht really die
This guy ay stronger than the others
Even though he hadn’t really landed a direct blow, I still took dae He was unbelievably powerful
“Are you okay?”
“Huff… Yes… But… Hero?”
“I’m fine! You all back off! I’uy!”
“But!”
Were these villagers even listening to what I was saying?!
Just then…
“Mr Naofumi!”
Raphtalia was there, sword in hand, ready to fight
“Raphtalia! You’re just in tiuy down”
“All right!”
We both turned to the giant zombie, and I held up my shi+eld in preparation
“I’ll draw his attacks with , just like we’ve done the whole time”
“All right”
The zoer than his coaze tohis enormous axe I took the shock head-on I couldn’t avoid his attacks lest he decided to turn his attention to Raphtalia instead And if I had dodged them, it would throw off the rhythm, and Raphtalia would end up confused as well
The giant zombie raised his axe to strike, and Raphtalia dashed in to jab him with her sword
I stopped his axe withwasn’t as strong as before
Yes! We ht have a chance
“Raphtalia, this guy likes to attack whatever is nearby Once you stick him, back off, and once I draw his attack, rush in for another shot!”
“Yes!”
“W…Woah…”
The gathered villagers let their emotion slip out
Which reet them out of there
“You’re still here? Get out of here! I appreciate your help, but now you are just getting in the way! The whole reason I’!”
“O…Okay…”
They seean to back way
Just as they see in ut
“Raphtalia!”
I ran to her and threwher close
“Mr Naofumi?!”
I changeddefense rating
An instant later, fire rained down on us
I saw the group of knights that had arrived through a break in thethem, and they had thrown a Fire Rain spell in our direction
“Hey! We’re on your side!”
The flames stopped immediately, but the monsters were all ablaze
There were so ht fire very easily
Apparently not only ic defense was high as well Either that, or I owed it to the special effect of the Light Metal shi+eld
The giant zoh the rain of fire and fell over
I watched the line burn and, still in disbelief that they would fire on their allies, walked in their direction, shaking the ehts
“The shi+eld Hero, eh? You’re tough”
Sohts spat in my direction as I approached Raphtalia’s sword flew froht who’d spit at us
“What are you planning to do to Mr Naofumi? Your life depends on your answer!”
There was hatred burning in her eyes
“You with the shi+eld Hero?”
“Yes, I’m his sword! Show him the respect he deserves!”
“Ah, a classy dehts?”
“You spit on the people you have sword to protect and hurl flames at Naofumi, who is supposed to be your coht, I don’t respect behavior like that!”
“Well, you survived just fine”
“Just fine?!”
As they fought over the particulars, the other knights formed a circle around Raphtalia
“shi+eld Prison!”
“Y…You!”
The leader of the knights was firhts What kind of knight would attack their allies?
“The eneet confused about who you are fighting!”