+The Preparations+

It took us a day to get to Felwind, but it took an entire week for the caravan itself to get back to Melromarc.

Just a scant two days before the beginning of the Wave.

Most of it was due to the town's population being composed of sick and injured, likely from the aftermath of the previous Wave. Yoyo treated them on the road as best as he could with the knowledge imparted onto him by Naofumi as he operated in rickety, makeshift carts that jostled at every pebble.

I, on the other hand, had to deal with leading the portion of the populace who were combat-ready. Drilling them in tactics, as well as basic combat training. Anyone who was untrained, but fit for battle, were also trained, mainly as archers, spearmen, or shield bearers: the citizens were no strangers to manual labour, and their physical strength was nothing to scoff at.

Of course, due to their relative lack of experience, the three of us drilled them all in basic offensive and defensive group tactics. They weren't elites by any stretch of the definition, but they were enough to repel disorganised forces.

Good thing too, because Ormond wasn't kidding when he'd told me that the bandits were causing trouble. They'd come so often in the dead of night, when most of the people were asleep, that I had to arrange guard shifts during the night. Those who would undertake that task were allowed to sleep on the travelling wagons during the day to restore their strength.

And this was saying nothing of the monsters that would wander near the camp. Whether they were looking for a snack or they were spooked into our camps by brigands, who used the chaos to rush into the camp to try and pillage, they were huge nuisances, especially if bandits attacked the camp at the same time.

Or at least, they would've been, had we not been around.

The people of the former colony of Felwind were no strangers to hardship and when equipped properly, even with wooden spears, shoddy defenses, and makeshift bows, they were more than a match for the disorganised mob groups, leaving the sweeping of the bandits to me, Yoyo, and Deos. He'd levelled up a lot during that time, and seemed to grow physically at a remarkable rate.

The brutality in his actions, however, unsettled both Yoyo and I: the two of us generally spared the bandits who surrendered. Deos did not. He'd slaughter each and every one he came across. Each and every man, whether on his feet, knees, or hands, were turned into a pile of blood and mangled flesh. Each and every one were brutalized worse than the last.

Thus, though Yoyo and I earned goodwill from the settlers, Deos' feedback was more...mixed. Some were emboldened by his drive when it came to putting down the bandits that seemed to never relent as they attacked, many others, however, were fearful of his bloodlust: more than once, Yoyo and I had overheard some of the former residents of the colony wonder to themselves if they would be on the receiving end of Deos' fists themselves after the bandits stop throwing themselves at the encampment.

If Deos ever caught wind of the comments, he obviously didn't let it weigh him down.

It all came to a head on the third day of travel, when we arrived at the village where the mercenaries were supposed to take the villagers to the capital.

+Support of the Sword Hero+

"So, Kelhorn is just past these woodlands, then?"

"Won't be long now, Sir Edwin."

The attacks had decreased in relentlessness as we progressed through the forested areas, and practically dropped to nothing as we made it past the thickest portions of the forestry.

Thank goodness for that; I wasn't sure how much more Felwind's residents could take before finally cracking under pressure. No one, no matter how hardy, could weather a constant campaign waged against them from the shadows.

Brushing the branch out of my face, I gazed upon the village of Kelhorn.

Or at least, the ruins of where it once was.

"The hell?" Yoyo rubbed his eyes blearily, the constant threat of attack obviously having taken its toll. "I'm not still asleep, am I?"

"No...we're all seeing this." Ormond's spare hand was on his axe, his other on a roughly-crafted wooden buckler. "I don't like this, Sir Hero."

Considering we were travelling together for a couple of days now, keeping my status as legendary hero only got harder as time went on. I had to come clean last night after using my [Ember Sword] to drive away a particularly hardy monster, likely one of the leftovers from the previous Wave.

Pushing those thoughts aside, I nodded in agreement. "Something's definitely wrong. Everyone, turtle formation!"

Turtle formation, as Yoyo and I dubbed it, consisted of the "shield"-bearing villagers surrounding the others within, and those on the second-most outer line wielding spears pointing outwards. Decent in melees, or at least in theory.

I doubted the so-called equipment, even after we reinforced it the best we could over the last few days, could hold up to anything heavier than a scimitar swipe, but it'll have to do.

In solemn silence, we marched into the ruined village. Passing smashed windows, charred husks of houses, and bodies by the dozens.

"Shit…" I silently echoed Deos' sentiment. "What the hell could've caused this carnage?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

They emerged from the ruined households that they no doubt razed. Tens by ten, they fanned out to surround us.

All nasty-looking.

All better equipped than the refugees of Felwind.

All eyeing our outnumbered group hungrily.

Yoyo's face lost its drowsy demeanour while my grip tightened on my sword. In contrast to our calm, Deos' expression was downright murderous,

"It was so easy," The nastiest looking thug, and presumably the leader of this band of outcasts sneered at us, "so stupidly easy to draw you towards us. Razing this village, killing that messenger you sent out, and forging a reply to send back to you lot...heheh...now, we can claim the loot of two villages for the price of one. Now, seeing as you're all lacking in monetary compensation, how about you give us your bodies instead? I bet they'd fetch some good prices on the black mark-"

Deos' restraint broke and with a wordless bellow, he charged.

The swishing of projectiles repeated as I watched him get impaled several times over by the arrows fired by bandit archers.

My grip only tightened further as my eyes narrowed.

Primary objective set: forceful neutralization of opponents.

Secondary objective set: keep the villagers and Deos safe.

"Hah. What a fool. If this is all the resistance you can offer than you might as well surrender now!"

"Shield bearers." My voice sounded distant to me. "Brace yourselves. Lancers to positions, let none who enter your range leave unscathed. Archers. Prepare to rain hell upon those bastards on my signal. You'll know it when you see it."

"Give it up." One of boss bastard's goons smirked wickedly at me. "You're outclassed and outnumbered. Admit defeat while you can."

"Outnumbered? Certainly." Yoyo's voice overflowed with disdain. "Outclassed? Not exactly."

I took a deep breath, steeling myself-

"[Party Accel]."

+Support of the Sword Hero+

Those two words cemented their fates.

[Party Accel] was, by all rights, a simple spell to cast. Even if it did take me the better part of the last few weeks to coax it from the grimoire that Ormond gave me, saying that it would be better in my hands than wasting away in the locked chest he was kept in his house. As its name implied, it sped up all members of the caster's party, including the caster themselves, by bolstering their DEX stats by 50% at the base level that it was currently at.

Considering that Yoyo and I both possessed an extraordinarily high DEX stat, even just a 50% increase allowed us to turn what would've been a difficult battle into what was only a challenging one.

Thank goodness that there was only one person with major injuries, and that Yoyo's medical skills have progressed enough to at least stabilize Deos without any decent healing items on hand.

"Many thanks for your assistance, Sirs Edwin, Arthur and Deos."

My brother smiled kindly at the old leader of Felwind. "It was no trouble, I assure you. I wish you luck in your future endeavours, Ormond."

He nodded and walked off.

"Oi, Edwin." Deos jerked his head towards a trussed up woman, unable to gesture with his still healing arm. "What are we to do with her?"

"Her" was the villager we saw on our way to meet Ormond for the first time, the one who was twirling a knife in her hands. It turned out she was an inside agent for the bandit group we'd massacred, the one who delivered the message to Ormond and the person who'd guided everyone to Kelhorn where the band of marauders were waiting. She'd fired an arrow at me when my back was turned, thinking the fight was over, and Deos, who was having his injuries tended to by Yoyo, managed to prevent it from hitting me by using his palm as a shield.

He then body slammed into her and took her down, pinning her long enough to be restrained and interrogated.

The fact that she was still here and not in a ditch somewhere raised some questions on Deos' part.

"Well," I began, "I was thinking we're short on party members-"

"No." Deos instantly shot it down.

"You haven't even heard my idea yet."

"Given the context," my traitorous brother supplied, "I'm pretty sure it's a bad one."

"Will me telling you I wasn't thinking about immediately untying her and adding her to our party change your mind?"

"Given that you specified 'immediately'?" Deos' eyes narrowed. "Not really."

I sighed. Nothing I did ever seemed to get past my brother, and now he had another pair of eyes and ears to divine my intentions.

"Alright," I sighed, "seeing as neither of you are going to let this go, here's my latest hare-brained idea."

+Support of the Sword Hero+

"The both of you have grown quite a lot! Nothing like the pipsqueaks you used to be."

Baldy-no, Elhard-wasn't kidding. I never took a proper look at Deos' growth while we were battling for our lives, but he'd matured noticeably from when I'd bought him, looking as though he was in his late teens than ten years old. Raphtalia's physical state was much the same, looking more like she was transitioning into puberty than a child only barely out of infancy.

I assumed their biology was somewhat unique in comparison to that of the average human.

"You think so, do you?" Naofumi replied blandly.

"Huh, someone's hard to please."

"And quite surprised. This country's full of lolicons."

Yoyo coughed. Loudly.

"Like, I understand people finding little girls cute, but…" he paused, eyes looking at an event that the rest of us were blind to, "...you people take it really far."

"'Lolicon?'" I whispered to Yoyo.

"People sexually attracted to young girls."

My eyelid twitched. No matter how you spelled it, Raphtalia was far below an appropriate age for people to be attracted to, even if she was no longer a child.

"Kid," Elhard sighed, leaning over the counter, "do you know what Demi-Humans are like?"

"Boss, forget that!" Raphtalia interrupted, marching up to them. "We need some equipment for Naofumi-sama! Do you have recommendations?"

I didn't quite understand the "sama" part, but given the context, it probably denoted respect of some kind.

"On that note," Deos piped up, "Sir Edwin needs an upgrade too."

""Aren't we here for your equipment?"" Naofumi and I spoke in tandem.

"I appreciate the thought," Raphtalia didn't relent, "but you need to consider your own safety as well! Don't forget how you got hurt in the plains!"

"That goes double for you, Mr. I-Have-Absolutely-Nothing-In-My-Defense-Stats." Deos' brow was furrowed as well. "I don't care how good you are at dodging, you can't evade what you don't see."

The truth was, my instincts were so honed that any threat aimed at me would trigger them, but I doubted Deos was interested in hearing anything of the sort.

""Ok, but you still need a weapon..."" Once again, Naofumi and I spoke simultaneously.

"Naofumi-sama." Raphtalia's tone got colder. "If you don't stop messing around with your life like this," in the blink of an eye, she'd unsheathed one of the swords Elhard was displaying and brushed her fingers against the edge, Naofumi's widened eyes reflected in its surface, "you'll surely lose it."

...If she got that from me, Yoyo will probably murder me, to say nothing of what Naofumi would do, low ATT be damned.

+Support of the Sword Hero+

We'd managed to strike a deal in the end.

Raphtalia got a new sword and Naofumi some custom-made armour for his personal use. Yoyo and I, like Naofumi, would receive custom armour for the cost of some materials to make the item itself in addition to the usual fare. Deos was also due to receive custom equipment, due to most merchants not selling gauntlets built for offensive purposes.

Thank goodness we hadn't sold the excess material gathered throughout the month yet.

We reconvened at Elhard's smithy the next day to receive our new gear, with varying levels of excitement.

"It suits you perfectly!"

Raphtalia was the most captivated out of all of us.

"I call it the [Reptilian Scale Mail]! You're rocking it damn well, kid!"

It was quite the sight. While the layer worn underneath the armour was simply a black shirt, the actual armour, covering most of his upper body and including cuisses, was woven of emerald green scales with a silver border.. The entirety of the set was cloaked by his usual green cape.

It wasn't because of aesthetic. Those were actual monster parts we'd supplied for the creation of his armour, and it was the materials that had the armour grant him a boost not only to his defensive stats, but also his DEX.

"I look like I'm freaking Godzilla...you realize I'm supposed to be a hero, right?" Naofumi, in contrast to Raphtalia, was the least enthusiastic about this debacle.

"You are one." Yoyo moved around as he spoke. "No matter the garb, a hero's a hero. So long as you're sure of that, it matters not what you look like

"I assure you, the aesthetics are a mere side benefit of new and updated armour." I examined my own set of armour as I spoke.

Yoyo's [Ranger's Leathers] was exactly as the name implied; hardy leathers that shored up some P. DEF for him, and also boosted DEX a bit, which was apparently a stat that influenced bow users. A hooded mantle completed the look. Usually, it'd have been green, but Yoyo specifically requested sky blue for the shade.

My own equipment, the [Stormbound Mantle], was a touch fancier, if a bit heavier. A blue trench coat covered a metal chestplate, with shoulder guards and vambraces over the coat, and shin guards on the legs. It not only provided a decent bonus to my defensive stats, but also gave me a very appreciable upgrade to my DEX stat.

"Still," Naofumi sighed, "considering you tailor-made this for me, with material that One had gathered, it'd be a waste not to wear it."

"Damn straight." Deos flexed his gauntlet-covered fingers, examining the craftsmanship. The [Silver Bracers] and [Silver Greaves] were a matching set of silver weaponry. The leg protectors extended to cover the toes of his boots and the fingertips of his gauntlets were clawed. The weapons also gave him an additional bonus against monsters with the [Creatures of the Night] and [Undead] traits.

I didn't know what the first one meant.

"You really went out of the way to get me some equipment too, huh?"

I turned to look at Cerise. The bandit who shot at me, the double agent that Deos had restrained, the one we brought back to Melromarc in spite of that.

The one I made my newest slave.

It wasn't a decision I'd made easily, and one that Yoyo argued against vehemently, but it was really a logical choice, all things considered. We were still lacking in information and Deos, for all that he was a local of the world, was low enough on the social standing that information he could provide us was limited. She was extraordinarily skilled with a bow, as we found through interrogation, and our party had no such support in the past.

Plus, if we were to induct her into our party with no slave crest, she was likely to try and end our lives out of principle, and if we simply left her to drift-which was unlikely considering Deos still held a grudge against her and generally ended his grudges in violence-she was likely to try tracking us down either way.

Our alternative was to kill her off, but I was less than enthused about that option. Physically, she was only a young adult, younger than most of the other bandits. An innocent face among the rough and hardened ones of the now-either-dead-or-arrested bandits, and it was clearly taken advantage of. For another, her capture faced little to no resistance at all, and she seemed to display more remorse at her actions when we interrogated her.

Essentially, we had to keep her under watch, and make sure she didn't stab us dead while we weren't looking. And the easiest, and arguably one of the most humane ways to do so, was through a slave crest.

It's a sad time indeed when something as abhorrent as a slave crest becomes the most humane option for anything ever.

Nevertheless, my brother finally caved with great reluctance, and we made another trip to Beloukas' tent.

I really hoped visits to his residence wouldn't be routine.

Pushing those thoughts aside, I gave her equipment an appraising look.

A pair sheathed daggers were harnessed around her upper body, sheathes positioned in an easy to draw location. Her shortbow and arrows were also new additions, purchased from a fletcher that the scarred smith had recommended to us. The quiver was affixed to her waist instead of her back due to the [Feathered Raven Cloak] that she wore over her armour. Commissioned from a tailor that Elhard pointed us to and made entirely of black feathers, it was enough to obscure her body entirely if she wrapped it around her. It not only provided decent bonuses to many stats, but also granted her a fairly unique ability.

Namely, the ability to conceal her presence when her cowl was up.

The acquisition of this item alone made killing that damned swarm of giant crows that assaulted the caravan worth the effort.

"Of course." I replied blandly. "If you're to do battle against us, your equipment will need to be a step up from what you've used as a bandit. Bigger guns for the bigger prey, as they say."

""Guns?"" Both Deos and Cerise looked at me in confusion.

"His point is," Yoyo replied, gazing coolly at Cerise, "that the monsters of the Waves aren't going to be your unarmed and defenseless merchant caravan."

Cerise frowned at him but said nothing. It was clear she knew what kind of standing she had among our group.

The whinnying of horses drew our attention.

Peeking past the narrow alley, we saw the tops of heads. Most of them civilians, but others were soldiers of the kingdom mobilizing.

"Whole city's on edge." Deos squinted at the passing parade.

"Hard not to be," I frowned, "considering there's less than a day left for the Wave to happen. Speaking of which." I turned to Naofumi. "I'll meet up with you tonight at the inn. We need to discuss what to do in the coming Wave."

"With me of all people?" Naofumi was frowning.

"Not like Motoyasu or Itsuki are going to listen to summons from us," I muttered sardonically, "but by all means, feel free to try."

"Right, good point." His scowl deepened. "So, tonight then?"

"Yeah. Feel free to look around the town before then, see if you can get or find anything useful."

+Support of the Sword Hero+

Predictably, we found very little that was of use in the marketplace.

What's more, when we walked into his inn room, Naofumi was on edge.

"So what did those herbs in particular do to offend you?" Yoyo strode to and sat down in a chair by the window.

"Eh?" Naofumi looked up at the sound of the door. "Nothing in particular. Just got a bone to pick with some certain Heroes."

"Don't assume they were interested in talking." I managed to keep the annoyance out of my voice. "Unless they're hiding in that closet."

"Talk, right." Naofumi set down the pestle and mortar down perhaps harsher than necessary. "I'm pretty sure Motoyasu would've rather run me through on sight."

"You don't have to worry about that. Your defense is so ridiculously high that his spear would probably bounce." I took a seat on the floor next to him . "But that's beside the point. Let's start talking tactics."

"Right, let's review what we're aware of." Yoyo raised a finger. "For one, none of us are aware of where the Wave is going to appear, nor do we know what the mobs are going to look like or what the Wave Boss will be like. We can infer that it'll be close to some sort of civilization given the amount of settlements that exist outside of Melromarc's walls, to say nothing of the other countries that we know very little of."

"All I'm sure of is that the small fry show up in numbers." Deos' gaze was distant and his grip could've bent steel. "I'm talking whole legions of them dropping in a very short time to ruin your entire life no matter where you may be if you're in the Wave's vicinity."

"With that in mind, it would be beneficial if the Wave Boss was beaten as soon as possible." Naofumi rested his hand on his chin. "Now the issue with that is that I basically don't have an ATT stat, and to take anything down, ATT is very much necessary."

"Plus there's the issue of the other two heroes," I muttered, "even if you did show up, I doubt your, or my presence would be approved of by the kingdom at large. Callous though it-"

"Um…" Raphtalia flinched slightly as everyone turned to her. "Why is everyone speaking so disapprovingly of the other heroes? And why did the other heroes treat Naofumi-sama the way they did? Is there something that happened between you guys and the other heroes?"

"...That," I sighed, "is a story for another time."

Wasn't even my story to tell, really, seeing as I was just the guy who stepped in.

"As I was saying," I picked up from where I left off, "callous though it may be to say it, it's probably best, from a practical standpoint, for you and Raphtalia to go after the smaller fish, so to speak."

"...I guess you have a point." Naofumi's gaze went to his shield. "With this damned thing, the only thing I can do is defend Raphtalia as she fights on my behalf. And though she's made leaps and bounds throughout the month, she's nowhere near strong enough to take on a Wave Boss."

"You give the potential of an unbreakable defense too little credit, Naofumi." I rubbed my eyes as I spoke, the words filled with regret. "I'd give up all of this ATT that made me strong in a heartbeat-"

-And Hell rained down on us, a storm of fire and lead tearing away at buildings as the world shook-

"-if I could get the ability to protect all that's around me instead."

The room went quiet. Yoyo looked at me sympathetically, knowing full well what I sacrificed for his freedom.

"...I'm getting off track again." I unfurled a map and laid it on the ground. "This is a map of this country here. I made a note of the major settlements outside of the capital here, and I want to ask that you head to the nearest one when we get teleported. As the Shield Hero, your skill sets are best oriented towards the defense of both yourself and others, making you the most suited to keeping a village's inhabitants unharmed."

"What of the king's-"-he spat "king" as a snake would spit venom-"-army? As much of a sack of sh-trash as he is, I have doubts he wouldn't mobilize forces to defend his kingdom."

"Any army will take time to mobilize." Cerise's dagger was drawn, twirling idly in her hand.

"Time the settlement might not have." Deos finished the thought, eyeing the dagger warily.

Naofumi's eyes flitted to Raphtalia for a brief moment, then met mine once more. "I'll do my best, but I doubt I'll be able to save everyone."

"I won't ask that of you." My gaze was stoic. "Though that would be the best case scenario, it's also the one least likely to occur."

His stare locked on mine for another moment. "...Good."

"While you're doing that," I continued, "Our group's going to be hunting-and subsequently killing-the Wave Boss. To do that," I turned to my party, "we have to move efficiently to find it. When we're on the move, Cerise, I want you to shoot on the move, if it's possible for you."

"I've been doing that since I was ten, it'll be no issue."

"Good. Me and Deos will be at the front to carve a path as the ones with both the highest ATT and DEX stats. Yoyo, I want you to stick with Cerise. Cover for us so we don't get swarmed from the sides, and watch each others' backs as well."

Yoyo nodded without complaint.

"Once we arrive on the scene, we'll have to change up the formation," I continued, "Longer ranged combatant paired with a shorter range combatant. I'll be partnered with Yoyo."

"That sounds like a bad idea." Naofumi, ever the optimist, spoke up as he moved back to his pestle & mortar.

"Agreed." Deos' eye shifted to Cerise's dagger again. "What's your guarantee that she won't stab me in the back? I'm sure she's wondering the same."

"I'll order the two of you not to attack each other if I have to." My tone had frozen over. "I may not like making use of the slave crests but I like the thought of infighting even less. Save me the trouble and learn how to cooperate, because these Waves are a matter of life and death. They will not be so courteous as to let you resolve your tensions with your party members."

"Have you forgotten that she tried to kill you?!" Deos stood, glaring incredulously.

"I remember that she failed." I stood as well, glaring right back. "I remember breathing and walking all of today, and I remember how I still stand here, arguing this point with you. Dwelling on the past does you no good, Deos, if it blinds you from the now. I will say it again, the two of you will either learn to cooperate, or you'll both sit this fight out, rooted to the ground and unable to kill each other. Do I make myself clear?"

Deos glared for a moment more before backing down. It was clear that no matter how much he disliked Cerise for her attempt on my life, he detested the idea of being made useless even more. And the idea that I'd bench him if he failed to cooperate with her, loathe as he was to do so, was enough to make him comply.

"I don't want to force you, either of you, to sit out." With significant effort, I forced my feelings back. "It'd make things far more difficult than it could've been, resulting in it taking longer for the Wave Boss to be defeated, and higher potential casualties. But I will not risk any of us dying because one or more of us couldn't coordinate and cooperate with the others at a critical moment. The kingdom suffered casualties because they had underestimated the Waves, and I refuse for us to suffer the same because two of my party members think that it'll be enough of a cakewalk to leave them time to squabble in the middle of it."

"You keep calling us 'party members'," Cerise drew air quotes as she spoke, "why not call us you slaves? Call it as it is?"

"You want to know why? Alright then." I took off my right gauntlet and brandished the numbers on the back of my fist in her stunned face. "Look upon them," I hissed, "and take a guess as to what caused these scars."

"Those...burn scars," she muttered, brain clearly running on autopilot, "but for scars to be burned in a specific pattern, it has to have been a shape that was heated. Wood doesn't preserve shape when burned so that…shit." Her shocked eyes met my own glare. "Those were numbers. You were branded in the same way a rancher would brand his cattle."

"Made to labour like them too." My smile was hollow. "I know how it feels to have your freedom taken, and that's precisely why I abhor the slave crest system. It's why I was debating whether I should off you or not on the way to the city; I knew that if I were to keep you alive, I'd have to keep you under watch from us, and I considered death the better of those two evils. It's why I will always address people as a person, no matter how much of an asshole they may be."

I put my gauntlet back on with a click. "I don't want to use the seals. If I had it my way, I'd never have to, but the reality of the situation is that no matter my desires, obligations come first, and currently that obligation is our survival as we battle the Wave. So yes, if push comes to shove, I'll use it. I'll feel like an absolute piece of shit afterwards, but I'll do what I must to meet the goals I set for myself. Just as I always have." I stood as I finished my spiel, the indignation being replaced with a bitter exhaustion. "I guess this concludes our little gathering, I'll see you tomorrow, Naofumi."

Without waiting for his reply or anyone to follow, I strode out of the door.

+Support of the Sword Hero+

I sat by a fountain in the town plaza as I watched the timer tick away, pondering about my most recent decisions and words.

Such as why I'd introduced Cerise, who was clearly disapproved of. Subtly by my brother, and not so much by Deos.

Hell, I didn't even like her terribly. She was a bandit, after all, and has no doubt committed dozens of atrocities herself.

So why did I choose to spare her, out of the dozens I'd apprehended and dozens more that I'd killed?

I closed my eyes, and once more-

-resigned to a fate that they had no control over-

I could see the expression on her face as she was tied up. It was an expression of quiet resignation that I'd seen mirrored in my eyes as well as, to a lesser extent, Naofumi's.

The look of a person who's had their innocence stabbed in the jugular and tossed aside like trash.

The look of someone who'd been broken down and trodden on over and over again.

The look of someone who walked forward not with pride, but bitterness and silent despair.

The look that I wanted to ensure would never need to appear again.

"Tsk. Seems like I'm getting sentimental in my old age." I grinned sardonically at the thought. "Next thing I know, my hair's going to start graying."

"One."

I snapped out of my reverie and looked to my brother, standing beside Cerise and Deos, all battle ready.

"You ready for this?"

00:00:00:05

I sighed, and pushed the doubts I had out of my mind. There'd be time to worry about this later.

00:00:00:04

"Yeah, I'm ready."

00:00:00:03

I grinned at them.

00:00:00:02

00:00:00:01

"Let's secure a victory that all of us can be proud of."

"Right!"

00:00:00:00

A/N:

So...Merry Christmas?

This took way too long to be written.

Anyways, meet Cerise, the newest addition to One's motley band due to One's bleeding heart which he didn't know he had.

As you can see, he's not going to let friction between two feuding members persist, he's nipping that problem in the bud as soon as he can.

Whether that'll lead to new problems later will only be told through time.

I had a lot of mixed feelings writing this chapter, lots of scenes I wasn't sure of and character dialogue that I revised over and over again. At this point, I knew I needed a second set of eyes to look over my work.

So say hello to my new beta, the one and only Beater, Kirito Kun!

(It's her Discord handle, not telling you her name for obvious reasons.)

I own nothing except Deos and now Cerise.