I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero

Once again, biggest thanks for Ace-Triad helping me with SPAG edit! Also special thanks to Angel Wraith for reading my rough draft and provide important feedbacks.

I realize I confused a bunch of readers. When Lucius said 'twice' in the last chapter he meant Mikage died twice, not he resurrected twice. It's been fixed.

More author note at the end for people who are interested to see me blabber some more.

Mein crosses her arms right in front of her chest, pressing the Grimoire into her body. The cover of the tome reminds her of the hard leather armor when it was first purchased, almost like an armored plate digging into her chest.

Naofumi stops in front of her and looks back. "Are you okay, Mein? You are breathing a little funny."

"I'm fine, Master Naofumi." Mein stops her feet as well. She unconsciously presses the book into her chest even harder. "I'm just excited to study the tome written by the founder of Wizardry magic."

Naofumi's head tilted sideways at the response. "It's that big of a deal? Not a religious artifact, is it?"

"No, it's not a religious artifact, Sir Shield Hero. Unless you are a magister of Dalaran, or the more fanatical Faubley lord." Éclair shakes her head at Naofumi's strange response. "But it's still a priceless artifact for wizards. I don't practice wizardry, but I know the founder's book isn't something you can buy with money."

Naofumi turns to look at Kyubey, almost like he's seeking confirmation from the former shopkeeper.

"True, according to the rumors I heard." The rabbit demi-human nods his head. "The first Wand Hero lay down the foundation for all things magical - at least for the human nations."

Naofumi nods his head along as his eyes wander around for a moment. The young man turns his head up and asks a seemingly unrelated question. "The slave seals... they don't have anything to do with this founder, did they?"

"Not directly." The Seatto heiress shakes her head for a moment. "But slave seals are used on men, and monsters are developed from the magical familiar rune seal the founder of Wizardry created."

It seems like the knight manages to squeeze some history lesson into her education, despite long hours of physical training. As to be expected from a Melromarc heiress, honestly.

Naofumi silently stares at Éclair's iron pot helmet long enough to make the stoic knight look away. He shakes his head and resumes walking. "I don't know what I expected..."

It seems like meeting the lord of House Malfoy, and possibly learning more information about the most infamous Shield Hero in history did something to Naofumi's mind. He is acting even stranger than his usual otherworldliness.

The young man hasn't made another two steps before he stops again. Naofumi turns back to look at Mein, making the undercover princess freeze on the spot, wondering if she made some mistake. "Be very careful examining the book, Mein. My language can't read over them yet, or else I'd do it. I don't know if the content has been changed."

"You don't trust Lord Malfoy, Master Naofumi?" Naofumi's reaction makes Mein lets out the breath she's been holding in her chest since meeting Lord Malfoy.

The Shield Hero's apparent distrust of House Malfoy means there's very little chance the ancient Faubley noble house can swing him away. Perhaps she should have already expected this from her Naofumi, but expecting something and confirming something are very different.

If her Naofumi can't even be bought by the wealthy Malfoy family, there's little chance anyone else can take his allegiance away.

"Not as far as I can throw him."

Chapter 28: The Price of Justice

Mein's stomach starts to growl, her legs are tired and her feet feel sore. It's been a while since she feels this way after joining Naofumi's party. The princess in disguise takes some comfort in seeing the village in the distance, behind the slowly parting trees. Her feet pick up steps, ready to go back to their temporary base, have a short rest and enjoy some food.

That's when Farkas suddenly jumps in front of everyone, blocking their path. Mein wants to screech at the former slave for stepping out of his line, but stops when she looks closer at the Greyback clan warrior. The fur on his back stands on end, making the werewolf look larger than his usual bulky self. His head quickly turns around towards the direction of the sleepy little village, nose sniffing loudly.

Mein quickly turns to look at Kyubey. The rabbit demi-human has his eyes closed, long ears extending out all the way up to the top.

"Something isn't right, Master Shield Hero. There's no cooking smoke rising up from Lute." Kyubey holds up his good arm, right hand resting right besides his long ear. "The village is too quiet. No sound of villagers speaking, no sound of rebuilding their home."

"Bandits, looters, or slave hunters?" Naofumi starts taking out purple colored potions out of his shield and passing them around even as he asks for others' opinions.

Mein immediately pops open the wooden stopper and downs half a vial, feeling the tiredness in her muscles and bones disappear even if her feet are still sore. This rejuvenation potion Naofumi learned from the apothecary's recipe book is certainly effective.

"Not likely, Sir Shield Hero. We are too close to the capital." Éclair simply slid the vial into her pocket, likely choosing to save it for a pinch rather than down it from the start. "The king is... biased towards beastman and demi-human after what happened back in the Great War, but he's not a cruel tyrant. He does care for his subjects."

Naofumi turns to look at the knight with his eyebrows raised into his hairline, obviously surprised she would speak well for the king after being imprisoned. "What happened in the Great War?"

"He lost his-"

"Eyes on the prey, not on the horizon." Farkas hisses at the chatting hero and knight, his head bent low, almost touching the ground. "No smoke rising up, no smell of burnt wood or fresh draw blood. It's not a bandit raid."

"Right. Stay behind us, Raphtalia, Firo. Run for the capital if things get nasty." Naofumi nods his head and takes out his shield. He walks carefully in the front with Farkas and Éclair. Mein quickly falls into steps with Kyubey, standing a little distance away from their first line and brings up their two flanks.

Mein's heart pounds on her chest on this short walk back to Lute. Different thoughts fleshes past her recognition, thinking all kinds of possible fate befall this quaint village. The trees and leaves part way to manmade wooden structures, and from the distance they see people in white robes, or armor with golden crosses, brandishing their weapons while the villagers of Lute are bound and forced to kneel at their feet.

"Three Heroes' Church goons?" The young hero obviously forgot what Mein told him back when they first arrived at Lute, going for the more obvious guess.

"No, Sir Shield Hero. They are wearing robes and armor of the Four Heroes' Church." Éclairs nudges her chin forward. "See the golden cross on their chest, not the triangle? That's the holy icon of the Four, not the trinity of the Three."

"Right, Mein mentioned something like that before." Naofumi gives the Seatto heiress a quick nod as he picks up his pace. He still keeps his shield up as they approach the village gate.

Amongst the gathered Four Heroes faithful, Mein notices a short man walking with a slight hunch. A stone like mask, covering his head with the hood of his robe. The white mask's two large eyeholes, prominent nose bridge, and two snubs on top resemble the face of an owl beastman. He is holding a ceremonial sword in one hand, and a book in the other as he appears to be preaching towards the bounded Lute villagers.

"Poor ungodly souls... Now, no man shall ever worship a false idol. Should you be redeemed... if it's even possible to gain our lord's forgiveness... one day, perhaps you will make atonement for what you've done." The man's voice betrays his advanced age, yet it carries his steadfast resolve. He doesn't seem to realize the Shield Hero's party approaching, as he continues his chant even as his cohorts get into a fighting stance with swords and spears, arrows trained onto the approaching party.

"It can't be." Éclair sucks in a mouthful of cold breath. Mein turns to look at the dishonored heiress, wondering if she recognizes the old fanatic.

"What's wrong?" Naofumi obviously shares the same question as the princess, he asks the knight even if he dares not to look away from the Four Heroes' faithful.

"That mask, it has to be the Four Heroes' Church High Inquisitor Lord Emon." Éclair looks at Naofumi for one brief second before turning back to regard the church members. "He's known as 'Emon the Fair' by people, I grew up listening to his stories."

Idolizing him went unsaid.

The undercover princess tries to search her memory for this supposed famous figure in the Faith of Four. She remembers it comes up once or twice in her studies regarding theocracy. But most of her required reading is about the Faith of Three, so she barely paid any attention to the Faith of Four.

"He doesn't look very fair to me. Unless it means he's beautiful underneath the mask." Mein can practically taste the displeasure in Naofumi's voice.

"No, he got the name for..."

Éclair is about to continue, but the old man finally deems it worth his time to acknowledge the presence of the approaching Shield Hero. He turns around, and looks straight at Naofumi. "So, the false idol arrives after all. And good people suffered because of you."

"Don't bullshit me, you, you fanatical nutcase!" Naofumi's body is shaking as he points his finger at the fanatics. "Is this all you fucking cultists do? Harming good people, and using summoned heroes as your scapegoats, while a disaster like the Wave is STILL going on!?"

"So the false idol pretends to not even know his own sin. Is this how you managed to enthrall all these innocent people? It matters not, for your sin has already been revealed to another hero." Lord Emon shakes his head as his back straightens, he holds his sword up as the light of the high noon shines upon it.

Slowly, the sword gathers light and it begins to glow like the sun has been pulled down onto the earth. A magical artifact forged by another piece of legendary weapon?

"The Bow Hero has spoken. Shield Hero, you are guilty of committing the highest taboo of this world. Using the Imperius Slave Seal."

"WHAT!" Mein shouts in unison with Éclair at the accusation.

That rat bastard!

To think Mein wanted to throw in her support behind him for a second! With all the young boy's pontification and posturing of justice, she didn't take the Bow Hero to be a venomous snake hidden in the tall grass - striking out with a lethal bite with his poisonous fang when one least expects it.

"This slavery bullshit again!?" Naofumi's eyelid slides down, his teeth gritting together like an angry predator. "All of you are the same! Prosecuting me of a decision I made when I didn't know better! For a 'crime' you yourselves committed! Have you thought maybe it's you closed- minded assholes that's the problem! Not the summoned heroes!"

Éclair's head whips around to sharply look at the Shield Hero.

Mein realizes Naofumi does not really understand what's going on. In his fury, he's making himself look guilty of a crime he didn't commit. She quickly pulls at Naofumi's shoulder, trying to explain the situation. "Master Naofumi! Lord Emon isn't talking about regular slave seals! The Imperius Seal, it's an evil ritual created by the King of Rape that can even enslave a Legendary Hero! Researching, let alone using it is considered the highest taboo in our world!"

"What! That's what Kawasumi accused me of?" Naofumi turns to look at Mein, his eyes wide with shock. He turns to look at the beastman and demi-human in his party. "Is it true?"

Kyubey simply nods his head. Farkas snorts at the question, his maw splitting sideways in distaste. "It was before my time, but yes. The tale passed down in Greyback clan so goes Mikage the Conqueror earned his title not for he destroyed the nation of Q'ten Lo, the so called 'the nation that cannot be invaded'. But after he conquered death, invented the Imperius Seal and used it to enslave the Sword Hero. A feat no other hero ever achieved."

Mein quickly dashes in front of Naofumi and holds her hands up towards the Four Heroes Church fanatics. "There must be some horrible misunderstanding here! I was Master Naofumi's companion since the second day of his arrival, and he hasn't even heard of the Imperius Seal till now! Please, release the villagers and give us a chance to prove our innocence!"

"What is there left to prove? Slavery is the evil deed most foul, and no true hero willingly engages in it." Emon holds his hand up, a church knight in full armor pulls one of the villagers forward and tosses him onto the cobblestone road.

Mein vaguely remembers the unremarkable man. He was the one who sent his wife and newborn son away to the capital shortly before the Wave.

"The Chief God is wrathful, yet merciful. Especially to those who are willing to repent." The fanatical lord turns to look at the man by his feet. "Denounce this fake hero, and beg for his forgiveness."

"The Chief God's forgiveness, or yours?" Hob spits some blood onto the road even as a sword pressed against his neck. He scoffs at the old inquisitor. "Master Shield Hero defended us in the wave, while you white-robed balloon bellies were nowhere to be found. You are the fake ones! Rot in hell! Fau-pigs!"

The knight slides the sword across the man's neck. He falls onto the road, gurgling out his last breath as red blood dyes the road.

"HOB! NO!" Naofumi runs forward, luckily Éclair is able to hold him back. "You! YOU MONSTER! He has a wife and a newborn son!"

"Shame, may the Chief God cherish his soul even if he refuses to repent." A second knight brings forward a boy with blonde hair. To Mein's dismay, she actually remembered the boy's name unlike the man from before.

"RAKI!" Raphtalia charges over Mein like a flash of lightning. The sound of a dozen string releases accompany arrows cutting through the air. All of them aimed at the little raccoon girl.

"[AIR STRIKE SHIELD]!" Luckily, the Shield Hero manages to react even as the Seatto heiress' arm is still holding him back. The green ethereal energy shield blocks all the arrows away, as Mein manages to catch up to Raphtalia.

"You can't do anything for him, Raphtalia! Stay behind us!" Mein half pulls, and half drags the crazed demi-human girl from an additional casualty together with her admirer.

"Your whole life is still ahead of you, boy. Do you repent and renounce this fake hero?" The old inquisitor moves his hand, almost affectionately across the boy's messy hair like a kind grandfather. Yet his words are stern. "Don't waste your life."

"My ancestors, and big brother will frown on me if I betray the Shield Hero." Raki slowly turns his head up in defiance, spitting on the inquisitor's robe. "Rot in hell, Fau-pig!"

A loud howl echoes over Lute Village. The sword on Raki's neck drops onto the cobblestone road, as the knight stumbles backward. Nursing his sword hand, pierced by a slowly dissolving arrow of light.

Mein turns her head around so fast, she almost strained her own neck. Out of the foliage of the King's Forest emerges another hero. Draped in a green cloak much lighter than Naofumi's dark emerald, the color reminds of Mein the color of the sewer she crawled through in the first week on her way to meet Raphtalia.

"What's the meaning of this!?" The Bow Hero strolls into the village in all his evangelical glory. Either completely unaware he's the one who kickstarted this whole mess, or he's a better actor than Mein gave him credit for. The boy turns to look at the old inquisitor with a deep frown. "I thought you are a holy man! Why are you killing the innocent!?"

"I am merely delivering justice to those misguided souls, Sir Bow Hero." The Bow Hero's eyes widen, obviously not expecting to get a taste of his own medicine.

"YOU! This is all YOUR fault!" Naofumi points his finger at the dumbfounded Bow Hero. "You told this fanatical old ass I was using some imp... imp... impish slave seal! Now someone's dead because of you!"

"I, I didn't mean to let someone innocent get killed." The Bow Hero looks down at the man lying in his own blood. His hand holding the legendary bow trembling at the sight. Almost as if he himself never instigated a revolt that overthrew the kingdom of Stormwind.

"How dare you accuse the Bow Hero, when you are the one to blame! Shield Hero." The pig-like knight in the Bow Hero's party howls at Naofumi. "This wouldn't have happened, if you didn't use slavery!"

The Armure knight's response shakes the bow wielding boy out of his stupor, as he recovers some of his old pontificating glory. "Yeah! Don't blame everyone else for something you did! You DID use a slave seal!"

"This isn't about regular slavery, you stupid boy!" Mein screams right back at the Bow Hero. "You accused Master Naofumi of using our most foul taboo, the Imperius Slave Seal! It's the evil ritual used by the King of Rape to destroy the last Sword Hero's mind and enslaved him!"

"WHAT!" The Bow Hero seems to jump on his heel at this sudden revelation. He whips around to look at his companions. "Is it true!? Why didn't anyone of you correct me!?"

The mage and the girl at least have the decency to turn their head away, while the knight simply grumbled at the accusation. "Well, the King of Rape started on regular slavery too."

The boy turns to look at the braided Rishia, a look of horrified realization on his slowly darkening face. "Rishia. You were trying to warn me, before Mald stopped and silenced you."

The girl turns to glimpse at the pig-like knight first, before she squeezes her eyes shut and slowly but surely gives a curt nod.

The Bow Hero stumbles back just like the Four Heroes Church knight whose hand he shot through with an arrow. The boy holds onto the side of his head with his free hand. Rishia quickly rushes forward to hold onto him. "He was right... Kitamura was right."

"Well! Don't just stand there, Kawasumi!" Naofumi shouts at the Bow Hero again. "Do something! Fix your mistake before someone else dies!"

"Right, right." The boy manages to stand still with some help from Rishia. He walks forward and calls out to the Faubley inquisitor. "Lord Emon, I made a terrible mistake because I didn't know better! Iwatani never used this imp... this hero enslaving seal."

One can't tell the old inquisitor's face behind the mask, but his head turns a little at the discovery. "So, it was a mistake? Well, even the best of us would make them. Yet, you were adamant at confirming the sin committed by the Shield Hero."

"Well, Iwatani did own slaves at the start." The Bow Hero turns to look at Naofumi for a second. "But he released them all after the Wave celebration! And he treated his slaves well. The little girl wanted to remain his slave, but he went ahead and freed her anyway."

"I see." Lord Emon nods behind his owl like mask, his cohort all look at him as the high inquisitor remains silent. "Did you know, the last Shield Hero Mikage Mikami, the one came to be known as the King of Rape had a slave as his first companion?"

Mein blinks her eyes at this bit of information. Just like the reading material about the Four Heroes' Church, she simply skipped over most texts on the last Shield Hero in classes, preferring her romanticized heroes in novels rather than the real one in history books.

Although the princess in disguise doesn't really know where the Faubley inquisitor is going with this.

"The Sword Saint Isshin Q'ten Lo, true heir to the Q'ten Lo throne lost his daughter in his exile. This girl was enslaved, and bought by Mikage Mikami. She was treated so well by her master. But the same man who never mistreated a defenseless girl eventually goes onto enslaving an entire nation, and even a fellow Cardinal Hero."

Mein's eyes widen underneath her hood, realizing Lord Emon isn't going to back down.

Mein remembers why Lord Emon was mentioned in her study material now. He was a polarizing figure in the Faubley chapter of Four Heroes' Church, hated by high society but beloved by common people. All for his staunch anti-slavery stance, rejecting slavery even as a form of punishment towards criminals.

Of course, this self-righteous old ass has to be the one who the Four Heroes' Church sent to investigate her Naofumi.

"Evil starts small, rather than world shattering. But it is an unstoppable force, fated to wash over those in its path. That is why justice must become an immovable rock in its way, with no compromise." The old man raises his sword over the head, it glows brilliantly making everyone close or shield their eyes. "Slavery is an evil system that should be abolished in our world! I spent my whole life, hunting down slavers and manhunters. I will not excuse such action because it was committed by a summoned hero! Faithful of the Chief God! Punish the fake hero, and save our savior before he's led astray by the false idol!"

Everything seems to be a field of white even as Mein closed her eyes. She can only hear the loud war cry of the fanatics. The princess turned adventurer's hands became moist as she slowly gathered her magic into her hand, ready to toss out torrent of hot flame towards the Four Heroes Church members, but hesitate to do so when she knows the Lute villagers are right by them.

"[Inner Eye Random Arrow]." The voice of the bow wielding boy somehow seems to cover over the battle cry. Cheers of victory quickly turn into howls of pain, accompanied by the sound of weapons dropping onto the ground.

The undercover princess slowly opens her eyes when she feels the light dim. The blur in her sight slowly disappears. Lord Emon is holding his pierced hand just like his knights and priest around him, the ancient looking sword fallen beside his feet.

Raki seems to be the first one who recovers from Bow Hero's sudden attack. Despite his arms bound behind his back, he manages to slide on the cobblestone road, kicking the sword away from Lord Emon's reach.

"Insolent boy! Punish those heretics, and judge the fake hero!" The high inquisitor hisses at the Lute boy as his good hand opens up towards the heavens. A sphere of orange light starts to form in his palm as it rises up, and bursts into [Bountiful Sunlight] shining upon the Four Heroes Church fanatics. Their wounded hands start healing right before Mein's eyes.

Of course, the high inquisitor is also a seasoned practitioner of Miracles.

"No you don't!" Mein tosses the magic she's been gathering in her hand at Lord Emon as white lightning gathers in his hands. Not any particular fire spell, but she's gotten quite good at random casting since her adventure with Naofumi.

The fire in her hand slices through the air like a shooting star at the Faubley inquisitor. Forcing him to dispel the lightning in his hand and holds up a [Magical Barrier] in the shape of a ripple of white light. Mein's hasty gathered fire distinguishes upon hitting Emon's defense, but she brought enough time for the others to realize a battle has broke out in the middle of Lute village.

"Kyubey, Farkas, Écla-, ea! We have to save the villagers!" Naofumi charges forward with his shield right in front of his arm. The two former slaves immediately join him, Seatto heiress one step behind after her initial hesitation.

"Run, Raphtalia!" The princess turned adventurer quickly tosses away her sword's scabbard.

The Four Heroes' Church knights and clerics have them outnumbered well over ten to one even if she counts Raphtalia and the useless bird. There is no way Naofumi can stop all of them from reaching the two of them.

"NO!" Raphtalia quickly pulls her dagger out of its sheath. "I won't run again!"

Okay, that's very brave, kid. But this is no time to act foolhardy!

Mein doesn't have any time to shout what she's thinking to the raccoon girl. As she's busy tossing one fireball after another at the advancing knights. They explode harmlessly on their great shield after they are fortified by [Magic Barrier] casted by their cleric companions, but at least it slows them down a little.

An arrow suddenly finds itself onto the shoulder of one said cleric, knocking him onto the dirt with its force. Mein doesn't need to turn her head to realize the Bow Hero has joined the Shield Hero's side.

"What are you waiting for! Mald, Welst, Lesty! We have to help!" The Bow Hero walks forward to stand besides Mein, as he fires one arrow after another. Aiming for the shoulders or knees of the advancing knights and clerics.

The Bow Hero is somehow still hesitating at taking away human lives, even after his idiotic revolt. Perhaps it's because Lord Emon's disposition reminds the boy of himself? The tactic at wounding the Four Heroes' Church fanatics to stop them isn't working, as the clerics quickly heals the knights or themselves back to full, and re-enters battle.

"Do you really want us to fight Faubley inquisitors, Master Bow Hero? They are the authorities in deciding who are real heroes and who are fake pretenders." Predictably, the disgraceful Melromarc knight tries to worm his way out of this battle.

"Fight, or get out of my party! JUST. DO. IT!" The Bow Hero is no longer tolerating Mald's cowardice, he quickly turns his head to glare at the Armure before turning back to continue his futile attack on the advancing knights.

"An Armure fighting alongside the Shield Hero. What has the world come to?" The knight mumbles under his breath, but he finally begins to charge forward when Naofumi is already fighting the Four Heroes' Church knight at the halfway point.

Naofumi flips his cloak open, letting the orange abominations out from his back. The knights scream as they begin chewing their legs, their teeth apparently sharp enough to pierce right through their armor.

"[Shield Bash]!" The stone slab on Naofumi's arm he calls a shield meets the weapons and armors of the fanatics, knocking them right off their feet and create opening for Kyubey's rapier and his balloons' teeth.

Farkas on the other hand simply rams into the shields of the Four Heroes Church knights with his shoulders and head like a great beast, making them crumble down like a wall made of loose sand.

It's hard to remember the crippled werewolf is someone who already had his first class-up, and well into the prestige level range of 41-100.

"Stand fast, my faithful!" The old inquisitor recovers his sword amid the chaos. He holds the sword up high over his hand again, making the incognito princess wonders if he'll use his light trick again. But Lord Emon brings the sword down, a wave of light energy shoots out of the blade and flies straight at Naofumi.

"[Air Strike Shield]!" Naofumi pushes Kyubey away with his left hand as he quickly erect his energy shield in front of him.

The energy blade meets an ethereal shield in the middle. With a loud boom the attack shatters Naofumi's energy barrier and slams right into his shield. The Shield Hero flies back with a loud yell of pain, crumbling onto his back and continues to slide another good ten paces.

Naofumi doesn't immediately get back up. He holds his right shoulder with his free hand, writhing on the ground while groaning with pain.

That sword attack... it's like a high level [Sonic Cut] used by Sword Master near the pinnacle of their prestige range. If it can do this to the Shield Hero, nobody on their side can stand one-hit.

"Shot the old ass, don't let him use that attack again!" Mein quickly punches the Bow Hero's shoulder. She quickly runs towards her downed hero with their screeching bird. She can't let Emon's knights get to her Naofumi first!

From the corner of her sight, she realizes with horror that Raphtalia is running right at the small group of knights. "No! Come back, Raphtalia!"

The demi-human child charges head first towards the group of knights. She leaps into a roll right through their swords, smashing a bunch of bottles around their feet in the process. The knights stops for a second, likely unsure what the girl did.

And then, they start to scream. One of them even throws his helmet away. "It stinks!"

The wind carries the stench over to Mein's nose, making her realize those are spoiled yoke from the Egg-ups they've been killing on the field on their way to Harvest Valley. Naofumi has been trying to create that thing he calls 'Sham-poo' after the initial incident with Raphtalia, it seems like Raphtalia is saving up those failed attempts and now she's using them like stink bomb.

The princess does not envy those knights. The stink must be much more unbearable inside their musky helmet.

Mein does not have any time to sympathize with the knights smoked by Raphtalia. She quickly runs to Naofumi, pops open the stopper of her saved up rejuvenation potion. The princess hold the Shield Hero up, and helps him down the potion as Raphtalia runs to them.

"Stay with Master Naofumi!" Mein gives Raphtalia a quick pat on the shoulder as she jumps up, ready to face the group of knights coming at them.

She gathers her magic in her hands again, and tosses them out with her left like she's swinging a whip. The trail of fire catches the young man without a helmet right on his face. He howls for a brief moment before crumbling on the ground.

The second one goes for an overhead swing, his body swinging together with his sword as if drunk. Likely still dazed by Raphtalia's stink bomb. Mein can easily gives him a push with her own sword, and drop him onto the side if this is a duel.

But this isn't a duel and there are three more knights behind him. This one can easily get pass her and attack Naofumi and Raphtalia if she simply tosses him to the side. So the princess brings her sword right up, meeting the knight's sword right in the middle.

At least that's probably what her opponent expects, until her sword slices right through his blade and his armor.

While the princess already threw away her fire magic in her left hand, she channeled the fire in her right hand right into her sword. Not a proper [Fire Aura] enchantment considering her long sword hasn't turned into a rainbow fire sword, but it heated up her blade making it slice right through her opponent's weapon and armor.

Mein takes advantage of the third knight's moment of shock at how easily she dispatched his two companions. She twists her wrist, turning her sword from a swing into a stab right through the third man's throat. The man gurgles as she kicks him back into the fourth knight, making them both rolling onto the dirt.

The last knight comes at her shield first. Either he finally manages to recover from the daze caused by the stink bomb, or he is taking Mein seriously after the first four.

Mein gathers fire and starts to spray it at his shield, the white ripple like [Magic Barrier] absorbs most of her attack. The knight swings at her with his shield, forcing her moving back. His sword follows up trying to remove one of her arms from her shoulder.

The princess turned adventurer tries to parry the knight's sword away. Her sword exploded in her hands like splinters, the magical fire and repeated clashing against other metal finally being too much for the castle forged steel.

Mein tosses her broken sword into the face of the knight with a loud yell, knocking him stumbling for a step. Enough opening to throw the fireball in her left hand into the knight's head right after, cooking him inside of his armor.

The princess crumbles onto her knees. She fights back the urge to puke at the smell, and her EXP bar climbing up enough to give her another level up.

Mein feels like a shadow suddenly befall her, so she looks up. Belatedly, she realizes she never killed the fourth knight after he falls onto the ground as her would-be executioner raises his sword.

A second shadow seems to jump right over her back, as Raphtalia and Firo jump up at the knight's face, lunging with her dagger at the man's visor. Time seems to slow down, as Mein clearly sees Raphtalia's dagger slowly moving towards the tiny opening for the eyes.

The tip of the blade hit right onto the steel plate of the knight's helmet. The tiny visor is too small for an untrained child to hit in a leap attack. The fanatic wobbles back as a noticeable dent if left on his faceplate, but not enough to hurt him.

The Shield Hero leaps right over Mein, and tackles the last knight onto the ground. Both of them crumble into a small pile of limbs.

The undercover princess quickly scrambles to pick up a sword left by the now dead Four Heroes' Church knights. She crawls back up and removes the last fanatic's head from his shoulder.

Mein takes a deep breath trying to clear her head. A mistake, as the smell of the blood finally makes her throw up the content in her stomach. She turns around, and sees the Shield Hero cradling a trembling Raphtalia. Firo squeezing into his embrace. "You did well, Raphtalia. Stay back with Firo now, we... haven't finished yet."

Raphtalia looks up from Naofumi's arms at Mein. Her eyes distant and hollow, reminding the incognito princess of what she looked like after her outburst inside Beloukas' tent. But instead of bursting out crying, she simply nods her head back at Mein.

Mein looks at the Shield Hero next. His shoulders are shaking, just like after their encounter with the slum squatters. She tries to ask for his wellbeing. "Master Naofumi-"

"We can't let them kill anyone else from Lute." The Shield Hero releases the demi-human girl, letting Raphtalia and Firo run back to the Bow Hero and his Mage. Naofumi stands back up and wordlessly runs into the battle again.

Mein follows right after him.

Despite Mald's earlier protest, he seems to be in a contest with Farkas to see who can kill more fanatics from the Four Heroes Church. The two of them charge back and forth into their ranks, cutting down men after men like a farmer harvesting their produce.

The spell casters in the Bow Hero's party doesn't share his aversion at killing their fellow man either, as their magic ends the lives of knights and clerics whenever their [Magical Barrier] falls down.

The Bow Hero himself on the other hand is busy pelting Lord Emon down with his nonstop arrows. The high inquisitor only manages to stay safe behind one of the great shield he picked up. "Stop this nonsense and surrender with your men! Lord Emon! You can't win!"

"Evil is already too strong for justice to prevail. But even facing the Wave of Catastrophe, I will never compromise." The inquisitor seems to finally realize he can't turn around this losing battle. He holds the sword up, letting it absorb the ray of sunlight, ready to go out in a blaze of glory instead of surrendering.

But he doesn't aim his attack towards either the Shield Hero, or the Bow Hero. The Faubley lord turns around to face the still bounded common folks of Lute village. "Better those people die by my hands and face the Chief God, than letting them lead astray by the fake hero."

"NO! You won't kill any more innocent people today!" Naofumi picks up his speed and charges ahead like a raging monster. The Shield Hero bashes away two of Emon's knight, tackles the elderly inquisitor.

The two of them roll on the dirt, trying to overpower each other. They finally lands with Naofumi pinning the much older man onto the ground. But the Inquisitor still has a clear line of sight at the Lute villagers.

Naofumi's arms pull at Emon's neck, and the Faubley Inquisitor's arm holds his magical sword. Trying to hold him back from shooting the beam attack from his sword at the bounded Lute villagers. With his dismal ATK rating, that's all the Shield Hero can do to not let Emon kill any more innocent people on this day.

Mein tries to catch up to Naofumi and the Faubley Inquisitor, putting the tip of her sword through his skull. But she suddenly feels her body tense up as something hits her on the side. It feels different than being burnt by her fire when she first starts to learn magic, or the fang of the wavehound. The world seems to wave in and out of darkness. Her body locks up and trembles at the same time.

As the princess drifts in and out of her consciousness, she sees Éclair approaches her. It's hard to make sense of anything, as the world seems to become a series of paintings with her constantly blacks out. The Seatto heiress holds Mein up, and pours her share of the purple rejuvenation potion down the princess' throat.

The world finally starts to move forward normally as the potion start to come into effect. Mein tries to roll away from the Seatto heiress, but another wave of dizziness assaults her while her legs start to spasm beyond her control.

"Don't move! You got hit by a [Lightning Spear]." Éclair quickly holds Mein down. "Moving make it worse."

Mein wants to tell the female knight to drop her, and go help Naofumi save the Lute villagers. But her throat and lips aren't following her commands either. She manages to squeeze a broken message out. "Emon... kill... villager..."

Éclair's face turned ashen, she quickly looked up towards the distance. Mein manages to turn her head enough to follow Éclair's sight.

Naofumi is doing his best to bend Emon's head and arm back, away from the defenseless Lute villagers. But his magical sword seems to already be charged as it's glowing pure white light once again.

Éclair drops Mein on the ground and leaps up, obviously trying to reach Emon before he has the chance to kill the villagers. But it's clear she won't make it on time.

With a loud bang, the Faubley Inquisitor's arm suddenly goes limp. His sword drops down from his hand onto the ground, the blade burying itself into the dirt.

Did Naofumi somehow snap the old man's neck? His lack of ATK shouldn't allow him to do it... but maybe pulling someone's head back uses one's DEF rating like counter and submission moves? [Status Magic] has always been a very finicky master, even to the arcane researchers who dedicate their life understanding it.

Éclair slowly turns around and slowly crouches back down to look at Mein. The princess in disguise failed to tell what she's thinking with the helmet hiding her face. But the slow movement conveys the sense of apology, likely from dropping Mein onto the ground. "Sorry."

"I'll live." The incognito princess mumbles under her breath through another wave of dizziness, making Éclair recoils back. Mein slowly rises her hand up at the knight. "Take me to Master Naofumi."

The Seatto heiress quickly drapes one of Mein's arm over her shoulder, helping the undercover princess stands up as they walks to the Shield Hero. Who is slowly standing up from Lord Emon's corpse.

Raphtalia and Firo overtakes the two of Éclair and Mein. The demi-human child and bird jumps into Naofumi's embrace as he slowly turns around to face them.

Mein wonders if the Shield Hero is traumatized for taking away the life of a fellow man for the first time. Feeling slowly returns back to her body, the princess slowly pulls away from the Seatto heiress. She stumbles her way towards the Shield Hero. Éclair on the other hand runs to the villagers and begins cutting the rope around their arms with her sword.

That's when Mein realizes her Naofumi isn't the one who delivered the final blow to the Faubley Inquisitor.

An arrow of white light is slowly dissolving under the light of noon, blood and who knows whatever else is slowly dripping down from the back of the inquisitor's head. The owl like mask has fallen off, revealing an aged face decorated by aged lines. His eyes open but unseeing, staring into the blue sky. As if asking why the Bow Hero, embodiment of justice would forsake the virtue taught by generations of his predecessors.

Naofumi's arms squeeze around Raphtalia and Firo, but he is looking at the only casualty of Lute Village. The man who sent away his wife and newborn child shortly before the Wave.

He'll never be able to hold his son, and wife again.

"Can't keep my promise..." The Shield Hero's head slowly rises up and sees Mein approaching. He quickly takes a few steps, extending his hand out to the Princess in disguise, helping steady her steps and pulling her into an embrace. "It's over."

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

A beastly howl makes both everyone turn their head. Far away from the stage of carnage, the Bow Hero is on his knees while letting out scream till his voice turned hoarse.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH~"

Omake: Reminiscent of the Shattered Shield

The snake headed cane clicks rhythmically on granite tiles as Duke Lucius Abraxas Malfoy follows the guard through the Melromarc castle. The Faubley lord's eyes wonder around on the floor and walls, noticing little cracks in the brick, holes in the feet of statues or scratch marks on the floor.

To the untrained eye, those little flaws are nothing more than simple wear and tear through the ages. But Lord Malfoy knows the castle palace of Melromarc is little over two decades old. Built from the ground up after the Siltvelt army tore the old one down together with its last ruler Queen Lianne.

Those are marks, and actual triggers to activate traps built into the home of House Melromarc. A true fortress used to defend against a besieging army.

The guards stop in front of the large wooden door. "Your grace, Duke Lucius Abraxas Malfoy has arrived."

"Let him through."

The guards push the door open and quickly move to stand beside the door, assuming a guard position. Lord Malfoy pays the rabble no attention as he moves through the door. A room with bookshelves lining around the walls, some magical apparatus as decoration, and a purple iron wood reading desk where the king sits. "Your Grace."

"Lord Malfoy." King Aultcray stands up to nod at Lucius, he looks at a chair across his desk, "You been busy."

Lucius slowly walks to the chair indicated for him, and slowly sits down before responding. "Surely, your grace doesn't expect me to give an invaluable gift to three of the four Cardinal Heroes, but not the one I share the same order with."

"Once a shield, always a shield. Having you as my ally, and not the Shield Hero is too much to hope for." The king sits back down, the bitterness in his voice betrays his distaste.

"Do excuse my impudence, your grace. But I expected better of you." Lucius fights against the urge to shake his head like an uneducated brute. It's hard to imagine this man was the same one his late Lord father spoke highly of. "You should know better than to antagonize the Shield Hero. With all due respect, you are already walking on thin ice with the other rulers, after your little stunt of summoning all four heroes behind everyone's back. Your wife and daughter have all been placed under house arrest in Cal Mira island. Do you want to give those Siltvelt animals more excuse to have them both executed?"

"I know Egbert better than him giving into the demand of animals. He won't execute his dear 'cousin Millie' no matter how loud those beasts bark at him." The regent king's teeth seem to grind together as he recites the name of his brother. "That's about the only good thing I can say about the old pig."

"Perhaps." Lucius inclines his head in agreement. "But if you continue on your current path, even the king of Faubley will give into the demands of other countries to make an example of your wife and daughter. If for no other reason than to send a clear message to any future covenant breakers like you."

"Do you presume to threaten me, right in my home?" The king turns to glare at the Malfoy lord. He does not need to shoot lightning from his eyes to convey his wrath.

"On the contrary, your grace. I am on your side. I am simply explaining what would happen if you continue on the path you are traveling." Lucius rest both his hands on the cane, shaking his head this time. "What happened to you, my wayward prince? Surely, this isn't the same man my lord father wanted to put on the Faubley throne instead of prince Egbert. Did your hatred towards the Siltvelt beast truly made you blind and deaf of the danger you yourself caused your nation and your family?"

"Egbert can have that husk of junk." King Aultcray turns his back to Lucius as he looks out of the window. It's probably not coincident the direction happens to point towards the smog filled city he left behind. "As for my family, I'm doing everything to protect them. I will not have another Shield Demon rise on my watch."

"How ironic. You yourself was placed in the Order of the Shield when you attended the Hero Academy. Yet now, you became the most fanatical prosecutor of our hero."

Lucius closes his eyes, thinking back on his time in the Hero Academy. How his shield brothers and sisters have to constantly keep an eye open behind his back to avoid the harassment from the Order of Sword. Who tries to 'avenge their hero' by taking their anger upon the Shield Order members, who had nothing to do with the last Sword Hero's enslavement.

"Shields united against the world. Does it hold no meaning anymore?"

"Would you still feel the same way, if it's your wife and child murdered by creatures empowered by the Shield Demon, right in front of your eyes?" The regent king turns sharply and glares at Lucius again.

The Malfoy lord can't help but wonder about the question. What if instead of saving their families, the lord enslaved them instead? The scenario is almost too horrifying to imagine. "I concede. You have my condolence. Your grace, but..."

That's when the door is smashed upon by a guard. Both the king and Faubley lord turn to look at the intruders, almost expecting him to have a weapon sticking out of his back. What can make a guard disregard their life to interrupt the meeting of the regent king of Melromarc and Faubley ambassador?

"Your grace... The Shield Hero... just killed, killed High Inquisitor Lord Emon."

End Note:

This chapter kicks off what I refer to as 'hero crossover event'. Basically a self-contained mini-arc where Naofumi interact with one of the other heroes. And since Itsuki already destabilized Stormwind, I repurposed the mini-arc from Reprisal where some Four Heroes Church fanatic taken a town hostage and tried to kill Naofumi and Motoyasu.

There's some confusion about how the enhancement method Naofumi unlocked in Interlude 5 works, since this story is mostly told from Malty's POV instead of spending a lot of time to establish the mechanics (because I want to focus on story element and not on RPG mechanics). For shield form he unlocked through material rather than weapon copy, he indeed gain more stars by feeding more materials. For shields ranking N and R, each additional rank simply requires more base material. But for SR and SSR, newer rank also requires more rare materials.

Chimera Viper Shield (SR) for example, 3rd and 4th star requires an additional 1 and 3 snake heads in addition to the more 'mundane' material like Chimera bone and pelt to unlock.

The additional rank also need Naofumi to spend more time (and fighting monsters) to master, and each additional rank's time and experience grows exponentially while the shields' base stats and mastery bonus he gain is linear. So obviously he needs to prioritize which shield he wants to empower further since he won't have enough time to empower them all.

Guest review response time.

To Shiranai Atsune:

Thank you very much for your kind words! Hope you are enjoying this story and will continue to have a good time.

To Night:

Yeah, Harry Potter can stick out like a sore thumb since it's Western pop culture and not Japanese. Although I always seen Harry Potter more as a western light novel, since I think it shares a lot of elements and tropes with Shounen manga than traditional western fantasy stories. I can't help but feel one of the reasons anime and manga became more widely accepted in western society is thanks to Harry Potter.

And you didn't ruin anything at all, since I didn't give anything away.

;)

I'm not sure if Fitoria's revised backstory is inspired or taken directly from Fate franchise, since I'm not into the fandom. Guess I'll find out from reviews once she appears in my story.

To Astawrath:

Don't want the story to get too complicated can certainly be a possible and good reason why the author didn't introduce Faubley early in the story. Especially since they just want to do a power fantasy adventure story and not a political drama like A Song of Ice and Fire. Although I personally would argue RotSH's story is too simple, to the point it starts to feel like stuff happen randomly (particularly after Three Heroes Church arc) because future plot wasn't properly setup and built on previous one.

On giving away the cameo characters... I certainly did thought about it which is what I sort of did in my last story. But I decided to just leave them for the readers to find out. Since most of those characters are fairly minor and recognize them is more of a hint on what'll happen in the future rather than affecting what the story is currently happening.

I honestly haven't decided if Kel'Thuzad will play a bigger role later or if he's just a cameo. Since he is a character belongs to a minor faction in the story. Although I certainly have a habit of write a minor character that just supposed to appear once... and then they get bigger and bigger role as my story progress. Naofumi can certainly recognize some of the characters, like the case with Lucius.