Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait. I really wanted to make this chapter longer than usual and my neighborhood lost power for 2 days thanks to the recent storm. But now I'm back with a new chapter. Thanks to everyone being patient with my story. Like usual, any and all comments/criticisms are appreciated. I'm still new to this, so I'm treating each chapter as a new learning experience.

"You almost finished loading the cargo?" Naofumi asked from within the carriage.

Cloud walked over to Naofumi's carriage and dumped the last wooden crate inside the wagon, which caused the thing to shake momentarily. Even though the SOLDIER enhancements gave Cloud more than enough strength to carry any sort of load, that didn't mean he liked doing it.

After seeing Cloud load in the last crate, Naofumi turned to Raphtalia who was waiting outside the wagon. "Raphtalia, where's Eclair and the old lady?"

"Ah, they're still in the pharmacy down the street for any last minute supplies. I'll go get them!"

As Raphtalia ran down the empty street, Cloud walked over to the parked Daytona where Rishia was checking her backpack for any missing supplies.

"Fueh, this is so sudden…" Rishia mumbled to herself. "I wonder what kind of monsters Her Majesty told us to kill."

"My thoughts exactly. It must be pretty serious to suddenly cancel training." Cloud commented. "Say, can you go with Raphtalia and see if she needs any help? We might need a few more potions."

"Ah, of course!"

As Rishia ran off in the general direction where Raptalia went off, Cloud leaned against his bike and stared up into the sky. He was still trying to wrap his head around the current situation. Thanks to Itsuki and Motoyasu, both Cloud and Naofumi were ordered to take care of a group of mystery monsters that had been raging havoc somewhere in the kingdom's outskirts. Just thinking about how smug and arrogant the Bow and Spear Hero acted when asked to complete the mission annoyed Cloud. Now wasn't the time to be complaining about training. They had to get stronger before the next Wave began, and Cloud had to get stronger so that he could face Sephiroth again.

"Those eyes...you are the one that possesses the holy sword, right?"

"Huh?" Cloud looked down from the sky and came face to face with a robed person standing a few feet away from him. While he couldn't make out any discernible facial features thanks to her face being covered, he did not recognize the person in front of him. What alarmed him even more was the fact that he didn't sense her presence. It was as if she suddenly materialized right in front of him.

"...Who're you?" Cloud asked dangerously. His eyes narrowed as his right hand crept up to the Buster Sword's handle. He could tell that whatever was standing in front of him was not human. There was something off about her, and he had to be ready in case he was suddenly attacked.

"I've come to request something of you. Please, defeat me."

"Huh!?" The strange woman's request hit Cloud like a car. He found it so sudden and absurd that it took him a moment to regain his composure.

Defeat? What is she talking about?

"At this rate, I won't be able to fulfill my role…" the mystery woman softly whispered. Now Cloud was beginning to feel anxious. Was she going to attack him now? Did she want Cloud to kill her on the street? The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. What alarmed him even more was the fact that the area around him was quiet. He couldn't hear anyone or anything, despite the fact that he was in a busy street and Naofumi was constantly barking out orders before.

By now, Cloud's right hand was completely gripping the Buster Sword. He yanked it from his back and took his battle stance, aiming the broadsword's tip at the woman. "Cut the crap and just tell me. What do you mean when you asked me to 'defeat you'?"

"Please hurry. If you don't, then there will be meaningless sacrifices from now on as well…"

Right as she finished her sentence, violent winds began to whip around Cloud and the woman. The dust that was kicked up forced Cloud to close his eyes to shield them from the dust. After raging for a bit, the winds quickly died down. Cloud opened his eyes and didn't see the mystery woman in front of him. She disappeared just as quickly as she appeared.

"What...was that?" Cloud asked himself. He still couldn't feel any sort of presence, and the area around him felt empty and quiet. His breathing quickened as he frantically looked around for the stranger, but she was nowhere to be found. The sound of his own breathing echoed in his head as he tried to calm down. This felt far too different than when Sephiroth messed with his head. This was unique, and that shook the blond up.

"Cloud-sama?"

Cloud jerked his head down the street to see Rishia and everyone else staring at him with worry. That was when Cloud realized that he had his weapon drawn right at them.

"Um, everyone else is ready to go…" Rishia trailed off uneasily. She glanced nervously at the Buster Sword. "Is something the matter?"

"Didn't you guys see that woman?" Cloud asked. He looked at Rishia and especially Naofumi, but everyone present looked at Cloud with confused expressions.

"Was there someone here?" Naofumi questioned. "Or are you just going crazy?"

Cloud snorted and sheathed his weapon. If everyone was going to deny seeing a mysterious stranger, then was little reason to stick around and attempt to argue with them. "It's nothing. Come on, we gotta move."

Cloud quickly hopped onto the Daytona and revved its engines, a signal for Rishia to get on. Cloud's only party member ran towards the roaring bike and took her usual seat behind the blond, wrapping her arms around his waist so that she wouldn't fall off while moving. With his party member secured behind him, Cloud pushed down on the throttle and raced away from Naofumi and the others, leaving them behind in a cloud of dust.

"Dammit, he just loves to show off, doesn't he?" Naofumi growled angrily as he attempted to swat away the dust that was still around his face. Once all of the dust had cleared, he continued to glare angrily down the road.

"The Sword Hero is very...interesting, isn't he?" Eclair commented as she stared at the tire tracks that had been imprinted onto the ground thanks to the Daytona. "Has he always been like this?"

"Since the very beginning." Naofumi grumbled. He really didn't want to admit it, but he just did not want to lose to the aloof blond. The fact that he had a motorcycle in an otherwise technologically backwards world pissed him off. That basically gave the blond an unfair advantage. Why couldn't he get a modern vehicle falling out of the air for him?

"Tch. Let's get moving!" Naofumi ordered as he jumped onto his wagon, which prompted Eclair, the old lady, and Raphtalia to do the same.

"Yay! I can finally get to pull a wagon again!" Filo cheered happily.

During his time in this strange new world, Cloud had never seen so many gigantic trees in one spot. It was what made both him and Naofumi abandon their vehicles and force them to trek through the overgrown vegetation on foot. The air had a slight sweetness to it due to the massive red fruits that grew on the trees' branches. While Cloud wouldn't have cared much about the forest he was in, it was Naofumi's and Raphtalia's reactions that put him on edge.

"Naofumi-sama, this is…" Raphtalia trailed off in a worried tone.

"Yeah...this is the same place that we were in before, except this time, the mutation has somehow come back." Naofumi confirmed with an uneasy look. "I thought the mutation was supposed to go away when we took care of it, but…"

"The hell are you talking about? What happened here?" Cloud questioned. "Are you telling me that this place isn't supposed to look like this?"

"...Let's just pretend we never saw this." Naofumi whispered.

"Naofumi-sama!?" Raphtalia gasped out in shock. Even Cloud was surprised by the callousness in the Shield Hero's statement. If the mutation of a plant that Naofumi had supposedly taken care of had gotten worse, he wanted to at least stick around and see what they were dealing with instead of ignoring it, Fortunately for him, someone else did the work for him.

"Ah!" an unknown voice called out. Everyone in the forest turned around to the source of the voice. Cloud could see a small boy with messy blond hair approach the group from behind an enormous tree. "How many times do we have to tell you? You can't enter this place without a-"

The boy suddenly stopped and stared at the group, particularly Naofumi. Both Naofumi and Raphtalia audibly gasped and pointed at the small boy.

"Wait, it's you!" Naofumi exclaimed in surprise.

"Sir Shield Hero!" the boy excitedly cried out. He ran towards Naofumi and bowed hastily before addressing him again. "What brings you here?"

"Well, we were passing through to find something. Specifically strange-looking monsters." Naofumi explained. "Have you seen any strange monsters around here?"

"Ah, I did!" the boy answered. "We've never seen anything like it! They come in these huge swarms and-"

The boy stopped talking as soon as he saw Cloud standing a few feet behind Naofumi. His once cheery demeanor was gone and was swiftly replaced by fear. His body became rigid and his skin turned pale. He lifted a shaky finger and pointed at Cloud. Even before the boy could say anything, Cloud could tell what he was about to say just from looking at his reaction alone.

"I-i-it's the Demon of Cal Mira…"

"Look, don't worry about him for now." Naofumi cut in. He stepped to the side so that his body would completely cover Cloud's body from the boy. "Just lead us to your village, and we can take it from there."

The boy eventually calmed down and began to walk down the overgrown forest with everyone else following him. The trek to the village was a long and quiet one. Cloud knew that if he wasn't around, the boy probably would've been much more talkative. The silence was awkward and uncomfortable. If the boy reacted to Cloud that way, how was the village going to react?

"Cloud-sama?" Rishia whispered towards the blond. She tugged uneasily on his scarf. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Cloud replied automatically. His tone surprised Rishia. It sounded dull and monotone. It reminded her of when she had first met him. A cold-hearted soldier who simply went wherever the fight took him. Rishia could feel her chest tighten.

"If you say so…"

"H-here we are…" the boy nervously stammered. Cloud could see several wooden buildings begin to appear into view. Many villagers were already outside and waiting for them like they were anticipating their arrival. All of the villagers immediately smiled and waved towards Naofumi.

"Well well. If it isn't the Shield Hero! Welcome back!" All of the villagers cheered and waved towards Naofumi, who looked a bit uneasy at the praise and fanfare he was receiving.

An elderly woman pushed her way through the crowd and handed Naofumi a basket of the same red fruits Cloud had seen growing in the trees.

"Please have these! They're our specialty now thanks to you!" the woman exclaimed as she handed the basket to Naofumi.

"Yay! Filo loves these fruits!" Filo joyfully yelled. She happily hopped over to the basket and wasted no time cramming the fruits into her mouth.

"Ah, it's…!"

One of the villagers had noticed Cloud standing behind the group. This caught the attention of all the other villagers present, who all gasped and craned their necks to see Cloud.

"I-it's him…"

"Why is a person like him with the Shield Hero?"

"Don't look into his eyes. He'll kill you if you do!"

"Quick! Take the women and children inside!"

The entire village was soon in chaos as everyone ran around in an attempt to get away from Cloud as far as possible. They all ran inside the buildings and shut every last window and door shut in an attempt to keep Cloud out. By the time all was said and done, more than half of the villagers that had come out had fled.

"Wait, you guys are misunderstanding!" Naofumi yelled. "This guy's not that-"

But it was too late. The only ones willing to be in the same space as Cloud were a handful of male villagers, who were now armed with various swords and farm tools. They all aimed their weapons at Cloud and glared at him.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Eclair demanded angrily as she drew her own weapon.

"Fueh!? What do we do?" Rishia asked in a panicked voice. She expected Cloud to draw his weapon, but he didn't. Much to her surprise, he didn't do anything. He simply closed his eyes and folded his arms.

"It's simple. We don't do anything." Cloud responded.

"Fueh?"

"Look, you guys gotta trust me on this. Cloud's not gonna kill anyone. Anything you hear about him is an exaggeration." Naofumi began. He had to say something or else they would all be chased out of the village without completing their mission. "Now, we're here because the Queen sent us on a mission to take care of some weird monsters sighted around here. Can you tell us anything about that?"

Noafumi's words seemed to calm the villagers down somewhat, but not entirely. While some of them lowered their weapons, a good portion of them still kept their weapons up. Eventually, a middle-aged man with a mustache walked up to the group. Cloud presumed him to be the village chief, since the rest of the men quickly stepped aside to make room for him.

"We are willing to talk about these monsters with you…" the man trailed off. "But only with you. The Sword Demon is to wait outside of the village while we talk."

"Please pardon my intrusion, but I simply cannot allow that." Eclair interjected before Naofumi could say anything. She walked up to the man and slammed her foot down, causing all of the villagers to flinch. "Cloud has every right to be briefed on this situation. He is one of the Cardinal Heroes. He needs to know what we are fighting against so that he may help eradicate the threat. The very notion of excluding him because of some preconceived notion is-"

"Forget it. I'll listen to their terms. Just be sure to brief me in on what we're dealing with." Cloud flatly responded. He didn't even bother to listen to Eclair's arguments as he walked away until he was sure they couldn't see him anymore. He took the Buster Sword off of his back so that he could lean comfortably against a tree. As he sat down, someone quickly sat next to him.

"...What are you doing here?" Cloud asked Rishia. "They never said anything about you. You should be with them and see what we're dealing with."

"You know that I can't do that, Cloud-sama." Rishia whispered. "I have decided a long time ago to always remain by your side, no matter what. When I saw the way those people acted towards you, I got so angry. They don't know about what happened at Cal Mira. They don't know how hard you've fought for this world. How much you've bled for a world that you weren't born in."

"...You're wrong. Those people were right to be afraid of me. I hurt too many people. I'm not strong. It was only a matter of time until I messed up. Besides, I'm pretty used to this. Being an outcast and all…"

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Rishia asked.

"...I grew up in a village in the mountains, so there wasn't a lot to do. That naturally made the kids in the village play with one another. But I wasn't a part of a friend group. All the other kids left me out of all the activities they would do because they thought I was weird or different. Then, a girl got seriously injured as she was climbing up a mountain. I tried to go after her to save her, but I was too late. She nearly died and I got away with just a couple of scraped knees. The townsfolk thought I was behind everything and treated me like a monster."

Tears began to well up in Rishia's eyes as she listened to the blond talk about his past. Hearing him open up about his painful past made her feel emotional. She had no idea that Cloud had gone through something like that before. He hid it all too well behind his usual blank look. She almost didn't want to believe it.

"I-I didn't know…" Rishia whispered. She quickly wiped her tears away before Cloud could see them. However, there was one thing still bugging her, and Cloud didn't mention it when he briefly talked about his past.

"Pardon me for asking, but who was that man with the silver hair?" Rishia asked cautiously. The image of the man who had suddenly appeared at Cal Mira was burned into her mind. The way he looked at Cloud and the strength he displayed unnerved her. All she felt was pure fear when she first saw him, not to mention how the two seemed to know each other.

Cloud grimaced and looked away from Rishia. She slumped her shoulders and expected her question to be ignored, but Cloud sighed heavily and turned around to look at Rishia again.

"Sorry. I should've told you about him before." Cloud apologized.

"Ah, please don't force yourself!" Rishia frantically exclaimed. Seeing Cloud so apologetic surprised her so much that she found herself waving her arms around frantically.

"It's fine." Cloud assured. Once Rishia seemed to have calmed down a bit, he took that as a cue to begin his explanation. "The guy with silver hair has a name, and it's Sephiroth. He's someone from my world and is considered the strongest SOLDIER ever."

"Fueh!?" Rishia gasped out. While it did make sense that Cloud knew the silver-haired man, she still found it extremely shocking that someone from his world would appear in her world. "He's a SOLDIER like you?"

"Not exactly." Cloud corrected. "I...never made it into SOLDIER. Sephiroth was the best of the best. He towered over everyone in terms of strength and intellect. Everyone looked up to him and wanted to be like him. In short, he was a hero. I idolized him and wanted to become like him."

"Then, why is he here? Why is he with the people that want to kill the Cardinal Heroes?" Rishia asked.

"I don't know how he ended up here. That's what I'm trying to figure out. But he's not with Therese and Larc. That much I know." Cloud replied in a low voice. Rishia noticed Cloud right hand slowly curl up into a fist on the ground. Then she saw his expression. It was one of pure anger and rage. "He hurt everyone I ever cared for and now he followed me here. I have to kill him by the time the next Wave happens or this world won't be safe."

"Of course. The duty of the Cardinal Heroes is to protect this world after all..." Rishia trailed off uneasily. She hated the idea of killing anybody, but something about the silver-haired man felt off. Unlike Therese and Larc, all she could feel from her brief meeting with Sephiroth was pure hatred and malice. "You can defeat him, Cloud-sama. I'm sure you can."

Cloud grimaced and stared at the ground. He hated to dash his party member's expectations, but he had to be realistic. Trying to hide the facts would only end up hurting them in the future.

"...I don't know if I can."

"Eh?" Rishia mouthed. Before she could ask him anymore, the sound of boots crunching through the vegetation stopped her from speaking.

"Cloud! You're out here, right?" a loud male voice shouted behind the pair. "We're done meeting with the villagers, so get out here already!"

"Looks like we finally have some work to do…" Cloud mumbled as he got up from the ground. He held his hand out towards Rishia so that he could help her onto her feet. Once the pair got off the ground and finished dusting themselves off, they walked back to the front of the village where everyone else was waiting for them.

"Check this out." Naofumi said. He tossed a black object towards Cloud, who caught it. The soft feeling of the object confused Cloud until he turned it around in his hands. Naofumi just threw a bat at him.

"Eek!" Rishia yelped.

"...Really?" Cloud groaned. He carefully examined the thing in his hands until he noticed what seemed like a hard shell on the bat's back.

"According to the villagers, huge swarms of bats like that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked the villagers. They weren't much of a threat if it wasn't for some of the adventurers they hired, but that's not all. I absorbed one of the monster corpses into my shield and it identified the bat as a familiar, not a monster. That means…"

"...Someone's controlling these things." Cloud finished.

"Yup. Glad to see that you can catch onto things pretty quickly." Naofumi affirmed. "We've decided to split off into two groups, sectioned off into pairs to cover more ground. One group is gonna stay in the village and keep watch, while the other will patrol around the area to look for any other abnormalities. Raphtalia and Eclair is one pair, Rishia with the old granny, and Cloud with Filo."

"Fueh!?" Rishia exclaimed. "I-I'm Cloud's party member! I must be by his side at all times!"

"Oh, don't worry about that, my disciple. This is a perfect opportunity to further your training with me!" Rishia's master chuckled. "Now, come along now!"

"W-wait!" Rishia wailed, but it was too late. The old lady had grabbed onto Rishia's coat and swiftly dragged her away into the forest.

"Then, we'll be going too, Naofumi-sama." Raphtalia said. Eclair bowed towards Cloud and Naofumi briefly before walking off into another direction.

Cloud looked uneasily at the big Filolial next to him. Their first few encounters didn't exactly start off on the right foot. Thankfully, Filo didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, she looked cheerful.

"Yay! I'm patrolling with Sword Guy!" Filo cheered. Cloud didn't know what to think as he watched Filo jump up and down in excitement. Had he done something to earn the Filolial's praise and respect so much? Cloud called her a fat Chocobo more than once in the past, and she didn't respond well to them.

Still, Cloud knew exactly why Naofumi didn't put himself into Filo's group. Someone had to stay behind and guard the village in case another monster attack happened. Since Naofumi specialized in defense and with Cloud's own reputation, it only made sense that someone the villagers trusted stayed behind.

"Let's go." Cloud silently whispered. He turned away from Naofumi and the two walked off into the forest to search for anything strange.

Filo continued to hum happily as she walked beside the blond. Despite the Filolial's cheerful mood, Cloud found himself feel unbearably awkward. He did nearly kill her two times in the past, so her behavior worried him. Did Naofumi force her to get along with him?

"Hey, so…" Cloud trailed off. He looked over to Filo only to stare dumbfounded as she devoured the red fruits that hung on a nearby branch. She stopped eating for a moment to look at Cloud. "Why are you okay being around me? I thought you would hate me for fighting with your master."

"Oh, Master said that you were a good person, so Filo will believe him!"

"Huh!? That's it?"

"Well, Fitoria also really likes you!" Filo added.

"Wait, she does?" Cloud blurted out. All he could see when he recounted the Filolial Queen was her icy stare and the killing intent that surrounded her, though she did smile for a bit when their duel ended. Still, it didn't change the fact that she really tried to kill him.

"Yup! We talked for a bit before coming here. She made sure to tell me to make sure you don't die soon! Plus, Filo can tell that Sword Guy is is a nice person, even if he tries to hide it from other people."

"Well, that's reassuring…" Cloud mumbled. He looked around the woods for a bit as an excuse to change the subject. "Anyways, it doesn't seem like there's anything here, so let's go back to the others for now."

"Wait! There's a smell around here…" Filo warned.

"Smell?" Cloud asked. He briefly sniffed the air around him, but didn't seem to smell anything peculiar. "I don't smell anything though."

"This way!" Filo exclaimed. She suddenly turned around and ran off into an unknown part of the forest. Seeing no stopping her, Cloud simply sighed and ran after her.

"Over here!"

After running through the forest for a bit, Cloud finally managed to catch up to Filo. He could see her standing near a tree with her head looking down at something. That was when Cloud finally noticed the smell. The smell of blood and rotting flesh.

"This is…" Cloud saw what seemed like a corpse of a bear-like monster lying on the ground. Its eyes seemed lifeless and he could see several small cuts around the monster's body. "It has small lacerations all over its body. Did those bats do this?"

"What a waste leaving this behind." Filo commented. Cloud looked on in horror as drool seemed to seep out of Filo's mouth as she stared hungrily at the corpse.

Come to think of it, I heard that Filolials will eat anything they come across if they're hungry…

"Please don't eat this thing."

"Aw…"

"Anyways, we ended up finding something. Let's go back to the village and-"

The sound of leaves and bushes rustling cause Cloud and Filo to snap their heads in the general direction of where they had heard the sound. Cloud immediately drew the Buster Sword and Filo made a stance that Cloud could only guess was her battle stance.

"Get out here. We already know you're here." Cloud called out in a loud voice. Whoever Cloud and Filo sensed quickly appeared before them. Fortunately for the both of them, it was a familiar appearance.

"Do you have to act all secretive all the time?" Cloud asked in an annoyed tone as he sheathed his weapon

"My apologies, but it was a direct command from Her Majesty to frequently share information." the cloaked figure replied.

"Well, here's what we've figured out so far. The village nearby was attacked by a swarm of bat familiars that had a shell on its back, and we believe that this bear monster was attacked by the same familiars."

The shadow took out a notepad and began to write on it as Cloud spoke. "I see, so these bats are not monsters, but familiars. That is a big clue indeed."

"Oh, and one more thing." Cloud quickly added. Filo and the shadow looked at the blond with anticipation. "Right before we left the city, I met some strange person. I couldn't see who it was because she was wearing a robe, but she said something strange."

"Strange?" the shadow inquired.

"She told me to 'defeat her'. If I didn't, then she couldn't fulfill her duty. Shortly after that, she suddenly disappeared."

"Do you think it is related to this matter?"

"No clue, but I have a bad feeling about it. No one else saw her but me."

"I see. I will report this too." the shadow said.

"What about you?" Cloud asked. "You said that the Queen wanted us to exchange information, so you must have something else to tell me."

"Do you really know nothing more than that?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Cloud growled. He couldn't believe that the Queen of all people was beginning to distrust him. Was his title as a demon really pissing her off? After everything he did?

Before his mood could get any worse, the shadow quickly held up a hand to allow itself to speak.

"No one is doubting you, Sword Hero. It's just that the Bow and Spear Hero seem to be hiding something."

"Great. Just our luck." Cloud groaned. He could feel a headache begin to form. At this point, Cloud wanted to track down Itsuki and Motoyasu and give them a few good whacks over their heads so that they wouldn't cause anymore trouble.

"Do you know what they might be hiding?" the shadow asked.

"How the hell would I know!?" Cloud grumbled.

The sound of feathers rustling caught Cloud's attention. He looked towards Filo to see her looking off down the forest with a concerned look on her face, if that was what a Filolial looked like if they were concerned.

"Uh, what's wrong?" Cloud asked.

Filo answered Cloud's question by grabbing onto his scarf with her beak and running off while dragging him behind her. He nearly gagged out as his scarf suddenly tightened around his neck. Cloud quickly grabbed onto Filo's body and hoisted himself onto her back so that he could sit comfortably.

"At least give me a warning if you're gonna choke me!" Cloud yelled. He rubbed his sore neck where his scarf had suddenly tightened thanks to Filo.

"I heard a scream come from the village's direction!"

Now Filo had his attention. The closer they got to the village, the more he could hear the screams and yells that Filo talked about. He immediately drew the Buster Sword with his right arm as they raced through the woods.

"Incoming!" Cloud shouted through the wind. Filo seemed to nod acknowledgement as she saw what the blond was referring to. They could see several black dots fly around the incoming village attacking whatever they saw. He could already see some of the hired adventurers try to kill the bats, but their numbers proved far too challenging for them.

"Filo! I'm leaving the stragglers to you!"

"Eh?" Filo asked, but Cloud was already on the move. He leaped from Filo's back and held out his hand. He conjured up a fire spell while in the air and unleashed the attack where he saw the most bats. The spell exploded as soon as it got close enough to the swarm, incinerating any familiar that was near it. The villagers who were still out and any adventurer in the vicinity quickly dropped down onto the ground so that they wouldn't get burned by Cloud's spell.

Once the spell vanished, Cloud twisted his body mid-air so that the Buster Sword sliced up any remaining familiars as he fell down towards the ground. Once Cloud landed, the remaining adventurers chose to stare at Cloud instead of picking off the remaining familiars.

"The hell are you all staring at? Kill off the stragglers!"

Cloud's voice seemed to bring everyone else back into reality. The armed adventurers picked up their weapons and began to kill any bat that they saw. Soon, all of the bats became corpses that littered that ground, nearly painting the dirt black.

"Cloud!" Naofumi shouted behind Cloud. He turned around to see the Shield Hero jog towards him. "You got rid of all the familiars?"

"Seems so." Cloud answered without much care. "What about the villagers?"

"Thankfully, no fatalities. Though, Kiel took a bit of a beating." Naofumi explained.

Cloud remembered the name of Naofumi's newest party member. Kiel was just a kid who barely knew a thing about fighting, so it made Cloud a bit uncomfortable hearing that he got injured while protecting the villagers. Still, as long as he didn't die, then all was well that ended well.

"Still, something doesn't make sense." Cloud noted as he looked at the bat corpses around his feet. "If these are familiars that someone like Kiel can kill, then how the hell did they kill that bear monster?"

"Huh? You say something?" Naofumi asked.

Before Cloud could give an answer, a loud monstrous roar echoed throughout the entire village, accompanied by several people yelling and shouting. Both Cloud and Naofumi wasted no time running towards the source of the noise. As they turned a corner, they saw just what it was that was causing such a commotion.

The monster that had roared appeared to be some sort of hairy monster. It had white hair covering its body and its body structure resembled that of a primate. If the thing wasn't in the middle of a jungle, Cloud would've mistaken it for a yeti.

"Looks like we go company!" Naofumi shouted as his shield morphed into the green shield adorned by two snakes.

"It's alright, Master!" Filo called out. Cloud looked over to see Filo standing calmly while facing the monster.

"There's nothing alright about this!" Cloud yelled.

Before he could draw his sword and kill the monster, he saw two fast-moving objects fall on top of the yeti, forcing it onto the ground. Cloud noticed that it wasn't just two objects, but two people. Both Raphtalia and Eclair had stabbed their swords through the green shell that was on the monster's back, shattering it and ultimately killing the monster.

"Ah, Naofumi-sama! We're back!" Raphtalia greeted cheerfully as soon as she saw Naofumi standing dumbfounded at the sight before him.

"Uh…" Naofumi stammered.

"We have returned, Cloud. I take it that all the monsters have been successfully dealt with?" Eclair added.

"R-right…" Cloud mumbled.

"See? Everything is alright!" Filo cheered happily while Naofumi and Cloud stared at the monster corpse in front of them.

While Cloud was busy staring at the monster's corpse, Naofumi walked up to the body and yanked out a fistful of its hair. Before Cloud could ask what he was doing, Naofumi held the hair to the green orb in his shield. To his surprise, the shield seemed to absorb the material as it sank into the orb and glowed brightly.

"What was that?" Cloud asked curiously.

"Oh, right. You don't know about this." Naofumi replied. "Our weapons can absorb certain materials so that we can craft different pieces of equipment or discover something new."

"Sounds like a pain…"

"Naofumi-sama. We should get rid of all the monster corpses around the village." Raphtalia suggested behind the Shield Hero.

"Huh? Why?"

"This monster...came back to life, and many others have too."

"Wait, they came back to life!?" Cloud blurted out in surprise. He had to make sure he heard Raphtalia properly the first time.

"It is just a guess, but we believe that the bats have done something to the monsters." Eclair explained. "These monsters do not typically have a shell on their backs. The bats are doing something to them, we just don't know what it is."

Naofumi's eyes suddenly shot wide open as he seemed to realize something. Before anyone could ask what was wrong, he ran towards the house that Kiel was resting in and slammed the door open. Cloud and the others soon followed the Shield Hero. As soon as they entered the room, Naofumi was already dragging Kiel to a bed despite his protests.

"W-what's going on!?" the young demi-human demanded angrily.

That was when Cloud noticed it. On the back of Kiel's neck was a protruding object that was not there before. It was sticking out unnaturally and he could see several bulging veins originating from the mysterious object.

"The hell is that?" Cloud whispered to himself.

"Hey, I need medicine and forceps right now!" Naofumi shouted.

Raphtalia hurriedly grabbed a small forcep that was on a nearby table while Cloud threw a potion at Naofumi without missing a beat. Cloud may not have been a soldier, but his time as a Shinra infantryman gave him more than enough experience to tell him what was a serious injury and what wasn't.

Naofumi caught the bottle out of the air and pushed Kiel onto the bed while adjusting the metal tool in his hands.

"What do you plan to do?" Eclair questioned.

"Cloud! Need some help here!" Naofumi exclaimed. He seemed to have trouble holding down the struggling Kiel with one arm, prompting the blond to quickly make his way over to the bed and anchored the demi-human's arms onto the bed.

"Let go of me, you demon!" Kiel growled. Before he could say anymore, Cloud stuffed a rag into his mouth, effectively shutting him up. All Kiel could do now was struggle uselessly as Cloud held down his body.

"Careful. This is gonna hurt." Cloud mumbled.

Naofumi opened the bottle's cap and poured the liquid onto Kiel's injury. The medicine had an immediate effect on him. The liquid bubbled and sizzled as it attempted to fight off the foreign object embedded in Kiel's back. Even though Kiel had a rag in his mouth, his muffled screams of pain still echoed in the small room. If it wasn't for Cloud holding down his arms, Kiel would've thrown a fit.

"Now!" Naofumi reached in with the forceps and quickly yanked out the mysterious object in one go.

Kiel continued to scream for a few more seconds before his body finally slumped onto the bed in a collapsed heap. Cloud eventually relinquished his grip on Kiel's arms and stared at the object that Naofumi held in his hands. It was a small green object that couldn't have been bigger than the currency in this world. It was a bit hard to imagine that such a small thing caused Kiel to scream in pain so much.

"Damn...this village must have some sort of fate with me for these kinds of things to happen one after another." Naofumi mumbled under his breath as he studied the object. "We need to gather everyone outside. I think I know what's going on."

"So, that small object is like an egg those bats plant into other living things?" Rishia asked as Naofumi held up the tiny shell. She continued to stare at it for a few seconds before looking at Cloud. "Then, the shells the monsters had on around here was…"

"Caused by them, apparently." Cloud finished. "It weakens the host until it kills them, Then, it revives them."

"Familiars that can bring back the dead…" Rishia's master muttered under her breath with a concerned look on her face. "This has become quite a serious deal. These villagers cannot handle all of these monster corpses by themselves. And if they're happening here, then that means that this is happening in other places as well."

"Not only that, but any monster that has this shell implanted in them are stronger than usual." Eclair added. "Any normal adventurer will find it difficult to defeat them. It is almost as if these monsters received a class upgrade."

"It's probably better if I teleport back to the castle and inform the Queen about all this." Naofumi said. "The rest of you guys help the villagers here."

"Something wrong, Rishia?" Cloud asked. His party member had been staring at the dead yeti monster Raphtalia and Eclair had killed for quite some time. Not only that, he could hear her mumble to herself and poke the shell on the monster's back with her finger.

"T-this monster...I think I've seen something like this before in a story." Rishia nervously stammered.

"WHAT!?" Everyone collectively shouted, startling Rishia.

"Fueh!?"

"You saw this thing in a story? Like in a book?" Cloud questioned even further.

"Yes...but it was a long time ago. I don't remember what it was called…"

"Then that settles it. Rishia, come with me to the castle. We may be able to find some hints in the library they have there." Naofumi ordered.

Rishia glanced uneasily at Cloud as if she was looking for his permission. The blond simply nodded his head.

"Go with him. I'll hold down the fort here."

Rishia hurriedly bowed at Cloud before running up to Naofumi. He held up his shield and a bright magical circle formed under their feets before their bodies vanished into thin air.

"Filo, you said that you can talk Fitoria, right?" Cloud asked the young Filolial Queen heiress. Filo tilted her head to the side as her single ahoge swayed in the wind absent-mindedly. "Can I talk to her? There's something I need to ask her."

"Hmm…" Filo grumbled for a few seconds as her ahoge moved from left to right as if it had a mind of its own before her face lit up. "Ah! I made a connection!"

What is she, a phone!?

"Well, she has this carriage that can teleport. We need to inform the other heroes about what we found out. Can she teleport me to them so that I can tell them?"

The only difference between Filo and a phone was that he couldn't hear the Filorial Queen speak. The only thing that gave him some sort of indication that Filo was talking to her was her ahoge moving.

"Dammit, is she even listening!?" Cloud growled out as Filo continued to look out into the open.

"She says it's impossible."

"Huh!?"

"She wants to help if possible. But if the relationship between the Heroes is this bad, then she wants you to give up."

This response from the Filolial Queen immediately generated confusion among the group, with the exception of Filo who continued to stare out into space.

"Ah, she's saying more!" Filo announced. This caused Cloud and the others to stop their chatter and look at Filo with anticipation. "She says that someday, every life in this world will be forced to make a sacrifice. At that moment, the heroes will be forced to make a decision. For life's sake or for the world's sake."

"Hold on. What the hell do you mean by that?" Cloud asked.

"If they choose for the world's sake, lots of lives will be sacrificed, but the heroes will fulfill their role in the end. Another Wave will not come. That is why you should give up on them..."

"...Is what she said!" Filo finished with a cheery grin.

"How can you still be that happy after hearing all that?" Cloud groaned. Fitoria's words continued to echo in Cloud's head. It all sounded so familiar to him. He remembered Fitoria saying something very similar when he fought against her.

A terrible calamity approaches, and this world demands sacrifices in order to survive.

Cloud's eyes then shot wide open as the realization hit him. Fitoria wouldn't take him to the other heroes because they wanted to play the hero role so badly that they were willing to do anything, even give up their lives to one-up him and Naofumi.

"No. It's not too late. We can stop them from doing whatever they're about to do! If you could just take me to them, then-"

"Then what of it? Do you really believe that the four of you can come together? Will you be able to understand one another and cooperate despite their jealousy and hatred towards you?"

"I…" Cloud couldn't find the words to rebuke Fitoria because in the end, she was right. He was stupid and naive to believe that Motoyasu and Itsuki would suddenly change their personalities and join forces with him and Naofumi.

"It is regretful, but there is nothing else to be done. Give up."

Cloud stared dumbfounded at Filo as her ahoge which had been twitching and moving during their entire conversation stopped moving and drooped down. It seemed stupid to wait for any sort of response knowing that Fitoria had cut the connection.

"Um, Fitoria's voice cut off." Filo said when she noticed the eyes on her.

"I can't believe it...the safety of the remaining Heroes is of concern, but is she telling us to forget about the familiars too!?" Eclair shouted angrily. She began to move towards Filo with an aggravated look on her face, but Raphtalia managed to hold back the female knight.

"Eclair, please calm down…"

Rishia's master simply sagged her shoulders and let out a tired sigh. "The Filolial Queen...has probably run out of love for humans…"

"Ran out of love, huh?" Cloud mumbled to himself. He could definitely understand if he put himself in Fitoria's shoes. But at the same time, what he just heard from the Filolial Queen contradicted his own interaction with her. That smile Fitoria had given after their duel and her words which were full hope as she sent Cloud on his way didn't give him the impression that she had given up.

"What is she really feeling?" A sudden bright flash of white light behind Cloud interrupted his thoughts. He turned around just in time to see Naofumi and Rishia standing a few feet away from him. Rishia was holding some sort of book and Naofumi had a rolled up piece of paper in his hand. Both looked out of breath as if they had run all the way back instead of teleporting.

"Did you find out what we're fighting against exactly?" Cloud asked.

Rishia nodded her head frantically in response. Naofumi simply held up the scroll he had in his hand.

"That's not all. We've also got another troublesome situation in our hands." Naofumi added in a low voice.

Cloud could tell from his expression that whatever the situation was only added to their problems. "And that is?"

"Those boneheads Itsuki and Motoyasu. We got word that they've forced their way through Melromarc's borders and are heading East."

Calling the atmosphere 'tense' in the tiny room that everyone was an understatement. With knowledge that the Spear and Bow Hero had run off along with Fitoria's words and knowledge of their enemy, it only seemed to make everyone feel even more despair.

"I can't believe it. It's all starting to piece together." Cloud said as he studied the map laid out in front of him on the table. "This is what Fitoria meant when she said that they chose for the world's sake. They're going on a suicide mission to kill this giant turtle so that they appear as heroes."

"B-but the Heroes sealed Reiki in the end!" Rishia shouted. The little bit of information she gave out did little to ease the anxieties of everyone present. "If Cloud-sama and Naofumi reach the Bow and Spear Heroes, they can enter inside the turtle and seal it again!"

"That is easier said than done. This enemy carries entire mountains on its back, you know." Eclair noted with a grim look.

"On the plus side, we would be able to easily tell if Reiki awakened. A moving mountain isn't easy to miss." the old grandma commented.

"T-that's true. The story did say that the Heroes who sealed it in the first place took the method to unseal Reiki to their graves, so maybe it won't be able to revive that easily." Rishia added hopefully.

"Then, what're we waiting for?" Naofumi interjected. He got up from his seat and slammed his palms onto the table. Cloud could tell from the look in his eyes exactly what he was going to say.

"Let's chase after them. Nothing will happen even if we stay here. All we can hope is that they haven't died yet. The Queen already gave us permission to run after them."

"Then let's go. We're wasting time just standing around here." Cloud reaffirmed. His answer seemed to receive a unanimous agreement with everyone nodding. It didn't take long for everyone to exit the small room and get to work preparing.

"Cloud, we might take a while getting ready, so just take your motorcycle and start heading East. You have the faster vehicle anyways." Naofumi advised.

Cloud simply nodded in response and ran through the thick woods with Rishia right behind him. Once they reached the Daytona, Cloud immediately hopped on and started the machine. Once the engine blared to life and he felt Rishia's arms wrap around his waist, he wasted no time turning the Daytona around and rocketing out of the woods. He held the map Naofumi gave him to track their progress. With the Daytona's speed, it would only be a matter of time until they crossed the border and reach Itsuki's and Motoyasu's last known location.

"For the world or for life, I can't just stop thinking about it." Rishia mumbled to herself. "No matter how I look at it, both have disastrous consequences. It doesn't end up saving everyone involved. I know it's impossible to save everyone, but..."

"You're right. It's impossible to save everyone. But that doesn't mean that I'll just give up." Cloud growled through grit teeth. "I'll just have to save everyone I can, starting with those two dumbasses. It'll be a pain to fight the Waves in the future without them."

Cloud did not expect to hear Rishia giggle at his response. "What's so funny?"

"It's nothing, Cloud-sama. I'm just glad that you're still being yourself, even after everything that's happened."

Cloud couldn't think of a way to respond to Rishia because he didn't know how. He was being himself? What did she mean by that? As far as he was concerned, he was acting the same way the entire time. Was Rishia seeing things because she was getting too nervous?

Crack!

"Waaaaaah!" Rishia yelped as Cloud suddenly twisted the Daytona to the side in an attempt to brake after moving extremely fast. The bike slid a couple of feet before finally coming to a complete stop. Rishia was too busy coughing and fanning the dust away that had been kicked up.

"Cloud-sama, what's wrong!?"

Cloud drew his weapon and was looking around the sky frantically. His eyes seemed wild scanning for a threat. "Rishia, get ready! The Wave's gonna start!"

"Fueh!? But I don't see anything around us!"

"What!?" Cloud gasped. Sure enough, he and Rishia didn't teleport anywhere like when a Wave began. He could still see the Daytona parked nearby and there was no fracture in the sky.

She's right. There's no monsters around and the sky isn't murky. Then what the hell did I just hear?

Cloud sheathed the Buster quickly willed the countdown that counted down the time until the next Wave began to appear in front of him. There was still about 2 days until the next Wave began.

"Huh? What's this?"

Next to the countdown of the next Wave was another timer. This one didn't have any indication of any hours, minutes, or seconds. It only had the number seven on it.

"Seven? The hell does this mean?"

The screens in front of Cloud suddenly vanished as he ran towards the edge of the cliff where he stopped the Daytona.

"Cloud-sama? Do you see something?" Rishia asked as she ran up to him. Below them was a forest bordered by several large mountains. She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but Cloud still had a serious expression on. Her anxieties only increased when she saw him reach behind and grip the Buster Sword's handle tightly.

"Now I get it. That's why it felt like a Wave had begun."

"Fueh? What are you talking about?"

"We're too late. The Spirit Turtle has woken up from its nap."