I point the shield that has grown into Shield of Wrath II, wreathed in crimson dragon flames, toward the black shadow.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The air trembles as though the world itself resonates with my scream.
"What the…"
The enemy tears its eyes away from
Damn it—this is nothing like the first time I suppressed the Shield of Wrath. My mind is raging worse than I could have imagined.
Is this because the Shield of Wrath has… grown up?
Damn—my vision is warping.
"Lord Naofumi."
A gentle touch brushes against me.
That must be
I… can't lose everything here.
I shake off the black shadow and reclaim my vision. Then I lock my eyes firmly onto the enemy before me.
"U… UUUUAAAAAAAGH!"
Damn—!?
I notice that, in sync with my own heartbeat, Filo is also emanating a black… flame.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Like a bird of prey, Filo narrows her eyes and launches a fierce kick at the enemy.
It must be because she consumed the Dragon Core that resonates with my shield.
"Wh—what is this? It's heavier than before…"
The enemy is thrown off balance by Filo's attacks.
But Filo seems to have lost all reason—she's attacking anything in sight, and once she takes her eyes off the enemy, she runs completely wild.
"What did you do?"
The enemy closes in, pressing me with an interrogating glare.
"A—trump card."
I'm still holding on to my sanity.
It's fine. No matter how fierce the anger, I won't lose to it as long as I have the will to fight for those who believe in me.
I suppress my cold sweat and taunt the enemy.
Then I signal Raphtalia with my eyes to keep her distance.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah. I can still hold it together."
I step forward toward the enemy.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Special effect—Roar. It's meant to intimidate the opponent through vibrations in the air.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
In response to the roar, the rampaging Filo locks onto the enemy and charges.
"Gu…"
"Don't underestimate me!"
"You think I'll let you?!"
The enemy swings an iron fan at Filo in a sweeping strike. I throw myself between them.
Clang!
Nice—the impact is nothing compared to the Chimera Viper Shield. I barely feel it.
No need to brace at all.
Centered on me, Dark Curse Burning activates.
This flame's firepower scales with my anger. Since I'm barely keeping my composure, the lethality shouldn't be too high.
But that flame carries the power of a curse.
"What!?"
Sensing my flames, the rampaging Filo immediately pulls back.
Good!
The black flames sweep across the enemy.
"Gu… but this isn't an attack I can't withstand!"
…It's a flame that delays healing, but it hasn't inflicted a fatal wound.
"Rotating Slash Technique—Tortoise Shell Break!"
The enemy pulls the iron fan back, then thrusts it forward—straight at me. Something like a blazing arrow of sharp light comes flying.
Dangerous!
I raise my shield to guard.
A heavy impact slams into me, followed by pain throughout my entire body.
The damage transferred through the shield and into my body.
"Damn…"
"H-how are you not down after that attack…"
The pain makes it hard to keep calm. But I can't lose control here.
"That was a decent attack."
Probably a piercing-type attack… the kind you see all the time in games.
No matter how high your defense is, it's meaningless if it gets ignored.
Or maybe it's the opposite—the higher the target's defense, the more damage it deals.
Is this the shield weakness the other Heroes were talking about?
Based on experience, online games tend to become more extreme the longer they've been running.
I don't know what their games—modeled after this world—were like, but I can name a few patterns from what I know.
First, raw damage so high that the shield class just can't keep up.
Second, dodge-based gameplay—where enemies spam instant-death attacks.
Third, DPS races—where there's no need for a defensive role because you just overpower everything with attack.
I've been turning over the reasons shields are considered weak, but none of these quite fit.
…I don't know.
For now, I just need to focus forward.
I cast Fast Heal to mend my wounds.
I don't know what principle the enemy uses to heal, but I can't drag this into a long fight.
"I've figured out the weaknesses of your attacks," the enemy declares boldly.
"The black flame activates only during melee attacks—it doesn't trigger from range. And your familiar targets enemies based on your screams."
Gu… they're analyzing my weak points precisely.
This enemy must be a considerable warrior. Their powers of observation are frightening. If there were many more like this, we'd be finished.
What exactly is the Wave? Is it not just a simple disaster?
"But that's all. If I defeat your familiar and attack you from range, I can win!"
The enemy switches their target to Filo.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"As if I'll let you!"
Damn—Filo and the enemy are both fast. If they create distance, it'll take too long to catch up.
Is there… is there something I can do?
Then an idea strikes me.
Change Shield (Attack) and Iron Maiden.
These are skills that come with the Shield of Wrath.
There's no harm in betting on a one-in-a-million chance.
If I remember correctly… Shield Prison → Change Shield (Attack) → Iron Maiden.
This is probably the kind of skill that activates when you chain them together in sequence.
A combination skill.
"Shield Prison!"
I unleash the skill that surrounds the enemy in a cage of shields.
"Don't think you can stop me that easily!"
But the shield cage can't capture the mobile enemy.
Damn—Filo is fighting well in her rampage, but without reason, she's full of openings and dangerous.
She could take a fatal blow at any moment.
The cage vanishes uselessly, leaving only the cooldown behind.
"Lord Naofumi, do you have a plan?"
"Yeah—I just need to figure out how to hold that thing in place."
Finding an opening and trapping it in the cage would be ideal, but firing it too many times would tip the enemy off.
"Understood. I'll do my best."
"A-are you sure you're up for it?"
"I'm fine. Thanks to you, Lord Naofumi, I can still fight."
Raphtalia readies her sword in front of her and focuses her consciousness.
Her tail bristles upright, and I can tell she's casting some kind of magic.
"I'll hold it in place, so please time it right."
"Got it!"
With a faint glow emanating from her tail, Raphtalia charges toward the enemy.
"DORYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"To charge straight at me—how foolish!"
The enemy redirects the light arrow it had aimed at me with its iron fan toward Raphtalia instead.
Raphtalia drops low and dodges the arrow.
"DEEYAH!"
She swings her sword overhead and slashes at the enemy.
"You're wide open!"
The enemy sweeps laterally at Raphtalia, who is still mid-swing.
Whoosh… Raphtalia dissipated like a heat shimmer.
"What!?"
A slicing sound rings out.
Then Raphtalia suddenly materializes from the opposite direction and slashes across the enemy.
"Now!"
"On it!"
I shout in sync with Raphtalia's cue. Filo has already backed away from the aura of my skill.
It's as though the Shield of Wrath is controlling her.
"Shield Prison!"
"N—"
The shield cage engulfs the enemy.
Taking hit after heavy hit, the cage looks like it could shatter at any moment.
I won't allow it. I can't let this chance that Raphtalia created go to waste.
"Change Shield (Attack)!"
I shout it the same way I always do with Change Shield.
An image of which shield to transform into appears in my mind.
The shield I choose is the Bee Needle Shield!
"—!"
With a sharp clang, the shield transforms inward, attacking anything inside.
That impact reverberates through the cage.
Iron Maiden!
Just as I'm about to call it out, words materialize in my head: *"The punishment I have decreed for that foolish sinner is a single strike that pierces the entire body in the embrace of the Iron Maiden. Let even your screams be held, and writhe in agony!"* "Iron Maiden!"
With the incantation, a massive iron torture device—the Iron Maiden—materializes in midair. It pries open its doors and wraps around the enemy along with the cage.
"——!"
The shield cage shatters. The enemy is sealed inside the Iron Maiden, denied even the mercy of a scream, as the device pierces through them!
At the same time, my SP drops to zero.
S-so this is a skill that sacrifices all of the user's SP.
Then the Iron Maiden's effect timer runs out, and it vanishes.
"Gu… fu…"
The enemy, pierced through the entire body, barely manages to rise to its feet and glares at us.
"I'm not happy about this at all… but it seems I have no choice but to retreat for now…"
After taking a skill like that, it's still standing!?
"You think I'll let you escape?!"
"Ha!"
The enemy dashes toward the fissure. Looking over at Filo, she's not even chasing—just kicking anything that catches her eye.
I'd need my Roar to issue commands to the rampaging Filo, but I've run out of SP.
We were so close to finishing this.
"My name is
The enemy reaches the fissure, turns around, and points at me.
"Do I need to tell you?"
"Probably not. But I'd like to remember the name of the one who pushed me this far, out of respect. That's what I'm saying."
"A warrior, huh. There's plenty I want to ask about."
"Then as the price for my name, I'll offer you—a shield bearer—some information."
What? What are they going to tell me?
"If you think we are mere disasters, you are sorely mistaken. We will be the ones to win—not you."
Hoh… this could be genuinely important information.
Come to think of it, I know nothing about what the Wave actually is.
Glass… I need to know more than just the enemy's words—I need to understand the meaning of the Wave.
At the very least, I've confirmed that the enemy is a sentient being.
I've been too caught up with the trash king and the bitch princess.
The true enemy that the Heroes are meant to fight—these guys, the Wave.
Heh… enemies on all sides. This is going to be rough…
"Fine. In exchange for your information, I'll give you my answer. My name is Naofumi—Iwatani Naofumi!"
"Naofumi… I'll remember that name!"
The enemy calling itself Glass declares that and slips through the fissure, vanishing.
And as Glass retreats, the fissure fades away as well.
I immediately switch the Shield of Wrath II to another shield.
A shield that just powered up this drastically isn't one I can keep equipped for long.
"Whew…"
"We did it."
"Not bad."
"Nyaa… what happened?"
I turn around and see that Raphtalia has caught up to me while Filo has collapsed face-first on the ground, completely spent.
"So the Wave has subsided, more or less."
"It has."
"Filo's tired…"
"Yeah. We'll leave the other Heroes to themselves and handle the cleanup."
And so, the third Wave in this world came to an end.