Yumiella was rather bored with the Pope's speech, but she'd judged her timing correctly so she didn't need to wait for long; her presence in the Church with her party would also give an unshakable alibi to prevent her from being accused of grabbing Myne, which was Itsuki's duty.
Melromarc -- 00:00:00:03
Melromarc -- 00:00:00:02
Melromarc -- 00:00:00:01
Melromarc -- 00:00:00:00
There was the echo of a great bell as darkness consumed her, and then a whirling kaleidoscope of color with the sound of glass shattering, and Yumiella stood with her team atop a small hill as the cracks Wave spread through the red sky and monsters began to descend from the breeches.
"Rich-kun, Doduo-chan, I love you both, so stay with the adults and listen to them and be safe," she said quickly. "Farrie, Welt, Tersia-,"
"Farmland, towns, and break up big groups of monsters, but don't over-extend," Tersia confirmed. "We'll see if we can meet up with another group... I think I might recognize this area."
"Ganbatte," Yumiella wished them, as Welt finished his chant.
"Drifa Haste!" he cast, wind swirling around Yumiella to raise her speed.
"Yoshi-kun, we ride," Yumiella declared, shifting to a high-ATK sword and mounting Yoshi's saddle before he rushed off toward where the monsters were thickest.
Riding a land-bound Tyrella was different from riding Ryun back home, but not too different, and she'd gotten plenty of practice the past few days.
The monsters themselves were unimpressive: large zombies and insects in great numbers, but individually very few were fast enough to land a hit or strong enough to deal damage.
Slashes could cleave through two or three monsters while Yoshi casually bit off a limb or head as he carried her past faster than they could react.
After five minutes of running, Yumiella checked her Menu for messages and drop item once they'd cleared their twelfth large bunch of monsters.
Good drop items for how easy these are to kill, Yumiella assessed idly.
Rusted weapons and armor that nevertheless have good stats and the ability to inflict poison or other conditions- Poison!
Yumiella quickly pulled out two antidotes, drinking one and feeding the other to Yoshi-kun.
The negative status ailments from being splattered by rotten zombie gore diminished.
I didn't feel anything, that could have been a nightmare if the influences continued to stack up, she assessed.
Pulling up her PM Menu -- which each of the Cardinal Heroes had dumped over 100 PP into improving so that the messages were actually instantaneous now -- Yumiella shot off a warning to the other three and their parties that close contact with the monsters inflicted poison and disease.
Buzzing in her ears just as she sent the message alerted her to insects swooping down from the sky.
"Air Strike Slash! Second Slash," Yumiella invoked, cutting several bugs out of the air at once.
Locusts and wasps, so that was accurate.
That was when she heard shouting.
"Get the wagons on their sides! We need a barricade, faster!"
"Yoshi-kun, people," Yumiella hissed.
"Yom!"
Over a hill and down a slope, she found three wagons with guards but also plenty of cowering civilians and a few children.
Why are so many people out during the Wave? We've known when it would occur for more than a month, just not where, but it shouldn't have been too difficult for people to-
"Air Strike Slash!" Yumiella snapped off as she urged Yoshi to speed up. Her stomach churned.
Ten seconds later, the twelve zombies attacking the caravan had been dismembered, but one guard had been messily disemboweled and a woman was sobbing with huge chunks bitten out of her arm as several more people tried to bind a dozen injuries.
"You've saved us!"
"The Sword Hero!"
"Thank you, Lady Hero!"
"How far are we from shelter?" Yumiella asked tersely.
Do I need to escort them to safety? Do I have enough medical supplies? "I have potions, but more monsters will continue to come after us."
One of them mentioned that Riyute Village was nearby, but it was back the way she'd come from, further from the Wave's epicenter.
"How many people cannot fight?" Yumiella checked, which got three injured adults and four children pushed to the front. "I will take the children to Riyute and check that another of the Heroes is protecting it, then I will return."
It took some rope from her Rope Sword to make sure all the kids wouldn't fall off Yoshi's back, and then she set him to rush off to Riyute.
What she found there was... disturbing.
"Hate Reaction! Dammit, Shield Prison! Take cover, it's after you!" Naofumi shouted as the ball of Shields rattled and distended.
"Naofumi, I have evacuees. What is that?" Yumiella checked.
"Fucking giant griffon, calls herself Ashil the Griffon Queen, showed up and is chasing the kids," Naofumi answered grimly. "Seems griffons have a thing about Filorials."
"-eeere chikichikichiki~!" a voice screamed as the wagon-sized griffon tore its way free of the Shield Prison, though Filo and Doduo had both already run off.
"The Boss Monster," Yumiella assessed, hurriedly undoing the rope to free the kids tied to her saddle. "Yoshi,
kill."
"It's not-!" Naofumi started, but Yoshi had already hurled himself at the enemy.
Doduo had been bleeding. This griffon would
die.
"Everyone, follow me, into the mines for safety!" Raphtalia shouted, chivvying along all the frightened villagers.
Sadeena had peeled off a few minutes ago when it looked like Yumiella needed help against the giant griffon, which meant until the other Heroes' parties showed up Raphtalia was practically on her own, since the three Filorial were in charge of getting people to the mines from Riyute Village.
Luckily, Raphtalia only needed to kill maybe two-dozen monsters herself when they tried to get into the cave, the birds being sufficient to kill most of the rest of them mid-journey, but the ten minutes it took until the flood of evacuees died down were some of the most nerve-wracking of her life.
"Sissi Raphtalia! Sissi Raphtalia!" Firo squawked as she showed up with two more robed figures. "Firo brought you two more people, but they feel really suspicious, should we let them in?"
"Suspicious? Firo, there's a Wave going on!" Raphtalia snapped back as the two clumsily dismounted. "Please forgive her, she's very young."
The smaller figure swept her hood back, revealing red hair and two pointed ears.
"Well," the fox-woman chuckled in a deep, slightly worn voice, "I didn't know Melromarc had us suspecting each other now all of a sudden. But if it makes the bird feel better, I can stay and help you guard the entry, provided you'll let Shate here-," The taller cloaked woman waved a hand, and Raphtalia caught a flash of fish scales and clawed fingertips. "-get inside where it's not so dry."
"Oh yes, Sadeena-nee has that problem, please come in," Raphtalia allowed, letting the taller fish-woman pass as the shorter fox-woman took up a guard position on the opposite end of the mine's entryway. "I'm Raphtalia, with the Cardinal Shield Hero, who's defending this town."
"Tulina," the fox-woman introduced herself. "If it's not too much trouble, our third party member Leludia was off fighting a horde that way, if you could check that she's still alive and bring her in?"
"Firo doesn't trust you," Firo answered sternly.
"Firo! If I tell master Naofumi that you've misbehaved, he won't cook for you or brush your hair," Raphtalia threatened. Firo looked conflicted, but still didn't turn to leave. "
Go, go rescue people."
"...
Fine," Firo huffed, turning and sprinting off into the woods.
"Master?" Tulina noted curiously. Her eyes fell on Raphtalia's chest. "You're a slave."
"By choice, now," Raphtalia answered. "I won't let people look down on me for being a slave, and I won't let them think I'm better if I'm free. Being free didn't protect me before, so I'll make a world where it doesn't
matter what patterns are on my skin."
"Curious..." Tulina mused, licking her lips. She whispered something Raphtalia couldn't catch, or maybe it was just a long sigh, and then she said, "Is that orca-woman fighting Ashil a slave too? Or the swordswoman on the Tyrella?"
"Sadeena-nee isn't a slave, though she was considering becoming a Zenoble gladiator until she met our party," Raphtalia simplified. There were still sounds of fighting in the town, but the area around them had grown almost eerily quiet, now that there were no more evacuees coming in. "The other is the Holy Sword Hero."
"Damn. Melrith and Rulina had better be on their toes, or things might go really wrong. You're close to that orca-woman, then?" Tulina mused, idly examining her clawed fingers.
"I- Sadeena-nee and I grew up in the same village, practically sisters. Who are those people you mentioned?" Raphtalia checked.
"Friends of mine, helping out the fight. Well, they're sort of rivals," Tulina amended, "but the hate sex is pretty good. Hey, want to see something cool about that slave crest?"
"I-? wha-," Raphtalia managed, and then a flick of Tulina's wrist raked one claw across the crest faster than Raphtalia could react.
*brrzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz~!*
Raphtalia screamed as the pain brought her to her knees, and then all fours in burning agony.
Tulina kicked her, stomped and bore down, pressing her face into the ground... into the wet, sticky, copper-smelling ground.
Why did she-? Is this blood on the ground?
*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz~!*
"Nelshen, finished already?" Tulina called casually as she pinned Raphtalia.
"Two thirds," an unfamiliar woman's voice answered. "One of those damn birds got away, but Leludia is chasing it."
*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz~!*
Brain already swimming in agony, Raphtalia could barely process what her eyes were seeing as the new woman took another bite-
Raphtalia vomited, emptying her stomach as she realized the Aotatsu woman was eating a Filorial leg like a chicken drumstick.
*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz~!*
"What did this one do to piss you off instead of inviting her to join our Lord?" Nelshen wondered, taking another wet, squelching, bloody bite.
"Eh, raccoons in general, you know?" Tulina answered. "Never lost that grudge. Besides, she's close to that Orca-girl, so I figure I'd give Shate a hostage to force her death match."
*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz~!*
"Thanks," rasped a throaty voice as the woman who'd entered the cave stepped into view, now cloak-free and covered head to toe in wet crimson. "Not a single decent fighter among all the pissants in there, they died so fast Tulina barely even needed to use her illusions."
*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz~!*
Raphtalia finally passed out into the darkness.
"Chaos Thrust!" Motoyasu shouted, pouring another few thrust into the giant zombie chimera. "Almost... there...!"
Just need another potion or two and for my back-up to show up some time soon!
"Lightning Whip."
*ZAP!*
Sudden
pain flashed through Motoyasu's body, his vision went white, and he found himself face-down on the forest floor.
When he stopped seeing stars, he realized the Wave End countdown had started, meaning the boss was dead.
"Who'sh?" Motoyasu managed through numb lips.
A moment later, someone toed him over onto his back and he found himself blearily looking at a blond man wearing a leather jacket and a bandana.
"Excellent! I was worried I might have killed you by accident, after I already missed my chance at the Cardinal Bow." He stooped down, but instead of helping Motoyasu up, he just straightened up again holding a spear.
Holding the...
"H-how...?" Motoyasu managed to ask, as the Cardinal Spear wasn't supposed to leave his person, much less answer to the hand of anyone else.
"I am Tact, the only true Hero this world needs," the man answered.
He stomped down, and Motoyasu's vision went black.
