22 – The Second Strike
It was a scene from hell.
Due to the crimson cracks, everything was tinged an eerie red hue.
Not only that, but screams filled the air, along with the ghastly sound of otherworldly monsters.
But I remained unmoved. And the reason for that was...
"You think something like this scares me?"
...If we were talking about monsters, then I was the greatest monster here.
A holographic name flickered into existence as a zombie entered my field of view: [Inter-Dimensional Zombie].
It reeked. Smelled of rot. And it looked awful, dripping with decayed fetid flesh and blackened bones. But...
"I figured out how to kill zombies back in 2012, idiot."
...I simply stepped forward, broke its knee, then tossed it on the ground with the momentum of its own weight before using the edge of my shield to cut its head in half.
> +100 XP
"Hmph."
I kicked aside the dissolving corpse and then looked at the other monsters.
Monsters who, after seeing me kill the zombie with my bare hands, actively hesitated...
Oh, wait. That was just <Ominous Aura>.
I laughed and then held out my arms. "Well then, Monsters of the Wave. Is this all you have?" I smiled. "Because if it is... then Lia, Sylvia. Let's reap the free experience."
"Yes, Goshujin-sama!"
"Understood, Master!"
An orange and then silver blur.
Lia and Sylvia breaking off to cut down monsters left and right, moving with precision like I taught them to not waste any energy. Simply disarming, delimbing, and neutralizing the monsters they reached while taking easy kills.
I followed behind them, <Sentinel Shield Mk II> ensuring they were free to run rampant without fear. Meanwhile, I cleaned up the scraps they left by stabbing through the dying monsters with my shield to finish them off.
> +100 XP
> +90 XP
> +80 XP
.
.
.
> +30 XP
> Warning! The Shield Hero is not one who attacks! XP penalty is applied!
[Parallel System notes the active suppresion]
[Shattered Veil strengthens. One mark remains.]
A flurry of notifications.
Was it because I wasn't fitting the ideal that the Shield Spirit had for a hero? Because there was some entity observing my actions and deciding I wasn't operating 'correctly?'
Either way, I was being actively suppressed in terms of growth.
But it didn't matter. Because...
> Your companion has killed a monster! +100 XP (You gain +20 XP)
...What mattered was that Lia and Sylvia were growing.
I had alternative means to gain strength and power. And I didn't really care for how this wave ended.
But it was excellent training for Lia and Sylvia.
"Goshujin-sama!" Lia's bright voice echoed over the dying cries of the monsters. "These are easy to kill!"
Sylvia's beautiful laughter echoed like chiming bells over the chaos. Then she said, "Compared to Master's blade during training, these creatures are snails."
A scene that didn't suit such bright words.
Lia mowed through the horde of monsters like a scythe, sending body parts and heads flying through the air everywhere she went.
Meanwhile, Sylvia flowed like water, her blade barely flickering as she stole lives while leaving the bodies whole, preferring piercing wounds instead of slashes like Lia.
And then there was me, chuckling as I stomped on any dying monsters, making my way after them as we headed towards the village. "Don't rush too far ahead. I need the XP too."
"Hai~"
"Of course, Master!"
Now... let's wrap this up.
===
To the villagers of Riyute Village, it was the end of the world.
The blue sky cracked, bleeding crimson. Monsters emerged from the midst of nowhere. And the Legendary Heroes who should have saved them, the Sword, the Spear, the Bow... they emerged in a flash but immediately ran away, leaving the villagers to their demise.
The village chief, an elderly man with a long white beard... he saw it all and closed his eyes, making a quiet prayer for someone, anyone, to save them.
For the three spirits to come back and grant them a miracle, just like the Church of the Three Heroes promised in their teachings.
But instead of the Three Heroes...
"Hmph. You think you have the ability to kill anyone when I am on the field?"
...The Shield Devil emerged.
And yet...
"Goshujin-sama! The villagers!"
"Master! We're fine, but protect them!"
"Tch... Fine. I guess they haven't done us wrong."
...When hell erupted and they were forsaken.
Only the devil came to their aid.
The village chief saw him.
A young man with hair as black as night. Brown eyes that looked like murky blood from the crimson light above. A shield with a jewel that glowed an ominous bloody hue.
A monster.
Covered with the grime, blood, and viscera of the creatures he had slain along the way, he looked like death itself come to reap their lives.
But...
"Hey. You're the one in charge, right? Go rally the villagers. I can't protect you if you aren't in one place."
...He said words that didn't make sense.
"Oi!" The Shield Devil- No. The savior who came to their aid when the real heroes ran.
He looked at the village chief and said, "Do you want your friends and family to die or what? I'm not going to go out of my way to save them, you know?"
"A-A-Ah. Yes!"
Right.
This man wasn't a hero.
But he WAS their savior- No. Their 'path to salvation.'
The Shield Devil wasn't willing to drag them through hell to safety.
But he had cracked the door open. Showed the little bit of light to safety.
So...
The village chief roused his spirit and courage and shouted. "Everyone! To the village square! Do as the Shield Devil- No. As the Wielder of the Shield says!"
He wasn't a hero.
He wasn't even a real savior.
And the village chief could tell that the man was only doing it as a courtesy.
But...
The fact that he was doing this at all.
The fact that he saw the village on the verge of destruction and ran back into hell instead of away from it.
...If the person who held his hand out to lead them to safety in hell was the devil, then the village chief would gladly take that hand over the arrogant heroes who discarded them.
===
It was mildly annoying that the village chief called me the Shield Devil anyway... but the fact that he listened and rallied the villagers made it irrelevant.
I didn't care what they called me as long as they made my job easier.
And it WOULD be unpleasant seeing corpses. Not to mention potentially traumatizing for Lia and Sylvia.
So...
I looked at the trembling group of villagers gathered in the plaza.
Funnily enough, I saw a few people that looked like the Magic Shop owner and the Pharmacist in the mix.
Did he have family here? Maybe.
But that was a tangent that didn't matter.
I looked around at the surrounding to get a gauge for the situation.
In the distance, beyond the horde of monsters, I could see Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki fighting against a black chimera with their party members.
...They all sucked, by the way.
It had been thirty minutes since we were teleported here against our wills to fight the wave, and those guys STILL hadn't killed just ONE monster. Even if it was a 'boss' type monster, it was just one damned living being.
With three heroes and twelve supporters ganging up on it, the battle should be a done deal. The wave should have ended 25 minutes ago, since a fight like that should have taken five minutes max.
'Tch. Those bastards are still treating this like just a game...'
It was annoying.
Did they not realize that the only reason people were alive right now was because I was protecting them?
Or was it that they didn't see the people in this world as anything but 'NPCs?'
I didn't know, but-
"GRAGH!"
An earthshattering roar.
The corpses of the monsters that Lia and Sylvia had left behind as they cut their way through the hordes of monsters started to flow together.
Screams from the villagers behind me filled the air.
Some blamed me.
Others begged forgiveness for following the Shield Devil.
Some begged ME to save them.
But overall, it was desperation. Fear that this was the final end.
I didn't move. Instead, I just stared at the growing reanimated corpse, watching as the holographic name flickered to life above its head: [Interdimensional Corpse Titan - Lv. 50]