[0:11:52]
Just a little over 11 minutes remained until the third Wave hit this world. I'd been ready for it for a while now, so at the mont I was simply sitting in the mansion's garden, soaking in the peaceful atmosphere.
"I still don't like this..."
Standing next to were Wyndia and Night. That line, by the way, ca from the first one.
"You know full well why you have to stay behind."
"I do. Right now I'd just get in the way." The girl lowered her head, looking dejected.
"Good girl."
"Don't treat like a child!" she puffed up her cheeks like... well, a total child. Yeah. Okay then.
I'd pushed Scythe Mastery to level 9, Twin Scythes to level 5, stocked up on every kind of potion imaginable, and hit level 79 myself. There was no real reason to worry — my chances of dying were slim to none. Definitely not to the monsters from the Wave, at least.
[0:06:13]
To be honest, I didn't even have to participate in this Wave. All I had to do was stay synced to Zeltoble's local clock and I wouldn't get dragged into lromarc's Wave. The current Heroes didn't know it, but Waves were a global phenonon — not limited to lromarc alone. So far, the situation hadn't spiraled out of control thanks to the efforts of the Star Heroes and the military strength of other nations, which had so far been enough to hold off the invasions.
And a big part of that, actually, was soone I'd really like to et — a legendary filolial raised by a Hero from one of the past generations: Fitoria.
...I wonder if Night would get jealous?
I glanced over at my bird, who was blankly staring at so flowers.
Nah. That's just dumb.
The thing was, I couldn't skip this Wave. Soone important was supposed to show up — soone I was very interested in. Grass's appearance had opened the door to exploring how dinsional travel worked. And that, in turn, opened up a whole new world of possibilities to study.
The only problem was that the Four Legendary Heroes were forbidden from directly entering other worlds. The system simply didn't allow it — exceptions were only granted under rare and specific circumstances.
But... I already knew that not all of the Legendary Heroes' restrictions applied to . For instance, Sacred Weapons were supposed to repel one another and block experience gain if another Hero was nearby. And yet, I'd confird that that particular rule didn't apply to . So maybe this whole "no world-hopping" thing was another limit I could bypass?
[0:02:03]
"Two minutes," I said, turning to Night. "Ready, birdie?"
"Yes."
"Good."
I gave a satisfied nod and turned my gaze forward again, silently tracking the countdown as everything fell into stillness. And then, right as the final seconds ticked away, a soft blue glow began to surround both and Night...
"...Take care, Nott-san."
I heard the words just before the world around us fully shifted — replaced by the view of a small, plain village in the distance — followed imdiately by the sound of shattering glass echoing through the air.
Just like before, the sky turned a deep, bloody crimson, and spatial rifts began to slowly form in the air, glowing faint purple.
I looked around and spotted all four Heroes — including Naofumi — standing nearby. Behind him stood several squads of soldiers, while the other Heroes each brought only small groups of their usual companions.
Not that I could really judge them. I only had one companion myself...
The scene, unsurprisingly, was repeating itself. Barely a second after regaining their bearings, the brave trio of Spear, Sword, and Bow Heroes imdiately dashed off toward what they assud was the Wave boss.
"Nott..."
"Oooh! It's sister Night and big bro Nott!"
Naofumi was about to call out to them, but then he spotted — and suddenly froze. His face twisted into a complicated expression. Raphtalia, for the record, wore a similar look in her eyes.
Only Filo didn't seem to care in the slightest — she just waved at us with a big, happy grin.
"Hey!" I waved back. "Looks like you ca better prepared this ti." I glanced around at the small army he'd pulled together for the Wave defense.
"Yeah..." But the guy still looked distant, distracted. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and finally managed to focus. "We'll need to talk after the Wave."
"Sure," I shrugged. "For now, I've got business to take care of."
The first wave of monsters had already begun pouring out of the spatial rifts, heading straight for the village. Sohow, Naofumi had managed to bring a wagon with him into the Wave. He quickly loaded it full of civilians and started rolling out to evacuate and defend the townsfolk.
As for — I rode in on Night, who had taken on her filolial form. But when we finally reached the village...
"Hi-yaaah!" — right in front of , so granny cleanly decapitated a monster with a hoe. And she did it like it was just another day in the garden.
Wait... granny?!
"I'm not the only one seeing this, right?" Raphtalia asked, staring at the scene before us with a whole cocktail of emotions on her face.
"If you an the granny mowing down monsters like she's just casually weeding her flower bed on a regular Tuesday... then no, you're not," I replied.
"I see..."
That's gotta be the granny — the one who uses the Style of Unyielding Adaptation or whatever it was called. No way a regular retiree could just casually slaughter monsters like that.
"Oh! If it isn't the holy one-sama!" the granny finally noticed us. "Thanks to the divine blessing of the holy one, my old strength has returned! Ha-ha-ha!"
"What the hell did you give her, Naofumi?"
"Just a normal potion!"
"Then how do you explain the fact that this granny is sohow taking out monsters more effectively than an entire squad of knights?" I shot him a doubtful look.
"How should I know?!"
"Even though I've aged, I was once a rather famous adventurer in my day! My level is as high as my age!"
...Yeah, okay.
In the end, with backup from the granny and myself, Naofumi's group focused on healing the injured and evacuating villagers — occasionally fending off the stray monsters that got past the granny or the soldiers.
There wasn't much point in rushing to the boss right away — let the Heroes stew in their own dumb helplessness for a bit. So I just wandered around, lazily mowing down anything that ca into the reach of my scythes. I was using the Twin Scythes this ti, hoping to squeeze at least a bit of skill XP out of the whole thing. I wasn't even running — just strolling along.
Their passive ability, Lunar Glow, made it ridiculously easy to cut through monsters. I didn't even have to put in any real effort. And the monsters themselves were so weak that even if they did manage to land a hit, it wouldn't leave anything worse than a scratch.
This was more or less the level all the Heroes should've been at by now. If only that heroic bunch of idiots had the slightest bit of common sense and didn't act like they were the smartest beings in the world... things would've been so much simpler.
I could've just ignored the Waves entirely. Gotten myself a mansion, hired a bunch of catgirl maids, road the world slaying dragons, saving princesses, and... whatever else it is that standard isekai protagonists do. In other words: dive headfirst into debauchery, adventure, and general entertainnt.
Ah... dreams...
The Wave monsters themselves looked like untextured models — pitch-black silhouettes of different creatures, casting weird, unnatural shadows. Sotis they were the shadows.
Humanoid lizards, wolves, foxes, flying birds, crawling snakes... Plenty of variety, at least.
The soldiers Naofumi had brought along were giving weird looks. So even downright hostile. And for the life of , I couldn't figure out why. What had I ever done to them?
So, as usual, the only companion I had was Night. Not that she wasn't enough — far from it — but it still looked kind of weird. The others made a point of keeping as far away from as possible, either fighting sowhere off to the side or sticking close to Naofumi.
About forty minutes into lazily hacking away at monsters, Naofumi finally joined the battle properly — expanding his defensive coverage and helping protect a good portion of the village from harm.
But ti kept ticking, and the Wave still hadn't ended. The number of monsters had dropped noticeably, but they kept trickling out of the rifts. And that would keep happening until the Wave ended on its own — or the boss was defeated. If I rembered correctly, the latter was kind of a problem for the hero trio at the mont.
"Why the hell hasn't the Wave ended yet? What the hell are those idiots even doing?!" Naofumi was starting to lose his patience.
"We can go check for ourselves. The soldiers can handle the villagers. There's not much left for us to do here."
"But..."
He clearly hesitated. Seriously, how can soone be this nice all the ti? How do you constantly worry about other people like that? I don't think I'll ever understand soone like him.
"Don't worry about us, holy one-sama. We've got this," Granny cut into our conversation.
"Yes, hero-sama! Trust us and move forward! We'll protect the people!" A young knight — probably around eighteen — stepped out of the crowd to back her up.
"You guys... Fine. Raphtalia, Filo, let's move. Nott?" He looked over at .
"I'll go on my own."
At the center of the Wave was a massive maroon-and-violet rift, stretching from the ground all the way to the sky. Floating beside it was a battered old ship. Torn sails, rotting wood, holes in the hull, rusted cannons... It didn't exactly scream "seaworthy."
Itsuki, the Bow Hero, was attacking it from a safe distance on the ground — firing off skill after skill. The other two — Ren and Motoyasu, the Sword and Spear Heroes — were locked in battle up on the ship's deck.
"Huh? Naofumi-san? Nott-san? What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you that!" Naofumi stepped up to talk with the Bow Hero. "What's taking you guys so long?!"
"We need to destroy this ship, but Ren-san and Motoyasu-san insisted on boarding it."
"What? You guys are supposed to know everything about this world, right? Then why are you all using different strategies?"
"How should I know?!"
"It's totally possible this fight uses tactics that weren't in the ga. Don't be an idiot, Itsuki! Try using your head — think about why the other two imdiately boarded the ship!"
Naofumi was doing his best to get the Bow Hero to engage his brain, but...
"That wasn't how it worked in the Dinsion Wave I played!"
"Tch." The Shield Guy clicked his tongue in frustration. "Sick of your damn ga talk — this is real! Why is that so hard to get through your skull?!" But there wasn't a single glimr of understanding in Itsuki's eyes. "Screw it. I'm going on the ship."
"Huh? You're trying to interfere?! I won't allow it!"
"If it bothers you that much, then co with us. Filo!"
What's the most effective way to negotiate with an idiot? Obviously — provoke them.
Mounting up on Filo, Naofumi and Raphtalia took off straight for the ship — using translucent shields created via skills as stepping platforms. Not wanting to be left behind, Itsuki and his party charged after them.
As for , I used a similar skill — only instead of shields, I conjured phantom scythes as footholds, and Night leapt along them in her filolial form.
But once we reached the deck... the chaos was even worse than it looked from afar. Each of the Heroes was acting completely on their own — clearly following so personal "strategy" from the ga they thought this world was based on.
Itsuki was still trying to destroy the ship itself — but he couldn't. He simply didn't have the burst damage needed.
Motoyasu was trying to take down the kraken latched onto the front of the ship, but it regenerated every wound he inflicted and instantly regrew any severed limb.
Ren was fighting the skeleton captain — but every ti he brought the thing down, it just got back up, like soone was rewinding ti.
It was completely absurd.
I couldn't locate the real enemy using Qi, but I had no trouble sensing its Mana. That's when it all clicked.
The enemies the three Heroes were attacking were just dummies — puppets controlled by hidden strings. And the puppeteers had been hiding in their shadows the whole ti. Each puppet had its own separate controller.
Huh... In the original canon, didn't they reveal them with light magic? Let's try that...
"By the source of power, I command: decipher the laws of the world and light the surroundings! First Light."
I'd read through most of the illusion magic book a long ti ago — way before I handed it over to Naofumi and Raphtalia. So when my Mana Control skill leveled up enough, I could cast basically anything from that book without trouble.
"Huh?"
"What the—?"
The Heroes were clearly thrown off by the sudden appearance of new enemies — and even more so when Itsuki ca running in. But what really confused them was the unexpected use of magic.
"Look there!" Naofumi snapped, pointing toward the monsters' shadows, now glowing faintly after the light burst.
Ren instantly took the opportunity to attack the captain's shadow, but—
SHHHRRRRRKK!
From the shadow burst forth a monster — big, round, covered in spikes, with jagged uneven teeth and glowing red eyes. It looked kind of like a mutant pufferfish.
[Interdinsional Soul Devourer]
That was its na.
"What do you think? Can you handle that one?" I glanced down at Night.
"Hmm... I think so," she said, giving a small, thoughtful nod.
"Then take the second one. I'll just enjoy the show for now."
Night stared at my smiling face for a few seconds, then turned around and calmly walked toward Motoyasu — who, unlike Ren, had hesitated to strike. After spotting the Soul Devourer on our side, he imdiately abandoned his oversized squid and rushed over to us.
What an idiot... He didn't even try attacking his monster's shadow. And it was there — its tentacles cast distorted shadows that trailed off into a quiet corner of the ship.
But that's fine. Night would handle it.
I, anwhile, stood off to the side and watched as four Heroes now fought the fish. And so far, the clear advantage was with the fish — as ridiculous and depressing as that sounds.
"Hey!" Naofumi, at that point, had clearly had enough of this whole ss. Or maybe he was just cranky from those dried rations I'd made during a cooking experint and had just pulled out of the Scythe's inventory? "Mind helping us, maybe?!"
"Mmm... alright." I nodded and raised my hand toward the monster.
"We don't need your he—"
"Phantom Grip." My outstretched hand clenched into a fist, and a ring of phantom blades snapped shut around the pufferfish monster.
[EXP: 416 ( 104)]
"..."
"..."
No one said a word. Most of them just stood there, mouths hanging open, staring at the spot where the monster used to be.
"Pfft. We already had it almost finished off anyway!" Motoyasu scoffed.
"Exactly. No need to get cocky over sothing like that." Itsuki.
"..."
Ren, on the other hand, said nothing — just stared at , visibly stunned. What was his problem?
Not that it mattered now. Because just a few seconds later, a low, resonating hum echoed through the air.
"What is that?"
"You guys feel that too?"
Everyone instantly shifted into combat readiness, glancing around nervously. But ...
"Nott?" Naofumi called out to . But, of course, I didn't answer. "Nott!"
"..."
I was staring at the front of the ship — unable to tear my eyes away from the sight before .
There stood a girl in a black kimono.
"What the hell's wrong with you?! Cut it out — this is not the ti to ss around! She's dangerous!"
She? Yeah. No doubt about that — she was dangerous. But...
"This weakling gave you all so much trouble. Are you really the only one worthy of being called a Hero?" the girl said, her gaze fixed on .
Long, silky black hair — almost like Night's, except her bangs were perfectly straight and even, while Night's hair always fell in wild, uneven strands.
Her skin was pale — so pale it looked like ivory. Smooth, flawless, not a single blemish or mark.
"Judging by what I just saw, you're the strongest of them... The other Heroes didn't even show they knew how to fight. But you're different."
Her face was soft, with delicate cheekbones and fine, sharp Japanese features. Not even her stern expression — or her eerie crimson eyes with slightly elongated pupils — could take away from the elegance of her appearance.
"My na is Glass. And you would not be mistaken in thinking of as your enemy... Heroes." Glass paused, her face shifting to a look of visible confusion. "What... is wrong with him?" she added, now directing her question to Naofumi, who was still trying to snap out of it.
Gods, and what a figure she had. A perfectly full, perky chest just barely frad by the low-cut neckline of her kimono. A waist so narrow and shapely it practically defined the term "hourglass," cinched tight by a wide, elegant obi tied in a bold, traditional bow.
"Damn it, Nott!"
"Can't you see it, Naofumi?" I asked, eyes still locked on the vision before .
"What are you even talking about?!"
He really didn't get it. And to be fair... even I wasn't prepared for just how different she'd look in real life compared to the screen...
"That's..." I finally tore my gaze away to glance at him — and for so reason, my look made him flinch. "Naofumi. That's... a drop-dead gorgeous, porcelain-skinned, raven-haired, Japanese beauty!!!"
Silence.
Dead.
Freaking.
Silence.
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