" ": You talking

' ': You thinking

* *: Narrator/Voice-off

Your POV:

"This town feels lifeless somehow. Has the famine been going since we left ?"

Raphtalia: But more importantly, it seems people are scared...

???: Is it really true ?

???: Yeah, it seems so.

'You're kidding me... What in the name of Speedwagon is Itsuki doing here ?!! And why is he dressed as a simple traveler... ?'

Naofumi: 'Carrying an arrow, probably his bow in disguise, like my book shield. Is he gathering info at this pub ?'

'It would seem so. You see it's useful, to communicate via Hermit Purple like that.'

Adventurer: The investigation says that the lord of this town levies heavier taxes than the national standard, and punishes those in disagreement with hired muscle.

'So, those who were wandering with heads raised high, are goons for this purpose...'

Itsuki: I see. This lord, deserves a little lesson !

Hearing that, the two of us fell down from our chairs, trying not to laugh and not to cringe at the same time.

Itsuki: What happened ?

Adventurer: Nothing, just a couple of drunkards.

Itsuki: Now everyone, let's go.

Naofumi: 'Hey hey... Are you Robin Hood or what ?'

'I bet he'll make a fuss at the lord's manor, reveal his identity and lecture the bad guy ! Noble intents, but still dumb as fuck...'

Naofumi: Whatever, this has nothing to do with us, so let's not get involved.'

Naofumi: ... Haa.

Blacksmith: Hey, what's wrong with you, kid ? You look so down ! It didn't change much in appearance, but its performance improved ! All thanks to the magic dragon's core you guys brought !

"See ? I told you it would be enough for improving both our gears."

Naofumi: Well, let's forget the design...

Blacksmith: isn't the next wave coming soon ? The heroes who shall save the world deserve this, right ?

"Save the world, huh ? We'll do what we can."

Itsuki: There they are ! Hey you ! Why did you steal our quest rewards ?!!

"... Nani... ?"

Itsuki: I was asked to depose a lord who misgoverned his domain ! But when I visited the guild to collect my reward, they told me someone had already taken it..

Naofumi: Why do you suspect us ?

Itsuki: You're the only heroes who'd do that kind of things !

Naofumi: Hey; listen. What makes you think it was one of the heroes ? Did you make sure to give proof you were a hero when you accepted the quest ? In any case, it's pointless to hide your identity.

Itsuki: Wh-What are you talking about ?!

Naofumi: It might make you feel good to be an ally of justice, but you can't get the credit you deserve. There's been rumors about Ren and Motoyasu lately, but we haven't heard anything about you... Did you expect people to know it was actually you ? You should brag about what you've done, or you'll get fooled like that.

Itsuki: Bragging about helping people ?! That's against my justice !

Naofumi: Well then, do you know what's happened to the domain in question ?

Itsuki: Of course ! It's prosperous again, with the bad ruler gone ?!

Naofumi: The people in the domain, are so starved they sneak to other regions for food.

Itsuki: No way ! How come... ?

"I bet the lord made mistakes, but the domain had a tough time because of the famine in the first place. All you did was change the head, and it didn't solve anything. Same with you, Ren. Are you aware that a plague erupted from the dead body of the dragon you killed ?"

Ren: What ?!

"We got rid of it by coincidence, so your quest was canceled. Of course, we don't expect a thank-you note here."

Ren: ... I-I see. I'm sorry about that.

Itsuki: Do you believe them ?!

Ren: They have no reason to lie...

Itsuki: W-Well then, what about my reward... ?!

Naofumi: I don't know. Why don't you try to cover your ass instead of being blinded by self-righteousness ?

Itsuki: I... I don't believe you !!

"So does he wants money that badly ? Is this how the heroes supposed to fight waves act... ?"

Soldier: Ah ! Shield hero ! Staff hero !

Naofumi: Hey, you guys... Why are you here ?

Soldier: I heard you went back to your town ! We want to talk about how to fight waves !

Naofumi: I see. Okay, we'll look for a place to stay the night first. You guys can come later !

Soldier: Yes !

Naofumi: Guys...

"We know. It is time..."

"Now, let's go !!"

Soldier: Heroes !!

Naofumi: Good ! You're all here !

Filo: Master ? There are some people coming.

Motoyasu: What's going on ?! You're just a pain !!

Naofumi: You guys... Why didn't you bring an army here ? You should know from the last battle how many enemies come... ?!

Raphtalia: It takes at least a day, just to get any reinforcement from the capital.

"They just don't listen ! We can't possibly evacuate all the nearby towns on our own ! Well, if you're just SOOOOOO powerful, it'll only take you a couple of minutes to finish off the boss, right ?! Tch..."

3 god f***ing hours later:

"WHAT A BUNCH OF USELESS ASSHOLES !!!"

Naofumi: They're late !! It's been 3 hours already ! They headed brashly over, but they haven't defeated the boss yet ?!

Soldier: Please go, heroes ! We somehow finished evacuating the nearby towns, but if monsters keep spawning this way...

"Half of me want to leave those three with their problems, but the other half is more concerned about the wave itself... I suppose we've got no choice..."

Naofumi: We'll leave this place to you ! Let's go !!

Right under that boat, one of the tree """""heroes"""", in the person of Itsuki, had stayed behind, trying to shoot the thing down with his arrows, with little to no effect so far.

Naofumi: Itsuki !!

Itsuki: Why are you here ? Didn't you say you wouldn't come fight ?! We must destroy the ship, or this won't be over ! But Motoyasu and Ren insisted on entering the ship...

"What ?! You're not teaming up ?!"

Naofumi: It seems your attacks can't achieve a proper hit ! Maybe you should join the other people fighting inside the ship to destroy it... ?

Itsuki: There's no such strategy in the game I've been playing-Dimension Wave !!

"Alright, I'm gonna say that only once, since you thick-skulls morons seems to not get it. THIS.IS.NOT.A.GAME !!! That you want it or not, this is the real life for us now, you get it !! THIS IS NO GAME, IT'S LIFE !!"

Naofumi: Stay where you are as long as you like... We'll get on the ghost ship, and wreck its weak points first !

Itsuki: Are you going to steal my credit again ?!

"What credit ? So far you've done nothing effective... Filo, take Naofumi and Raphtalia to that boat, I'll catch up to you later."

Naofumi: Suits yourself. let's go, Filo !

Itsuki: And what do you expect to do all alone ?

"I'm going to stop that damn ship."

I made my way to the largest chunk of rock I could find in the area.

"Good. Custom spell, [GOLD EXPERIENCE], Life creation !!"

Ren: What ?!

Motoyasu: Naofumi !

Naofumi: 'A kraken... And a skeleton captain...' Motoyasu ! Ren ! Explain the situation to me !! Why are you fighting separately ?!

Myne: Get lost ! You worthless Shield-bearer-

Naofumi: SHUT UP !! Do you heroes even have half a mind to fight seriously ?! There are monsters spawning at this very moment !

Ren: It's him... If we kill this guy, the boss "Soul eater" will appear !

Motoyasu: What are you talking about ?! This kraken is what we need to kill first !!

All of a sudden, the entire ship started to shake, as sound of shattered planks was heard, they could see leaves and branch going around and even above the ship.

Motoyasu: What is that thing ?! A tree ?! Where did it comes from ?!!

Naofumi: There's only one person who can do that...

Back on ground level, I was punching a still growing properly humongous tree, holding the ship in place.

"Muda muda muda muda muda muda mudaaa !!"

Itsuki: ... How... How the hell... I mean, why... You use magic, for the love of god, how can you be so powerful !!

"Not your business, Itsuki. Now use that tree to climb onto the ship, I don't think it'll hold it like that forever. Custom spell, ZIPPER MA- I mean, [STICKY FINGER] !!"

I punched the base of the tree, making a zipper appear, and jumped through it, making my way to the top.

Naofumi: It seems like it stopped to grow. Now the ship is stopped.

Motoyasu: But how did it happen ? Who did this ?!

Itsuki: It was Y/n... He stopped the ship, so now we can destroy it. Have you guys been wasting time because you all had different ideas ?

Ren: The hell ?! If you help me, we can kill him before he regenerates !

Motoyasu: It'll appear no matter how many times you kill it. Don't you know ?! Besides, you speak of Y/n like he actually helped, but I don't see him !

At that very moment, a zipper opened beneath his feet, swallowing him without a warning.

"ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI-AOUTCH !! That dumbass put his foot in my eye ! Get lost, you ruined my entrance !!"

Motoyasu was launched out of the zipper, and crashed a little farther, as I emerged too, clutching my left eye in pain.

"Ow..."

Naofumi: Yes... As you can see, no progress was made here for the last three hours.

"I see. It would seem the common theme is 'The boss appear after defeating something'."

Naofumi: The boss here controls undead monsters... Raphtalia ! Can you lure it with light magic ?

Raphtalia: Do you want me to try ? I, a source of power, command: Attain the truth once more, and let light shine here !

Naofumi: Hey guys, that son of a bitch is in the shadows !!

The three: SO IT'S THERE !!

They all stabbed the three different shadows at the same time, resulting on the "true" boss to finally appear.

"It's becoming One ! Now that we've drawn it out, the rest is your responsibility !!"

Itsuki: You're talking so loftily !! WIND ARROW !!

Motoyasu: LIGHTING SPEAR !!

Ren: CRIMSON BURNING SWORD !!

Yeah, you guessed it, it was ineffective.

Myne: Crap ! It's not over yet !

"Good grief... Even though we drew it out, they aren't putting up a good fight at all !"

"Oh crap !!"

Naofumi: Wait ! You guys, it's dangero-

Naofumi: Are you guys okay ?!

"I... I guess so... I feel like we underprepared for this..."

Naofumi: Those guys are at least alive.

Filo: Master !! Look !

"You've got to be kidding... He can keep shooting those things ?!"

Naofumi: You'd call it a "high-level boss" in online games. A type that a group of high-level players would take hours to kill.

"They've been settling for just being heroes, so look at what happens."

Meanwhile, there was someone watching the whole scene, standing on one of the ship's poles.

???: How pathetic. So there's no hero in this land...

"Naofumi, if whatever I do from now on goes wild... I entrust Filo to you."

Filo: Master... ?

"Step back, guys. I'll deal personally with that thing."

Motoyasu: Ugh... ? Y/n... ?

As I was tightly gripping my staff with both hands, there was a translucent wall in front of us all, stopping the fireball.

'I've never used that in a real battle... If I lose my focus for a second here, everything will be done, at both sides.'

"Empowered by the rotten dragon's core... [AEGIS], ACT II !!"

Naofumi: You evolved your spells...

"Be quiet, now. I need all my focus, to send back that thing. ACT II, FULL COUNTER !!"

Growing about twice in size, the fireball bounced back my barrier, hitting and utterly disintegrating the "Soul eater" upon impact, only leaving specks of dust and ashes on the deck.

Motoyasu: Impressive... You can fight even though you said you knew little about games.

Ren: ... It's my defeat this time.

Itsuki: He just saved his energy since he was being sidelined.

Naofumi: But, the wave... Is the wave over now... ?

"I hope... This took a lot out of me, I don't think I can keep up if more of these start to appear."

???: Why are you having so much trouble with such a small fry ? Are you two the only heroes here ?

Itsuki: Wh- Who are you ?!

She didn't responded, but another soul eater appeared, created from the first one's remaining shadow.

Adventurer: There's another Soul eater ?!

???: Please do not interfere, for this is a noble fight... Yes, the real fight with the wave begins now.

Naofumi: The "Real" fight ?!

???: You two must be the heroes. What are your names ?

"Isn't it proper etiquette to introduce yourself before asking for someone else's name ?"

???: You're right, pardon my rudeness. I am Glass. Having said that, I am in a hostile relationship with you heroes.

Naofumi: I'm Naofumi.

"And Y/n."

Glass: Well then, Naofumi and Y/n, let's get started. THE REAL FIGHT WITH THE WAVE !!

"So the boss wasn't the Soul eater ?! [STAR PLATINUM: THE WORLD] !!"

Once again everything froze, except me, and Filo, since she is registered as part of my group.

"We have very little time here, Filo, let's go !"

Filo: Okay Master ! Let's kill da hoe !! Beeeeeeetch !!

After the two of us kicked her out of the way, she crashed in the ship's once time resumed itself, making it fall and almost cut the ship in half, as it was now only held in the air by the tree. But in the end, she was unscathed from the attack.

Glass: The way all these blows were delivered... If I'm not mistaken, you possess a way to stop the flow of time, don't you ?

Trying to take advantage of her distraction, the three other heroes attacked her all at once, much to... Well, they all failed miserably, and she wasn't even trying.

Glass: Stop acting up soft. Ronde form zero, reverse style of snow, moon and flowers.

Once the light died down, all three parties were down and done for, while the rest of us would have to thanks Naofumi for protecting us.

Glass: Huh ? Is it over with this... ? What pathetic minions you are. Pity on the holy weapons you hold.

Filo: Master... She's very strong !

"Yeah, we noticed... She killed one of these soul eaters in one strike... No matter how you think of it, the other heroes Stand no chance against her."

Naofumi: The question is: Can we beat her ?

"This is not a question, we HAVE to beat her, or else we're done for."

Glass: So, are you done talking ? Were you able to come up with a strategy ?

"... First, we'll take that fight in a more suitable battlefield. Custom spell, [ECHOES] ACT III !!"

The entire ship started to tilt and bend, soon falling out of the tree's hold.