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Chapter Text

It had been ten days since the demon outbreak in Tokyo but it felt like a lifetime ago. Stepping over the rocks and debris that littered my way to Shinagawa I realized that I should have just left the delivery job to someone else. The angels have their headquarters in Shinagawa after all, it's not as if any rogue demon tamers would be around there.

I wanted to be as helpful as I could but maybe Amane was right in saying that the ‘Messiah of God’ could be doing something more directly useful to the survivors of the lockdown than transporting some demon summoning devices.

Suffice it to say I agreed with her now, solely in terms of there being better things to do; I couldn’t delude myself into thinking that I was more important– worth more than any other human being… Of course, I was the incarnation of the biblical Abel but that just made me an unwitting participant– and the only non-demon player –in the ‘war of Bel’.

War was probably too organised a term. It was a chaotic battle royale with each of the Bel demons vying for demonic power. All to become king of Bel, ruler over all demons. It was hard enough for the average person to survive the hordes of rank and file demons present in the lockdown… the Bel demons were on an entirely different level. The only reason I came out the other end was because of all the people who supported me, and now, it was my responsibility to give everything back tenfold.

The goal for the average king of Bel was to amass an army of demons and wage another war against God. One may find that goal noble, a world without the control of a higher power, but the cost entailed an endless amount of lives. But there was another path, one where there would never be war, conflict or feud ever again. Unite all of human and demonkind to follow the teachings of Yehowah and create a veritable garden of eden on earth.

It's a bit too much for a highschool student like myself to wrap my head around but I understood that I was the only one who could make this world into a better place. The war itself ended three days ago but we still had to be on the lookout for any rogue demon tamers still using COMPS.

The ‘Communication Players’ (colloquially called COMPs) were a new generation, dual screen, handheld gaming device with email and web browser functionality. They’re honestly more like cellphones than game systems. However the COMPS located in the lockdown were special, they had custom code outfitted by my cousin Naoya to run the demon summoning program.

During the lockdown forming contracts with demons was a necessity for survival. Even though the war was over many had been too scared to let go of that power. I sympathized with these people, but they could not receive proper assistance and allowances until they had surrendered themselves, which in time they did. We managed to acquire seven COMPS on our patrols this morning.

I was walking by crumbling buildings, blown up cars and looted convenience stores when I heard a notification on my own COMP. It was… “an email?” but that shouldn’t have been possible. The email’s server was only active at night so I expected it to be from Naoya, the administrator. But the email only had blank text where the sender's address should be. The subject line only held ‘The Records of the Four Holy Weapons’.

Why would someone send me this? With the ‘Records’ in the subject line, maybe it held an account of some mythology and a demon sent it my way, like a ‘Hi I’m so and so demon from this faith. If you haven't heard of them this should suffice as a basic primer’… Ok, that’s a bit of a leap but demons were kinda weird!

The email's body of text exposited a world faced with a prophecy, that apocalyptic waves of destruction would ravage the land and leave it to naught. To escape that destruction, their people would summon heroes from another world to save them.

Well… end of the world scenarios are kinda frequent in myths but this email doesn't read quite like them. Actually, didn't Atsuro say something about 'summoning someone from another world' premises being popular on web forums? Was this a manuscript for a book or something?

Well, whoever sent this email to my COMP must have had a reason to. It couldn’t have been by accident. So I continued to read whatever it had to say.

Each of the summoned heroes wielded one of the titular ‘Four Holy Weapons’ which were a sword, spear, shield and bow respectively. A shield would probably be better described as an armament than a weapon but maybe that was the point. Sort of like the Vajra in Hinduism.

There was a flirtatious and manipulative princess who caused infighting between the heroes, although the heroes themselves seemed to have better personalities. The Sword Hero was active and independent, the Spear Hero was loyal to those closest to him and the Bow hero had a strong sense of ‘justice’ but when it came to the Shield Hero the email suddenly ended. I could still scroll but only blank space awaited me.

“What? Is this email corrupted?” I tried to touch the slider to scroll manually but a sudden wave of dizziness interrupted me.

“Huh? What’s…” My body was steadily going limp and it took all I had just to keep holding the bag of COMPs in my hands. Before I knew it, I kneeled over and my consciousness slipped away… into another world.

Chapter 1

Demon Summoner Summoning

“Oh wow…”

The sound of people marvelling at something was the first thing to come to my senses. Pushing my drowsy body to become alert, I opened my eyes and saw multiple robed men in front of me. They were looking at me with awe in their eyes which was something I should have been used to by now.

“What the hell?”

I turned to the voice and saw that there were three other people beside me, looking just as confused as I was.

“Where am I?” I muttered.

Quickly trying to examine my location, I saw that we were in a room made entirely of stone, standing on a floor covered in fluorescent, geometric patterns; it was somewhat akin to the magic circle that appears on the Demon Fusion app.

While I was looking at the floor I noticed something on my arm. A curved, silver heater shield that was just on my left forearm. Besides the green gem in its center it was exceedingly plain.

One of the people beside me walked up to the robed men and inquired about our location. The man was fully encased in green armour with a sci-fi-like gold helmet and awkwardly holding a bow. He sounded confident in his questioning, especially when compared to my idle mumblings.

“Oh Heroes! Please save our world!” a younger member of the robed company prematurely exclaimed.

“Excuse me?” asked a person beside me. He was wearing a black-blue striped outfit with a menacing cracked mask and holding a sword.

“What the hell are you saying?” a teenager wielding a spear, clad in an iridescent black jumpsuit asked at the same time.

An elderly man in robes answered, “The situation is very complex, but to offer a simple answer to your question, we have just completed an ancient ceremony and summoned you four Heroes.”

“Summoned?” After hearing that, I looked at the armaments the four of us wielded and they were the same as the weapons listed in ‘The Records of the Four Holy Weapons’. Was that email part of the summoning ritual?

“Our world teeters on the brink of destruction. Heroes, please lend us your strength,” said the elder and then he and the entire robed company bowed deeply to us.

“Sure but what’s–” I began to reply, but the man with the cracked mask interrupted.

“And what exactly would we be getting out of this… arrangement?” He said with a bitter tone.

…It was a bit too early to be talking about compensation. “Shouldn’t we hear them out a bit more?” I asked.

The man with the cracked mask tilted his head toward me and sighed. “I know that they may be asking us for help, but you should realise that this is effectively a kidnapping”– he turned back towards the robed men, sword in hand –“But if you wanted me to act… less negotiable, well, I’d be happy to.”

“I understand what you mean but let’s hear more about their situation before–”

“Oh who cares about their situation!?” The jumpsuited teen suddenly shouted. “I was in the middle of something in my own world before you guys summoned me. So you better have a way to send me back!” His words were frantic and he was occasionally casting anxious glances to his pale, featureless left hand but he held his spear firm and ready.

The robed men were looking distressed over the hostility that they were being affronted with but the man in armour thankfully asked a question in a civil manner. “It seems that some of us require further deliberation in regards to ‘saving your world’; who is in charge of this operation?”

The eldest man in robes sighed in relief and answered him, “Yes, well, I am the one in control of the summoning ritual but we would very much like you to speak with the King.” He walked to a large, heavy looking door and opened it with surprising ease. “He is waiting in the throne room, come.” The armoured man silently followed him out.

The teen mumbled, “If we needed to talk to the King, then maybe he should have gotten off his ass and actually been here.” He followed them out regardless.

“A king huh,” I heard the man with the cracked mask mumble, but when I turned back to look at him his entire black-blue outfit was replaced with a pure-white regalia with red accents that made him look to be some sort of noble. He seemed to be much younger than I originally assumed, even with the red, long-nosed venetian mask across his face.

At my confused look he just gave me a polite smile and said, “Let us go meet the one responsible for our summoning” …I suppose I can ask him about the sudden wardrobe change later.

Realising that I had somehow dropped the COMPS during the confusion, I grabbed them, checked they had the same amount as before I got here and followed the man in robes out of the darkened room and through a hallway made of stone. The air felt much more refreshing than the recent air in Tokyo. I even caught Jumpsuit gazing out a barred window but the guards hurried us up and soon enough we made it to the throne room.

“Hmm, so these kids are the four Holy Heroes?”

The king seated himself far away from where we were told to stand. Regardless, the king was an old man that bore a chiselled face. There was an empty throne to his left with multiple noble looking people and guards spread throughout the hall.

“My name is Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, and I rule these lands. Oh Heroes, show all those in attendance the Legendary Weapons!”

The heroes beside me held up their weapons as I held up the shield on my arm. As we stood so far from the others in the hall, I thought that I’d take the shield off my arm to give everyone a better view. But no matter how hard I tried it seemed to be stuck to my body.

“Good. Now then, I shall begin with an explanation. This country, no, this whole world is on the brink of destruction.”

The king told a story similar to ‘The Records of the Four Holy Weapons’ email I received but included more details. There was a prophecy, signalled by an ancient hourglass, that waves of destruction would come to this land in an effort to destroy the world.

In the beginning, the people of the land disregarded the prophecy. However, when the sands in the hourglass first emptied, a great calamity visited the land. In this country, Melromarc, a fissure to another dimension appeared and terrifying creatures crawled out from it in great numbers.

At the time, the country’s knights and adventurers were able to repel the advance of the creatures but the next wave was prophesied to be even more catastrophic. Which is why they decided to summon us heroes before the next wave, which will happen in a month's time.

It was a disastrous situation in this world and while I wanted to help them… I still have responsibilities in my own world. Although I could rely on Amane and the Shomonkai to round up the leftover demons in Tokyo, they were very adamant in needing my– the help of the Messiah, specifically…

I told the King, “I’m very sorry about your people, your grace, but the people in my world also need my help. So… is there a way to send some of us back and get new heroes?”

I tried my best to sound understanding and lenient to his situation but the king gave me a surprisingly filthy look. Regardless of his expression he answered my question in a more diplomatic tone, “Even if we wanted to return you Heroes to your own world, I’m afraid it is impossible for us to do so. The only way we can summon new heroes is for you, the original four, to have all died.”

“What?”

“All of us?”

“Can you send us back at all!?”

“Will we be assisted in any way to ensure our success?”

The king quickly tried to calm our erratic questioning, “There is vast amount of proof that once the waves of destruction have ended, you Heroes will be able to stay or return to your own worlds; during your time fending off these waves, the kingdom of Melromarc will aid you Heroes with finances, equipment, party members and whatever you may require to help in your battle against the waves.”

So… in the end I was stuck here, without anyone I knew or could consider a friend.

I started to feel uneasy, as memories of the lockdown came back to me. Helplessness and confusion were rampant throughout Tokyo and it was only because of Atsuro and Yuzu, my best friends, that I was able to work through it all.

Could I really navigate this world all by myself…?

The guy in the venetian mask broke the silence, “Well with all that support behind us, we really have no option but to help them, don’t we?”

The teen took a deep breath, “Well… if that’s the way it’s gotta be, then yeah I can help.”

“Understood,” said the armoured man.

…No, that was a stupid thought. I’m obviously not in this alone. The other heroes are in the same boat as I am and a king is going to be aiding us. Comparing this situation to the lockdown’s would be ridiculous.

“Very well then, Heroes. Tell us your names.” Asked the King.

The masked man took a step forward and leaned into an elegant bow, “Goro Akechi, I am 18 years old and a detective. Pleased to be at your service.”

Finally, a name for this guy. Goro Akechi the Sword Hero. He was well-kempt and handsome with brown hair and red eyes. He was still wearing the white and elegant outfit. He seemed sarcastic and probably too young to be an actual, accomplished detective.

The jumpsuited teen spoke up with only, “Name’s Nanashi, 15… a hunter”.

The Spear Hero Nanashi… just Nanashi I guess. He looked about his age and had brown eyes and grey-brown hair but with the left side of his head shaved. He was wearing a black iridescent jumpsuit with 'NO WAR' vertically emblazoned on the right of his torso. It certainly didn’t look like an outfit made for hunting. There was a short sword strapped to his back and what appeared to be a pistol on the back of his belt, which wasn’t very comforting to see a 15 year old carrying.

The armoured man stood to attention, “Tadano Hitonari of the United States Marine Corps, at your service.”

The Bow Hero, Tadano Hitonari. Who’s a US Marine!? Well I suppose wearing armour makes sense with his job, but it’s a bit… extravagent. A non-camo green combat uniform with a golden helmet, wrist gauntlet and what I think is an oxygen tank strapped to his back. Do the US Marines fight underwater or something? With all that equipment it was hard to get a read on him, but he seemed to be a reliable man.

With all their introductions out of the way it was my turn… “My name is Kazuya Minegishi, I’m 17… and a highschool student.”

Next to the other heroes I was certainly unimpressive, wearing a black long sleeved shirt and red-pink pants along with headphones and an mp3 player.

Apparently I was unimpressive enough to be given a gaze filled with contempt by the King. I mean, I would've liked to call myself something better than a simple highschool student but ‘The King of Bel’ or ‘Messiah’ was a bit too self-aggrandizing for my taste, especially when talking to an already established ruler.

“Well then, Heroes, Please confirm your status and give yourselves an objective evaluation.”

“...Uh, your Grace? What is a status?” I asked.

Nanashi was the only other person who looked as confused by the demand as I was. But luckily Tadano whispered an answer to us, “I believe he’s talking about the icons in our peripheral vision.”

“Huh…? Oh! Those dots on the edge?” Nanashi responded.

“Yes, those. Just focus on them and you will be given an objective evaluation.”

Indeed, there were icons at the edge of my vision. But they moved along with your head, so focusing on them with just your eyes was a bit difficult. Regardless, the icon eventually beeped and a large screen appeared in my field of vision.

Kazuya Minegishi

Race: demon (Bel)

Class: Shield Hero LV 1

Equipment: Small Shield (Legendary Weapon), COMP, Other-World Clothes, Headphones

“How…?” There were more things listed but I was more curious about the floating words themselves. It felt more like I was in the future or a game world than in a medieval castle.

“It is quite something, isn’t it?” Goro remarked.

“I suppose…” Tadano mumbled.

“Why does it say I’m only at level 1?” Nanashi asked. It was confusing to me as well. I mean, shouldn’t that number at least be a little bit higher? After everything I've been through?

“Do these things not exist in your world, oh Heroes? You are experiencing ‘Status Magic.’ Everyone in this world can see and use it.” The king answered.

Nanashi huffed “Well, noted, but why is my level so low? Along with the rest of my stats?”

“…I know not why you are unsatisfied with them but in order for your abilities and stats to increase, you Heroes must go on a journey throughout this world, strengthening yourselves along with your weapons.”

“Strengthen our weapons, how?” the detective asked while examining his sword.

“They strengthen the same way as you do yourself, with your experience from adventuring.”

Experience is kind of a vague term to use but I guessed he was talking about ‘experience points’, like in an RPG.

Tadano spoke up, “Even if they can be strengthened I am afraid that I have no experience of fighting with a bow; is it necessary for me to fight with this weapon?”

Well at least the army man can learn how to use his bow, I can't exactly attack with a shield. Of course I still have my COMP on me, so I'm not exactly lacking in self-defence. Actually, now that I think about it, a shield might be a pretty good fit for me.

The king looked fairly flabbergasted at Tadano’s admission. “Yes, well… No, I am afraid that the Legendary Heroes cannot wield any other weapon beside their own. But… I can call for an experienced combat advisor to teach you, if you wish.”

“I do,” Tadano affirmed.

If the marine couldn’t use his Legendary Weapon then I was a bit worried over the detective's or teenager's own abilities. Although I was glad to learn that the fifteen-year old couldn’t use his gun. “Do either of you need training as well?”

“No, I have plenty of practice in the use of swords,” Goro said.

“Same here but I’ve used spears as well. What about you?” Nanashi asked.

“Can’t say I’ve ever fought with a shield before but I think I can defend myself properly.” I smiled as confidently as I could and said, “Especially if you guys have my back.”

“Wait just a moment Shield Hero. I am afraid that you are mistaken in that manner,” the king remarked.

“...Umm, I’m mistaken that I’ve never fought with a shield before?”

“NO!”– the king coughed into his fist –“no, it is said in legends that the Legendary Weapons will ‘interfere’ with one another when fighting in a party. I believe your status magic will help you understand the finer points.”

After the king said his piece that ‘status magic’ screen suddenly appeared in front of me and presumably the other heroes too.

Attention: When the owners of the Legendary Weapons are fighting in close proximity they will not be able to obtain experience points. It is recommended that the heroes only fight together when absolutely necessary.

“Are you serious…?” Why in the world would there be a limitation like that? You would think that these legendary weapons would at least be a bit more compatible…

“A shame, I think we would work really well with each other.” Goro said to us but he said it with the same ‘talking in front of a live studio audience’ he’s been talking in.

“We’re still going to be fighting together when the waves come, correct?” Tadano looked towards the king.

“Correct but in the meantime, I will secure travelling companions for you all. Regardless, evening draws near. Heroes, you should rest for the night and prepare for your departure tomorrow.”

A noble looking lady walked over to us. “We have prepared some rooms for you. Please come this way.”

Some of us gave our thanks to the king but we all ended up following the lady to our rooms. It would make a strange change going from sleeping on the grass outside to a bed made for nobles but that wouldn’t be the strangest thing that happened today, would it?

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

My name is Goro Akechi. I'm a detective and still in highschool but I’ve managed to give myself a presence in the general public’s consciousness, even having appeared on prime-time talk shows. People had even started to call me ‘The Second Coming of the Detective Prince’.

*Blip* *Blip* *Blip*

Not that long ago I had been shot and killed on a cruise liner. I had… more or less made peace with my death but I somehow awoke in an alternate world. This world was on the brink of destruction and I had been given no option but to save it.

*Click* *Click* *Click*

I couldn’t fathom why I, of all people, was summoned as a hero but that is the hand I’ve been dealt. Currently I was standing in a bedroom, at the corner nearest to the door, with the three other summoned heroes. They seemed to be browsing their status magic like myself but for some reason they were also interacting with their electronics.

Kazuya Minegishi was sitting to the right of me and held a dual-screen Compstation Portable-like device. Tadano Hitonari sat on a bed which was in the corner opposite of mine and was interfacing with his armour. Nanashi was sitting on the chair in front of me, stationed in front of a window and was playing with a smartphone strapped to his left forearm.

Now, I’ve also scanned through my phone but I just hope that they’re putting their full attention into our weapons help menus, like I was.

The Legendary Weapons could absorb materials from monsters which would transform them into different types of weapons (all of which was listed in the Weapon Book). So for example, if I absorbed a horn from an animal I would get an Animal Horn Sword.

Each individual weapon had a ‘Mastery Level’ that would grow with their use, increasing the weapons stats. Apparently if you reset a weapons ‘Mastery level’ you would obtain weapon form’s ‘energy’, which you could then use to either ‘Awaken’ a weapon or increase a weapon form's ‘Rarity’.

“This world is rather similar to a video game, isn’t it?” Although the similarity this had to modern ‘literature’ was sadly not lost on me.

“A video game? What do you mean?” Nanashi asked.

“I mean all of the 'gaming abstractions'. We gain levels through XP, we have a HP and MP bar. You know, things that are usually in games.”

Nanashi gave a non-committal nod. “Oh, well I've never played a video game. So I don't really get what you mean.”… Out of all the people here, I would have expected at least him to have played a game or two.

“Well I don't really play games either, I only know the basics.” It was a popular type of media with people my age, and thus a necessary piece of knowledge to interface with them. I turned to the others in the room. “Have either of you played a game like this?”

“I’ve played a lot of RPGs and the like but if you mean a game similar to… where we are now… well, I’ve never seen a game with this type of weapon transformation system,” said Kazuya.

“I’ve only ever really played the King’s Quest games and that's about it,” Tadano said and went back to interfacing with his helmet.

“... Hitonari-san, if it’s alright to ask, what exactly is that armour you're wearing?” He said he was in the USMC but it wasn’t a design I’ve ever seen from them.

“You don’t have to use honorifics or anything, just call me Tadano. But before I answer your question Goro, I’ve just gotta make sure of something.” Tadano lifted the visor of his helmet underneath which was his concerned face. Over his face there was blue transparent glass that had icons moving across it, so it would be safe to assume it was an LCD screen.

“... Just Akechi's fine, thank you.”

Tadano slowly examined all corners of the room, grunted and said, “Now, all of you remain calm… There are currently two people hidden right outside the window.”

… What?

Nanashi bolted out of his chair and darted away from the window. He tried unsheathing the sword across his back but he recoiled in pain, as if the hilt had burned him. I supposed that’s why we couldn't wield other weapons? Although it was a bit of a blunt method.

We weren’t being actively attacked so I stayed where I was against the wall. Kazuya placed himself near the front of the window, holding up his shield defensively and asked, “Where are they? I can’t see them.”

“They seem to be using cloaking technology. Kaz, stay there,” Tadano said as he brought his bow to his face. With Kazuya in front protecting him, Tadano fired an arrow out the window. Nanashi was still trying and failing to hold onto his sword like some sort of idiot. The king already said you couldn’t hold any other weapons…

I couldn’t tell if the arrow actually hit the spies nor could I hear them running away but with Tadano’s professed skill at using a bow I wasn’t really expecting much. Either way, Tadano looked outside the window and said that the spies ran away. Who knew what the consequences would be if he shot to kill.

I had thought of the possibility that we would be spied on, which is why I stationed myself near the door. I had yet to hear anyone outside, but with silent and invisible ‘ninjas’ on the prowl my guarding was ineffectual.

“Tadano, see if anyone is hiding in the hall.” He acknowledged my request and scanned the area.

“... Hall’s all clear.” Tadano sat back on the bed and closed his visor.

Kazuya slowly composed himself and asked, “What the hell… Who were they?”

“They were probably just curious on what the holy heroes were up to.” I answered. “To be perfectly honest, I’ve no idea why you were all so alarmed. Did you think they were assassins or some such?”

Kazuya blushed in embarrassment and muttered, “I mean, we are on the second floor… If you’re going to eavesdrop there’d be better places to do it from, right?”

“... True. But you could also interpret it as ‘the second floor window is the best place for them to observe us.’”

“... Care to elaborate, Mister detective,” Tadano drawled.

“It doesn’t require any explanation. They’re gone now anyways. So, is it your suit that allows you to see through cloaking technology?” I inquired.

“Yeah, I was wondering about that too,” Nanashi said. “Is it something unique to your Demonica?” So the suit’s called a ‘Demonica’, huh. I’ve never heard of it but it seemed to be an exceedingly high-tech piece of equipment.

Tadano stilled when he heard what Nanashi asked. “How do you know the name of my armour?”

“Because I own one?”

“... How in the world did you get your hands on United States military property?”

“What do you mean United States property? ‘Country A’ were the ones who made the Demonicas in the first place.”

“Country A?” Kazuya asked.

“Yeah, they were the ones who made them. Although Japan’s military had purchased some of the Demonicas for their own use." Nanashi shrugged.

“... And what's ‘Country A’ supposed to be.”

“Oh, well I think it used to be called America or something but that was way before my time.”

Tadano and Kazuya slowly looked at each other and then back at Nanashi. Eventually, Tadano asked the question on everyone’s mind. “You do know where the United States is… right?”

“Never even heard of them.”

It felt as if a lightning bolt just zapped the room. “How is that even possible?” Kazuya asked hollowly and to no one in particular. Tadano was utterly stunned and couldn’t make a sound.

“Why are you two acting all surprised from that!?” Nanashi shouted.

All in all, it would be very amusing if a japanese delinquent somehow didn’t come to learn what the United States were. However, in this situation there could be a more likely way he wouldn’t know. “Nanashi, what year was it in your world before you came here?”

Nanashi replied, “2038, why?” in a bitter tone.

“Well, before I came here it was 2016.” Given that we were summoned from another universe across both space AND time there was no reason to assume we were all summoned from the same time period. Maybe we were even summoned from parallel worlds… as 2038 was probably too soon a time for the United States (or maybe the entirety of America) to get an antithetical name like ‘Country A’.

“Wait, so you two are from the future?” Kazuya asked.

“Perhaps so, what year are you from?” I replied.

“It just turned 2009 a few months ago.”

“And I’m from 2010.” Tadano said. “But Nanashi, if you are from the future, do you know why America has a different name?”

“Is that really a good question to be asking?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, that would be spoilers for the future, right?”

“That would only matter if he is actually from the future and parallel worlds aren’t at play, which we have yet to confirm,” I commented.

Nanashi spoke up. “I still have no idea why you care so much about ‘Country A’ but either way, I’ve no idea why they’re called that! Or even if they’re still around after the nukes hit.”

““... THE WHAT!!?””

“Nukes!?” Even I lost my composure from that.

“Why are you acting so surprised by that Goro?” Nanashi, most likely used to the baffled questions from the other two, asked nonchalantly.

“... It’s Akechi and why shouldn’t I be suprised by that?” When you drop nuclear fallout into any discussion it would take the wind out of anyone.

“Because it happened in 2013.”

… I took a sigh of relief. If I thought about it rationally, I couldn’t care any less if the world I lived in took a turn for the worse like that... but 2013 was three years ago, so it wasn't like I had anything to “worry” about.

Kazuya saw my expression but wanting no room for doubt asked, “Nukes didn’t hit in your world then?”

“Of course not.”

“But there’s still a possibility that Nanashi was summoned from either Kazuya’s or my own future.” Tadano muttered to himself. “Alright, how about we go over some aspects of our worlds.”

Kazuya said that in 2009 a lockdown was established in Tokyo around the Yamanote line which none of us had heard of before. He even showed us his handheld device, which was called a COMP (apparently ‘COMPstations’ weren’t a product line over there). Nanashi and I showed him our smartphones and he got suitably jealous.

Tadano talked about an overwhelming amount of military and criminal activity occurring in his world. There were wars happening in both Eastern Europe and the Middle East, food shortages in both North and South America, riots in Central Asia and a string of bizarre sex crimes happening in Tokyo. As far as I knew, most of these cases didn’t happen in my world.

Nanashi said that when the nukes hit in 2013 a rock dome somehow manifested around Tokyo and protected them from the bombing (explains his pale complexion) but as he wasn’t alive before then, he didn’t have much historical information to say whether his world was different from theirs. Except for a bunch of popular brand names that none of us had heard of before. In fact, most of them sounded like knock-offs of brands we had in our world but Nanashi swore that UN!QJO, AMIQLO and GUP were real clothing brands where he was from.

“So we're going to have to trust a bunch of brand names if we don't want to believe that either of our worlds get nuked in the future?” Tadano asked sardonically.

“Well, given that you, Akechi and I are definitely from parallel worlds I think it’s safe to assume that Nanashi is as well.” Kazuya said.

“I hope so as well but isn’t it strange how much of an outlier Nanashi is? His world is two entire decades ahead of all ours and went through an apocalyptic event, surely that means something.”

“Outlier? Look man, there’s only four of us here, you can’t expect every little difference between us to actually mean something.” Nanashi said.

“A nuclear holocaust isn’t a goddamn ‘little difference’.”

Nanashi sighed. “OK so, you’re in your what, 40’s? And everyone else here is a teenager. Goro had that sudden wardrobe change and Kazuya didn’t even get a proper weapon when he came here. Those are much bigger differences and reasons to be considered an ‘outlier’ than whatever state the world I left behind was in.”

The world I left behind? Overtly edgy phrasing but regardless, “To put Nanashi’s point more succinctly: We are from alternate worlds and all of the differences between us can be ascribed to that fact with the circumstantial similarities between us being entirely coincidental. Four people isn’t a good sample size for significant theorising. And Nanashi, just call me Akechi.” Does he not have last names in his world or something? Honorifics don’t seem to be in Kazuya's, so it might be possible.

Tadano slowly came to terms with our perspectives. “... Yeah, I see what you're getting at. It’s just that nukes hitting Earth seemed significant, you understand, right?.”

“Not really,” Nanashi replied.

“... Right… Ah, but to correct your earlier comment, I’m only 32.”

“Close enough.”

A few seconds of awkward silence passed before Tadano recomposed himself and asked: “I know it's not important or relevant here but you said something about a dome covering the– entirety –of Tokyo? Like in The Simpsons Movie or even that Stephen King book?... What’s up with that?”

“If you're gonna freak out over nukes, you're not gonna want to know the story behind that.” His obstinate refusal to give up information ended that conversation right there.

The room went back to restless silence until Kazuya slammed his fist into his palm. “Oh yeah, Nanashi reminded me of something I forgot to ask.” Here we go. “Akechi, what's with your outfit?”

“Yeah, when we got to the throne room I thought one of those ‘luxorors’ was standing with us. Where did you get those outfits?” Nanashi asked with a gleam in his eye. With his bizarre fashion sense, I shouldn't have been surprised that he would want to get ahold of them.

“That’s not what I was asking.” Kazuya shook his head and looked back at me. “How did you change your outfit so fast?”

I stayed silent in the corner as I considered what I should tell them. I mean, if they didn’t believe how my power worked then my explanation would be pointless.

A couple of years ago now an app appeared on my phone called the Metaverse Navigator. I didn’t know exactly how it worked at the time but it allowed me to enter an alternate dimension formed by the collective unconscious called the Metaverse. The app doesn’t seem to be working in this world however.

In the Metaverse I had the ability to summon a Persona, which are a manifestation of one’s rebellious spirit that could fight for you. Most people are limited to just one but I had the ability to summon two, the heroic outlaw in English folklore, Robin Hood and the malignant trickster of Norse mythology, Loki.

A Persona wielder can manifest an outfit that symbolises their personal ‘spirit of rebellion’. As I had two disparate Personas I had two separate outfits; they’re only wearable in the Metaverse, so I have no idea why they could appear in this world…

I was wearing the black mask outfit associated with Loki when I was murdered. It wasn’t an outfit you would choose to wear if you had to make a good first impression, so I changed to my princely outfit for the meeting with the king. Which led me into my current predicament.

Would telling them any of the above be advantageous? I barely even know these people and whilst those eavesdroppers aren’t currently nearby, the heroes here could leak the information about my Persona ability, and it would be better to leave that as a trump card if a situation ever needs it.

I decided to dematerialise the prince outfit and tell a simple lie, “It’s a new type of technology developed in my world.” I was now wearing my regular uniform, a tan peacoat with a black and white striped tie along with black pants, shoes and gloves.

“To change your outfit instantaneously?” Tadano asked.

“Yes, it was developed by the Nanjo group. Ah, have you heard of them in your worlds?”

“No I haven't but how exactly do your clothes– hold on, there's someone out in the hall.” The echoing footsteps saved me from answering an inconvenient question.

I went back to wearing the princely suit to maintain consistency. The same lady that led us to our rooms came to the door and said, “Heroes, we have prepared a meal for you. Please follow us to the dining hall.” This should be obvious by now but according to the help menu, all of the words we heroes hear and speak are translated by our weapons.

Everyone else suddenly looked eager for dinner and that eagerness was replaced with awe as we were led to the dining hall. The room was obviously for the knights and aristocratic guests to use and not for the nobility but there seemed to be no shortage of food laid out for us, Nanashi whistled at the site.

Kazuya scrutinized the room and asked, “Shouldn’t there be more people here?” His question had to do with the lack of other diners as there were plenty of cooks and maids accompanying us.

“The food has been prepared for you heroes. The knights will not be permitted to enter until you have had your fill.” The lady answered.

“Why?” Nanashi appeared genuinely confused.

“Yes, why is that? There’s plenty of seats.” Kazuya asked in a more confrontational manner.

“Well… that’s, um.” The lady fidgeted with her extravagant dress. Did she think it would be uncouth for the ‘Holy Heroes’ to eat with the knights? Or maybe our existence was being kept secret from other people? Well, it didn’t particularly matter right now.

“Let’s just eat our fill and go back to our rooms,” I proclaimed. There were many things to consider when dining with other people, mainly if I had the luxury of choosing what I actually wanted to eat or to follow along with my co-workers. The difference in class or caste was just another thing I had to keep track of. On that note, should I consider the other summoned heroes as co-workers? Could I even think of an asymmetrical punk like Nanashi as a co-worker?

We took our seats; the food on our plates were quite odd and much of the meat wasn’t similar to any animal on Earth. The plate in front of me had something that looked like an omelette and when I summoned the courage to take the first bite, it tasted like an orange…

Now, I wasn’t really one to care about the flavours of food. I usually just ate whatever type of food I felt like eating at the time. But the bite I took contradicted what I wanted– expected it to be and that same feeling followed with every one of the dishes I tried… overall it wasn’t a very satisfying dinner.

Chapter Text

“Turn back, those who defy the will of God. You walk along the path to destruction. Only eternal suffering lies ahead for you.”

My name is Nanashi and right now I, alongside three others, stand in front of the doors leading to the Creator God’s throne room. For my entire life I have lived underneath a solid, stone dome that encased all of Tokyo, created by the deity Masakado when the Creator God scorched the world with nuclear fire.

Why did God destroy the world? Well, back in 2013 a portal to the expanse opened here in Tokyo and along with the distribution of the Demon Summoning Program online, hundreds of demons had emerged onto earth which incited global chaos. Not that I was alive to see any of that, of course, that happened twenty-five years ago.

As I’ve said, I’ve lived in this literal hell hole my entire life. No one under here has seen the sunlight in twenty-five years and having to live in the subways exacerbates their claustrophobia. The only farm we had was in Shinjuku’s National Park and the crops there barely grew. But there was plenty of demon meat to go around, if you were any good at killing them, which was what we in the Hunter Associations did for a living.

The Creator God continued his droning monologue, “You come here seduced by the words of a demon. I know all that’s befallen you thus far. Go back now and I shall show you mercy and forgive your trespasses.”

I looked to my right and saw the Irish demon Dagda. I was killed in battle seven days ago and saw him on the desolate yet scenic road to the underworld. He had the ability to resurrect me and all I had to do in turn… was become his godslayer, or puppet, as he sometimes put it. When he said that the girl who was with me was the next on the chopping block… I had no choice but to accept his offer.

I glanced behind me and saw that girl, Asahi. My parents had died when I was a baby leaving me alone in the Tokyo sky tower. I was eventually found by Asahi’s father who was a hunter and he had basically raised me alongside her. She was friendly, kind and someone I could never leave behind…

“You cannot possibly comprehend my nature. All things exist because I do. To destroy me would be to destroy your world. You who were once nothing more than dust. I offer you one final opportunity to turn back.”

But the destruction of this world is exactly what we sought… not because I was bitter about having to live under the firmament or anything. But because the nature of humanity, exacerbated by the Creator God’s covenant, was fundamentally wrong and needed to be changed. It is a truth that was hard to come to terms with and truly understand but it’s something that Dagda has continued to educate me on.

I looked to my left and saw Flynn, the godslayer of another god. Flynn was basically a hero to the people of Tokyo and it took threatening Asahi’s life for the ‘Divine Powers’ to recruit him. Their leader considered Flynn as his ‘Kalki’ and had combined with him to become Vishnu-Flynn apparently the ‘true form’ of a godslayer… Thankfully however, Dagda claimed that I was already powerful enough to defeat the Creator God without needing to go through that particular hell.

Although Flynn wasn’t in much better shape in my party. Dagda had revived Flynn after our battle and seemed to be brainwashed. I wasn’t too familiar with what Flynn was like but he was acting completely subservient to me, even calling me Master of all things. Asahi had also gone through the whole dying and being revived by Dagda ordeal and there was something off about her too. Nothing on the level of Flynn's mannerisms but… there was something off with the way she talked to me.

I threw all of those thoughts behind me and opened the door to the throne room, coming face to face with the Creator God. “So. You’ve come. Poor, poor son of man, led astray by demonkind.” A giant, golden head had appeared out of the darkness, “I am YHVH… I am that I am. I am infinity. The Supreme Being. The embodiment of law and order. You disturb my realm, trample my design? Worse still, you vilify me. I cannot allow this. You must atone for your sins.”

“No, we don’t,” Dagda declared. “From now on, the individual will carry their own weight. I will not settle for less, playing by your rules.”

“Your thoughts matter not. This universe is defined by my divine providence. So long as I exist, your efforts are for naught.”

“Let’s see about that, shall we?”

“We can do this, Nanashi,” Asahi said with a whisper. “Let’s build our new world, together.” …As her words washed over me like freezing water I summoned my stock of demons, Mara, Chi You and Shiva.

“Very well. You shall no longer be under my protection. You will find no rest.” YHVH testified. I rushed forward with Ame-no-Murakumo at one of the many floating heads of YHVH that had amassed in the ever black void. As I ran, I ordered Mara to cast Doping and the others to use buffing skills.

Despite the situation, YHVH continued to spout platitudes of his supposed love of humanity. “I am always by your side. Your joy is my joy, your grief my grief. The faithful walk together with me. That is the guidance I provide. That is the Salvation I offer. Would you cast aspersions on me, your Father? Label me guilty to claim your own innocence?” This piece of shit really loves the sound of his own voice, doesn’t he?

“Hmph. Disgusting,” Dagda uttered. “At the heart of his words is fear – a fear of humanity itself. It won’t be easy, but denying his divinity is the only shot we have at beating him. Let’s drag him from that throne.” 

“I couldn’t agree more!” My face involuntarily smirked as I finally reached a group of YHVH's heads. Channelling a Hades Blast through my blade, I sliced at God’s chin and a purple explosion rang out that damaged the surrounding heads.

The YHVH’s made an exaggerated flinch at the explosion but it didn’t seem to do much damage. One of the heads spoke and a Hailstorm of God had amassed around him and was heading straight towards us. Chi You had tried to protect me from the attack but the ice pierced right through his innate resistance and Mara got completely wiped out, at least he buffed us while he lasted.

As I was about to summon a replacement demon, the heads of YHVH said another one of their… precepts? “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Is this what Dagda was talking about? Gods and Demons are formed and given their power by humans' belief in them, if we deny YHVH’s place as creator god he would be on the same level as any other demon.

“We will inherit the earth, an earth that has no connection to you. You’ve already isolated yourself here in your own little universe. You have no relationship with the world we human’s live in so why don’t you shove your platitudes up your ass.”

I expected that YHVH would be shocked by my words but for several seconds he said… nothing. Until, a smirk steadily grew on his – all of his – lips.

“We humans… We humans, HA! The gall with which you speak truly astounds. You speak for no man of my creation, you are but a child who has sold his soul to demons! Do you honestly believe that the words of one who has abandoned his brethren could have any effect on me?”

“... What?” 

“Well, looks like we have to do this the old fashioned way kid.” Dagda said.

“But that should have had some–!” 

“Look out!” before I could finish a veritable Inferno of God had come towards us. Even though Asahi had warned me, I took the strike head on. The heat was incomparable to anything I’ve experienced before but it would take much more than that to take me down; Chi You wasn’t as lucky however and was taken out. 

“Are you ok, Master?!” I heard Flynn shout out as he was dodging Divine Waves cast from the heads of YHVH.

“Focus on your own fight!” I answered. “And Dagda, stop using Energy Drain and start throwing out some Megidolaons.” I could barely make out a sardonic ‘got it kid’ over the sound of fighting.

Asahi healed Shiva and I with Mediarama as YHVH continued spouting his nonsense. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” What a damn liar! 

“How many people have you murdered, all in an effort to make humans subservient to your will?” Asahi cried out. “Four entire generations of mankind have been wiped out by you. Masakados’ dome is the only reason we still stand! So what value could your comfort have?”

“Mist Rush!” I attacked the nearest YHVH and got in as many hits as I could. It got Dazed so Shiva finished him off with a single strike from his trident. Immediately, I ran to the next cluster of heads and unleashed a Hades Blast with my blade but one of them managed to dodge.

“But what of your compatriots and the denizens of Tokyo? What of Hallelujah, Gaston, Toki, Fujiwara, Skins and all of those who resisted your attempt to subvert the natural order? You, and the puppet you follow, murdered them… with neither care or empathy in your hearts. And all for what? So you could ascend to godhood? To eradicate the divine?” Asahi didn’t flinch at YHVH's answer, she barely even acknowledged it… “You, who have abandoned your brothers, will receive no comfort from me.”

Compatriots, brothers … what a sick joke. “They were vermin, drunk on control, who deluded themselves into thinking the way their world is, is correct. Hiding from the truth, complacent, making sure the world would never become a better pla– GYAH!” I almost bit my tongue when a ridiculously fast projectile almost tore off my hand. “WHAT THE HELL was?… Shit.” 

The back of my right hand had started to bleed and it made the symbol of a Holy Stigmata. It would be an odd complement to the green four leaf clover mark on my left hand, if I didn’t understand what the brand meant. “Asahi! I’m branded, just stick to healing Flynn and Shiva, alright?”

“Alright!” Asahi nodded.

Branded or not I continued fighting YHVH. There wasn’t enough time to wait around for it to wear off and besides, what YHVH said was starting to get to me. Memories came to me against my will, of Isabeau, Nozomi, Navarre, Gaston, Hallelujah… “HYARRGH!” A shout escaped me as I struck the closest head with a Mortal Jihad but that just left me open to retaliation from the surrounding YHVH’s.

“GUH!”… I definitely couldn’t take many more of those attacks, “Everyone, to me!” Flynn and Asahi immediately rushed to my position but Dagda waited to finish off his opponent before coming. The Irish god casted Debilitate, Flynn revived Chi You with Samarecarm and I Charged for my next attack. There may be less room to dodge now but at least with this formation there's more bodies to take hits.

“There lies no truth to your beliefs,” YHVH uttered. “The future you pursue is a fabrication. Truly, every part of your nature is at odds with the will of humans.” YHVH visibly focused and a sense of Divine Harmony radiated outward. “... Perish.”

Small lights reminiscent of stars appeared around us. After a moment of tense observation, the lights surrounding Chi You suddenly imploded on themselves, as if God had just made him the centre of the Big Bang. 

The explosion settled and somehow, Chi You was still standing? Did YHVH’s Big Bang really not do anything? There was a joke somewhere in there, surely. I turned to YHVH preparing a ranged attack.

But all of my thoughts turned to mush when I felt the sword that stabbed through my chest. “... Huh?” 

“What! But why?”

“Master!”

“What are you doing, Chi You!?”

Ah, so that flashy attack was all to Charm Chi You… great. Whatever silence was in this featureless throne room was torn away by the cheerful sounds of Planned Chaos behind me. 

Chi You used all but one of his eight armed arms to fight my allies off. The Naginata to intercept Asahi’s support, a battle axe to chop Dagda’s wooden body, the Shield to thwart Flynn’s swift strikes and whatever else to fend off Shiva’s equal amount of arms. All with his sword still wreaking havoc inside of my torso, just drop the sword or stop fighting for god's sake!

Stomaching the blistering pain, I took each step necessary to free myself from the sword. It reminded me of the time Manabu pulled a Kartikeya’s arrow from me headfirst except I was the one pulling my body away from the blade, all on my own… and it felt a million times more painful. My freedom from the sword’s grasp was quickly overshadowed by Chi You summoning Colossal glaciers from the sky with Mabufudyne. I instinctively grabbed Asahi’s hand as I ran away– and we dodged it!

Through all this madness and agony I had nearly forgotten about YHVH but he was modest enough to remind us with the deafening crackle of the Lightning of God. Again I ran away from it with Asahi, hand in hand, but even when the lightning missed us, it would collide with Chi You’s ice. Creating even more live projectiles to get hit by.

With every second that ticked by I could feel my life draining away. The brand that prevented healing wasn’t fading and I noticed the glowing four leaf clover on my left hand was starting to dim. Still, I ran away and eventually came face to face with another YHVH.

“...” I let go of Asahi’s hand as I approached YHVH. Holding Ame-no-Murakumo in my right hand I… I quickly drew my gun and— *BAM!*... a flash of light… and I started to feel cold. Looking down, there were torrents of blood pouring out from the numerous holes in my stomach… My legs gave way and I could see nothing but the endless black void. I didn’t hear any slimy platitudes from YHVH, not even Asahi’s comforting voice, as I lay there, dying… for the second time in my life.

Chapter 2

Allies and Allergies

“... Hey, Nanashi…”

I could faintly hear someone calling my name… It’s like no matter whatever happens, I could always trust that someone would interrupt my sleep… I was in an entirely different universe and had even asked to sleep in a room without the other heroes but I guess this curse will haunt me wherever I go.

“!? Hey Nanashi, are you okay?”

Ugh, give me a break here… Without getting off my bed just yet, I opened my eyes to blearily see that it was… Kazuya waking me up. “What do you want?”

“Breakfast is ready,” Kazuya said.

“... And what, you cooked it?”

Kazuya looked confused for a second before saying, “Oh no, one of the maids went out of their way to wake the rest of us up. But she seemed really busy so I told her that she could leave the rest of her duty to me.”

“Ah…” The dinner last night had some of the best food I’ve ever eaten, so I’m definitely not missing this. “Okay, I’ll be there in a sec.” 

“See ya,” Kazuya said with a weird smile on his face as he left my room.

I steadily hopped out of the bed ignoring my body’s exhausted state. Last night I had changed from my iridescent black jumpsuit, to a softer, green jumpsuit that I used to wear. It might not have been as protective as the Master Suit but it felt better to sleep in. Yet when I gazed at the black suit on the floor and considered how tired I was from the fight with YHVH and everything else that happened yesterday I decided ‘screw it, I’ll just go to breakfast in the clothes I slept in’.

I put on my belt, strapped my phone on my arm and grabbed my swor– “OW!” An annoying electric shock went through my arm and Ame-No-Murakumo flew out of the sheath right into the wall. “What the he– oh… right,” those words appeared in my periphery again. 

Legendary Weapon specification: a weapon besides the assigned equipment was held, violating the rule.

Status magic, I think the king called it. I had almost forgotten about the stupid spear that was stuck to me, am I going to have to deal with this giant hunk of metal my entire stay here? At least have the decency to give me a holster… 

As I headed to the dining hall I checked out more of that status magic. I thought about finding something to cover up the hole in the wall the sword left but there wasn’t really anything I could do about it now.

Nanashi

Race: ???

Class: Spear Hero LV 1

Equipment: Small Spear (Legendary Weapon),  Barrett S28, Ame-no-Murakumo, Smartphone, Other-World Light Armour.

Etc…

It seems I could hold weapons besides the spear if I don’t intend to fight with them. Could that magic read my mind or something? Or maybe my body language? That aside, it felt slightly… awkward, seeing the question marks on the Race header. I was born a human being and died as one, then born again as Dagda’s Godslayer to die as a Godslayer shouldn’t… so what am I now?

I looked at my pale left hand. The four leaf clover mark that Dagda had given me wasn’t there anymore… I guess that means I’m not that old man’s puppet anymore… I might’ve failed to kill YHVH but I’m in a completely different universe now and sure, there were the Waves of Destruction to worry about but that happens a month from now. So I’m free to do whatever I want in the meantime and the first thing on the menu was… an extravagant breakfast!

I got to the dining hall as the other heroes were starting to eat. Like last night, they ate their food relatively quickly and I got as many different types of delicious food that I could finish. Although –from what I could recognize– there was mostly basic meats and vegetables, no fish or even any organs available… But it wasn’t too long after our meal when the king called us to the audience chamber.

“Welcome, Holy Heroes,” the old man said from his throne. I could see rows upon rows of people watching us from the second floor. “As we discussed yesterday, I have called for others to assist you in your journey. Apparently my call did not go unheeded.”

Oh yeah… Some of us had to get babysat. I glanced at the Bow Hero who didn’t know how to use a bow. Tadano had his helmet off since breakfast and was exactly what you’d see from those ‘action movie’ posters. He was pretty tall and had short black hair with thick angular eyebrows.

The doors to the audience chamber opened to a group of well armed strangers. “Now then, adventurers,” the king continued. “Please choose the Holy Hero with whom you will travel.”

“Wait what?!” I exclaimed. “We don't even get to pick them?” All I really needed was a guide.

The king grew a stern expression. “These adventures have chosen to go with you heroes with their own free will. Who am I to tell them who to follow and put their life on the line for?” Uh I don't know the freaking KING?

Despite my grumbling, the adventurers shuffled towards each of us, creating four clusters of people. Tadano, Goro and I ended up with four people each. It was less than I’m used to dealing with but more than I hoped. I checked Kazuya's party only to see… nobody there?

“Oh dear…” I heard the king mumble. “I did not anticipate anything like this.” Wha– are you serious!? Nobody? The nobility in the crowd started to whisper to each other. Why does this overall ‘okay’ person get nobody but I end with four bloody people? I could understand Goro’s pretty face getting a lot of people but Tadano and I were just out of place, fashionwise.

“Wh… really? None of you wanted to party with me?” Kazuya sounded worried, as if he had made some mistake or slight against them but, in the end, it probably just came down to bad luck, on his end or mine.

“Did you fail to screen the applicants? Your highness?” Goro tacked on the formality.

King Aultcray regarded his advisors fleetingly. “My apologies, Shield Hero,” one of them said. “I thought with the sheer number of applicants that at least one of them would join you.” Someone on the second floor started chuckling.

Kazuya slowly lost his shock and, while adjusting the cat ear-like headset he wore, said, “Ok, well… At the very most one person from each team would make our parties equal right?” He gazed at Goro’s party and they not so subtly tried hiding behind their hero.

“Well it isn’t really my choice to make,” Goro said with a placid smile and Kazuya turned to the Bow Hero.

Tadano glanced at his new companions and sighed. “It is in all of our best interests for Kazuya, the Shield Hero , to get the assistance he needs.” Still, none of his party members said anything.

Before I could offer up my party members the redheaded lady behind me raised her hand. “Sir, if it pleases you, I could serve with the Shield Hero.” I don’t really think you need the king’s permission for that, Lady.

“Ah!...” When Kazuya gazed upon his ‘savior’ he suddenly grew even more anxious; borderline panic and confusion on his face, for some reason.

“Hm? Are you sure?” King Aultcray asked.

“Yes.” the lady said. She had shoulder length red hair tied into a bushy ponytail and a sword on her hip. She was wearing basic leather and cloth armour although her elbows, cleavage and lower thighs were exposed. Really, I don’t know what Kazuya was worrying about. She looked attractive, wasn’t scary and seemed polite. Was he just afraid of being alone with a woman or something? 

Well I don’t want her on my team anymore than he does, so it doesn’t really matter anyway.

“Are there any others among you who would throw your lot in with the shield hero?” After a tense silence the king sighed. “I suppose there is no way around it. Shield Hero, you’ll have to recruit others to accompany you while you are travelling. Each month, I will supply all of you with the necessary funds for your journey, though in compensation for today’s events, the shield hero’s first payment will be higher than the others.”

The king clapped and servants came out giving us pouches filled with something metallic. “I have set aside 800 pieces of silver for the shield hero, for you to hire the help you will need and 600 pieces for the rest of you. Please take these funds and begin your journey!”

“Yes sir/your grace,” the other heroes answered and bowed in unison as I started leaving the audience chamber.

“Uh, wait, Spear Hero sir!” One of my new companions shouted as they ran to follow me.

“C’mon, c’mon let’s go,” I replied as I was tired of waiting. In my world I’ve only had one opportunity to go to the surface but we had to lay low and in hiding. I’m not gonna squander any moment I have here.

I exited the castle and even though there were great stone fortifications blocking my view, I took a breath of that clean, fresh air and stared into the clear blue sky. It was the type of view you could lose yourself in. YHVH’s throne room also felt infinite but in an oppressive, empty way; here the air was free and blowing with a refreshing warmth.

I started walking with my head still pointed to the sky. “Agh!” My foot had caught onto a stray rock and I almost fell face-first onto the ground when a burly hand grabbed me by my jumpsuit's neck.

“Bahaha!” a gruff laugh came from behind me and I got lifted back on my own two feet. “Be careful where you’re going Mr. Hero. The cobblestone roads are the least interesting part about this great city!” The man spun me around to face him. “My name is Bakta. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Spear Hero sir.”

Bakta stood several heads taller than me and had a strong, stocky build, more than many other humans I’ve seen. His armour was built for an entirely different climate; I could see that he was wearing a metal chest piece but the rest was covered by a thick fur coat. He also had an axe strapped to his belt. 

The two other adventurers finally caught up as Bakta was talking to me. “Was it necessary to leave before giving proper respect to the king?” A guy a handful of years older than me said. He had long, red-pink hair that hung over his right eye and wore a black robe with tattered edges. It was similar to what the people who summoned us were wearing.

“Yeah, you never want to get on a noble’s bad side, much less the king's,” a meek, red haired girl said while cradling a wooden staff. She was wearing a green dress over a white undershirt with a green witches hat on her head. 

“He summoned us to get rid of the waves of destruction and I don’t want to waste time preparing,” I replied. I almost started walking again but I figured we should get introductions over with now. “So what are your names? I already learnt Bakta’s.”

“I believe it’s on the asker to give his name first,” the robed man scolded. “Regardless, my name is Welst.” As he placed his hand on his chest to bow, I noticed that around his neck was a rosary. It had a symbol similar to the cross some of the monks of Mikado wore but had a curved, horizontal line and the vertical line was more like a blade.

“And I’m Isobel…” the girl shakily said. Huh, her name kinda sounded like Isabeau… although the two didn’t really seem that similar beyond that, and their bob cuts.

“Alright, my name’s Nanashi.” I ran a hand through my hair, “since I’m new here, is there anywhere you would recommend we go first?”

“Hmm, maybe a blacksmith?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. The suit Nanashi’s wearing feels like some strong stuff, you can tell just by touching it!” Bakta abruptly patted my shoulder. I stepped back in case Welst thought it was an invitation. Isobel seemed a bit deflated from getting her idea rejected so I wasn’t worried about her. “None of the monsters near the castle could get through it!”

“True, true,” Welst nodded. “Since our equipment is already sorted out, I believe it would be best for the Spear Hero to get EXP from the outer fields.” I didn’t mention it earlier but Welst also carried a staff. Unlike Isobel’s it was made out of some kind of metal and had a thick purple gem at the end, instead of something useful, i.e. sharp.

“Oh, yes!” Isobel seemed to be back in her groove. “We’ve got to join sir Nanashi’s party!”

“What’s tha–” before I could finish, that status magic jumped out at me again.

Isobel wants to join your party

Accept / Deny

Oh, so a ‘party’ was an actual thing in this world. I tentatively accepted her, and everyone else, into my party with a ‘party members’ category showing up in my field of view. It only held the most basic of information on them, not even their last names. “That’s everything?... Alright let’s go!”

I passed through a heavy iron gate and got a proper view of the city. Just like the sky, the horizon itself seemed endless but that wasn’t as interesting as all the things in the city. There were strange and familiar animals leading carriages, incredibly sturdy brick and stone buildings and even some merchants shouting out their wares. Isobel and Bakta seemed very amused by my rampant gazing but at this point it was impossible to control myself. “Oof.” “Excuse me.” “Watch where you’re goin’!” Having to avoid all these people was a pain though.

Welst eventually took the lead in guiding us; he walked through the city and its people like he's done this a million times before. I tried looking for directions so I wouldn’t be left to that guy's whims but all the signs were written in a different language and it’s not like I could rely on there being a gift shop near the city's exit…

Finally, we exited the city and strolled around in the vibrant, green grass. There was a cobblestone road meandering across the scenery but outside of that, it seemed like the world was nothing but green, green and green. My suit would make good camouflage. “There will be monsters hiding in the grass around here,” Bakta said. “They’re weak, but a pain to deal with. So every couple of days rookie knights are sent out to kill any that are close to the roads.”

“Mhmm,” I mumbled as I parted the grass with the blunt end of my spear. “So what do the monsters around here look like?”

“Balloons,” Isobel stated. I turned to stare at her.

“... Balloons?” Like the toys filled with air? Demons could certainly look weird but nothing on the level of that … 

“Yep, there’s also bunnies and birds in the forest.” The first thing that came to my mind was the birds pecking, popping and eating the balloons. Maybe that’s why they were out in the tall, grassy fields? What would a balloon even eat anyway?... 

I got dragged out of my thoughts when my spear started to feel heavier. There was an orange blob gnawing on the end of my weapon…

“Nice catch Nanashi!” Bakta said earnestly. “The orange ones may be the weakest of their lot but they’re annoying buggers so it’s always good to keep them at a distance.” The balloon had slanted, angry ‘eyes’ and was making good use of its sharp ‘teeth’ on my spear. A child would find it threatening but it looks like a hearty stomp would take it out.

“Do they sell boots at the blacksmiths?” I asked.

Welst raised an eyebrow. “You would be better off going to a tailor… unless you're talking about getting armoured greaves and sabatons then yes, a blacksmith would be good.” What the hell is a sabaton? “And are you gonna kill the monster now or what?”

“What’s the rush?!” I might have said that louder than intended but I eventually stabbed the monster, POP! 

EXP 1

Isobel EXP 1

Bakta EXP 1

Welst EXP 1

One experience point… seriously? As I got the balloon’s ‘skin’ off my spear the gem in my spear started to glow. I absentmindedly went to touch it when the gem sucked the balloon’s skin right into itself! “What the hell?!” 

Isobel and Bakta gave me weird looks but I tried to ignore them and think … Ah, there was that ‘weapon book’ thing the help menu mentioned. I focused on the weapon book icon in my vision and a window with rows of greyed-out spears appeared. In the midst of grey there was a spear with a hint of orange, maybe I'd need more balloon skins for it to unlock.

“How much was that bit of skin worth?” I asked

“A bronze coin… maybe three, on a good day,” Bakta said.

“Each silver coin you were given is worth one hundred bronze each,” Welst explained. “And one hundred silver is equal to a gold coin.” Wouldn’t it be better to have just one mineral be your currency? Macca (♄) was much simpler… Anyhow, I hoped this upgrade system stayed fair to my wallet.

We kept hunting in the fields and edges of the forest until daylight started to wane. In that time I got to level 5 and unlocked a few spears.

Orange Balloon Spear: conditions met

Yellow Balloon Spear: conditions met

Red Balloon Spear: conditions met

My spear would transform to whatever I selected in the weapon book. I was using the red balloon spear right now but it looked completely ridiculous. I even saw Welst stifling a laugh! I was fighting monsters with an inflatable balloon after all. 

The tip of the spear had a balloon knot but it still popped monsters like it was sharp, somehow. Isobel theorised that the spear might share its attack power between all of its forms; apparently, in this world everything comes down to stats. If a person attacked with a blade of grass, as long as they had a high enough attack power, they could draw blood.

“Well it doesn’t work exactly like that but you’ve basically got it,” Bakta said.

“Then how does it work?” 

“Well… it’s… uhh. A piece of grass bends, you know, a high attack power’s not gonna change that,” although Bakta didn’t break a sweat fighting, explaining status magic took the wind out of him. I mean, I kind of understood what he was getting at but when I heard Welst clear his throat I got hit with dread. It was the exact same cough Nozomi gave before she went into an exhausting lecture .

Luckily, Bakta was also familiar with that type of person. “Well it’s getting pretty late– I know an inn that serves the best filolial ribs around –so how about we leave it here today!” I didn’t know what a filolial was but Isobel looked disgusted by the thought of eating one… mustn't be very tasty.

Welst was caught off guard but quickly regained his composure. “Filolial ribs huh, which street is it on?”

“Uh, well… it’s on the southeastern edge of the marketplace, the eastern marketplace.” Now that almost made Welst gag. “I know how to get there from here, anyhow.” 

“Excuse me? Even if it’s close by you can not seriously be suggesting– for the spear hero –to eat food… there. ” Welst quietly composed himself. I suppose he was self-conscious about showing anything other than cool-headed pomposity.

“Oh it’ll be fine. Just put that staff under your raggedy cloak and you’ll blend right in.”

“Mhmm,” Isobel nodded. “I do my shopping quite frequently over there and I’ve never had any problems.” Yeah I had no idea what they were talking about either. How does the spear translate this stuff anyway? My phone's A.I. might do a better job. “Do they serve anything other than meat?”

“Oh there’s plenty!” He listed off dishes and drinks at such an endless pace that I ended up zoning out of the conversation. This time Bakta navigated us through narrow alleyways before we entered a crummy-looking building and took our seats. I couldn’t read the menu but I ordered the filolial ribs and whatever non-alcoholic drink and dessert they recommended. 

As we waited for our food I asked if we were just going to be hunting the monsters from the forest tomorrow.

“That would be the best course of action,” said Welst.

“The forests to the south are the best for levelling up,” Bakta boasted. “There’s even a dungeon that’s good for beginners quite a ways in there.”

“Of course, this all depends on where the other heroes decide to go.”

“Umm, we could always do a few jobs from the adventurers guild?” Isobel chimed in.

“What’s that?” I asked.

Bakta answered. “It’s an organisation that helps adventurers like us get jobs. 

Civilians who need assistance usually send requests to the guild and they coordinate things like supplies and equipment.” So it was basically the hunter association back in my world.

“Do they have rankings?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Like, a bulletin board listing the hunt– adventurers who’ve done the most jobs or killed the most monsters.”

“I don't think so,” Isobel said. “I'm sure each branch of the guild has its preferred adventurers but those ‘stats’ aren't listed anywhere for us to see.”

Just as Isobel finished, the waitress came over with our food and drink. She also had cat ears… and a tail. “The filolial ribs and pudding, correct?” Her tone hardened by the tiniest fraction when she noticed my staring.

“Oh, uh yes, that’s mine.” I glanced away and realized that nearly all of the people here also had similar animal appendages. There’s demons in this world too? No, that’s not right. Demons had a certain… aura ; you could feel their otherworldliness. I guess they’re just a type of human here?

Well that doesn’t matter right now, there was a much more important matter to tend to, the food. Isobel ordered porridge, Welst some sort of fritter and Bakta, even though he bragged about the ribs, ended up getting a burger.

The ribs looked like they were from a large Onmoraki but when I took a bite… the sheer flavour eclipsed any demon meat I’ve ever eaten. Soft like a Hamsa with the texture of a Phoenix. The castle’s wide variety of food was welcome but their meat wasn't this good. I was done with the ribs in a matter of seconds.

I expected Welst to be the type to complain about table matters, with his torso covered in napkins or something but he just ate in silence like a normal person. Until the waitress suddenly came back. “Excuse me, is there a Welst here?”

“Hmmh?” He quickly swallowed the rest of his food and stood up. “Yes, I am he; is there some sort of problem?”

“There’s a lady asking for you outside.”

“Oh, is that right?” The waitress gave an emotionless nod. “Well… I’ll be back in one moment.” Welst dusted off his robe as he went to the entrance, which I couldn’t see from where we were seated. I had some of the pudding as we waited but it only tasted okay… 

Five minutes passed. Isobel twirled her spoon in the last bit of porridge. “I wonder what’s taking so long… He didn’t leave us, right?”

“If he left us just to have fun with some woman then I’m kicking him out the party.”

“Nah I don’t think he would do that,” Bakta said. “He probably didn’t clear the adventuring with the missus or something.” 

“What does that mean?”

“You know, didn’t tell the wife how long he would be gone, or that he was going adventuring and then they got in an argument.”

“That sounds even more unlikely.” And contrived.

He shrugged, “It happens more than you think.” Yeah, if that happened even one time you’d be right.

Five more minutes passed. Isobel went to check outside and they weren't anywhere close. The waitress came by our table again, so I ordered more food (for myself) and asked about that woman. “They murmured for a bit before going north. Oh, the lady? Well, she was obviously a nun… I can’t imagine why one of them would ever think about coming here though.”

“Ah, yeah. Sorry for the hold up.” Bakta ordered another beer and I think he gave her a few extra coins? The waitress raised her brow but left us without another word.

But man, Welst’s an ass, he could have at least said something before leaving. When I realised that one of us had to pay for his meal I had a few more words to call him than just ass .

“Good morning everyone, I am Captain Tadano Hitonari,” I said to my new five man squad. I’ve been serving in the United States Marine Corps since I was twenty and was recently part of the United Nations: Schwarzwelt Investigation Team. It felt comforting, being able to call myself by my rank again.

On March 8th, 2010 an unknown spatial anomaly that absorbed all matter appeared in Antarctica. Only starting as a cylinder a metre in diameter, it grew to several hundred kilometres in only a few weeks, taking out multiple military bases along its way. It wouldn’t have been long until the entirety of Earth was consumed.

The United Nations got the best of the best for a hands-on investigation of the anomaly, dubbed the ‘Schwarzwelt’, which is why I got put on the Strike Team. But if I knew back then that the Schwarzwelt held another dimension filled with invisible demons… I probably still would have gone with the Strike Team.

“A captain, hmm… There were rumours that you served as some sort of soldier. My name is Mald and it is a great honour to follow under the bow hero.” said a man in heavy armour and then gave an impromptu bow. Noticing that the adventurer next to him was standing absentmindedly straight Mald put his hand on their back and forced him to bow. “And this is Rojeel, he is quite a skilled bowman and will surely teach you the ropes.”

The ‘bowman’– with an oversized battle-axe on his hip –idly waved to me, his back still at a 70 degree angle. “... Well first thing’s first I’m not a soldier, I’m a marine and there's really no need for the theatrics.” Even if this level of ass-kissing was normal here, I didn’t want to be the victim of it.

“Apologies, apologies good sir. I was unsure if you had been knighted– like us –or not and used a common word. Many pardons…” 

“Mhmm, all’s good.”

Noticing a lull in the conversation, an aristocratic guy with grey hair introduced himself. “Ah, my name is Welt… It’s a pleasure to meet you.” His outfit was kind of hard to parse. He wore a thin undershirt over which was a black coat with red trimming and sleeves that went past his hands. The only thing connecting the front of the coat was three long golden bands and his collar, where there was a… white frilly tie that people back then– or, now I guess –wore. Also his pants were too high up and such a slightly different hue of black than the top it made me think he was colourblind, or just inattentive. If this calibre of fashion was popular for these people… well, I can’t act like high fashion was any better in my time. 

My final party member introduced herself with a wave. “Yeah, and I’m Vass. I might not’ve been knighted like those two or been born a noble but I’ve been an adventurer for four years now and am level 28.” Stating your qualifications right out the gate? Nice tactic. She had longish blond hair, a lean build and a ‘resting bitch face’.

“Well, if we're stating our power then I’ll have you know I’m already 39 and have long since classed up,” Mald gloated. “I had already devised a leveling route accustomed for the bow hero but as you need to be of utmost ability to be in a heroes party we will have to now account for the hourglass. Don’t we Rojeel?” He nodded in response. I didn’t get what they were talking about but it was definitely some kind of insult.

“What are you even talking about? You'd have to be stupid to class up that early. Are you sure you didn’t get your level mixed up with your age, old man?” Vass quipped. Funny, but come on, 39 wasn't even remotely old… 

“What exactly are you implying, Missy?” Mald held himself even taller and gave her an irate staredown. He completely forgot about making a good first impression… 

“… Heh, but that actually is your age, isn’t it,” Rojeel finally commented.

“... Hmph, I suppose it is.” Mald said as he self-consciously stroked his (admittedly good looking) moustache. They were a good comedic duo, I'll give them that.

“Ah… umm. Well–” Welt clapped his hands. “Where should we go first? I think we’ve stayed here too long, the soldiers are giving us bad looks .” He whispered the last bit and yeah, they definitely were. The other heroes left the main hall of the castle a while ago, but there were still a lot of people watching us from the balcony.

“An armourer should be first.” I know they wouldn’t understand the tech behind it but I should get my demonica checked out. It’s fine now but it was giving me a few issues after I got summoned. The last thing I remember before I arrived was reading a document called ‘The Records of the Four Holy Weapons’ that suddenly appeared on my mission log. It talked about the waves of destruction and a bit on the other heroes but I didn’t get that far into it before it went blank.

“When it comes to blacksmiths, there’s really only one choice. Follow me,” Mald said as we left the castle.

The castle’s maids gave me a spare pair of clothes for me to wear last night but I stuck with the demonica for our first outing. We walked past vast stone buildings, giant lizards and feathery ostriches leading carriages and people wearing vibrant cloth clothes. The place felt very alien to me, like I was going through the first floors of the Schwarzwelt again. Even if I was wearing period accurate clothes or spent more time at the Ren Faire there was a fundamental difference in the way everyone around me was holding themselves…

“Here we are!” Mald stopped his march in front of the largest building on the street. There was a large sign in the shape of a sword hanging over the wooden door and inside there were rows upon rows of swords, spears, halberds, bows and even armour on mannequins. 

“Welcome,” the owner behind the counter called out to us. He was a bald, muscular man with a fair share of battle scars wearing a classic blacksmithing apron. I wouldn't be surprised if he made over half of his shop’s stock by hand and forge. “Hmm, another Holy Hero here for my wares, seems to be my lucky day.” He said while gazing at my foreign clothing.

I walked up to the owner as my squad checked out the merchandise. “Yeah, I’m the Bow Hero. Who else is here?”

“The shield one. He and his companion are in the changing rooms.” My party ‘subtly’ moved closer to the exit of the building after hearing that. I can deal with whatever their problem is later. “We’ve only got two, so you’ll have to wait a moment if you want to use them. Although you probably won’t need to, you look like a hero already!” He said with a chuckle.

“Mhmm, on the topic, I’d like your opinion on the armour from my world.” The help menu listed an ‘appraisal skill’ and apparently mine wasn’t very high. So when I first ‘appraised’ my demonica with that status magic it just listed a bunch of garbled letters, even the OS glitched out. I carefully placed all the detachable components of my armour (helmet, gauntlet, breathing apparatus) on the counter. Welt was leering over my shoulder but I shooed him away. 

“Hmm…” The owner held a magnifying glass to each of the items and eventually to the armour that was still on my body. He asked me some questions and I answered all the relevant ones. “Well, it’s a beautiful piece of equipment and it’ll certainly last but if you were thinking of replacing it… I would at level 32, or 40 since you're going to be away from the action with a bow… honestly I’m surprised you can even wear it at your level.” That sounded like an insult but I guess he meant it literally.

“And how long would it take to reach those levels?”

“Ehh, that’s hard to say. It all depends where you go and how much of your time you spend hunting.” 

“All right then, while I'm here…” I continued asking questions about equipment, where the best hunting spots were and what to expect from the monsters there. Apparently I could equip my bow with ores and minerals to strengthen it, so I asked where to find them too. The owner, Elhart was his name, seemed to enjoy explaining everything at first but obviously grew exhausted by my questioning. After that, I went to check the goods my crew had been entranced by.

Welt was by the jewellery section, which I guess blacksmiths had here, examining a fancy bracelet. “The quality here is outstanding,” he said.

“Of course, there exists no superior blacksmith in Melromarc other than Elhart and I wouldn’t take the bow hero anywhere less,” Mald said. I could see copies of his armour on display so at least he wasn’t bullshitting me. Speaking of armour…

“Welt, you aren’t just looking at the jewellery are you?” He jumped and quickly put the bracelet down.

“No, but umm, is there a problem sir?”

“Maybe, if you seriously think it’s fine to go monster hunting in those fancy pyjamas?”

“What…?” Welt appeared stunned and confused; he obviously wasn’t good at handling confrontation, if you could even call it that. He better be taking this seriously. “They’re not just pyjamas, they’ve been enchanted… by my family's best mages.” Not just pyjamas? 

“They should have enchanted something that could actually protect you, then. You could at least wear a bit of chainmail or something underneath.” 

“C’mon Tadano, he’s a mage. It’s just what their type wear, it’s not like he’s going on the front lines,” Vass said with a bored expression. Yeah he didn’t seem to be the type to buy a bunch of jewellery off my tab and ditch. Noble or not, I guess I can give him a bit of faith.

“Even if that’s the case it’s always possible to be taken by surprise … and it’s not just Welt’s outfit I have a problem with; Vass, your shoulders and thighs are blatantly exposed and Rojeel your chest plate…” Was a convex piece of metal haphazardly strapped to the torso. “Is way too small. Any strike or slash your armour protects will just rebound to the rest of your body, so we gotta find something to replace that.”

Rojeel scratched his head. “Can’t say that’s happened to me before.” Yeah, the fact you're still alive tells me that. Either way, it seemed he wasn't going to argue with a presumed superior.

“That’s only because he has never been in a proper sword to sword duel. The bow hero will surely encounter all manner of brigands and bandits on his journey, so we must be well prepared,” Mald said in his usual tone as he physically took Welt into trying some actual armour.

“Right.” Now onto getting some weapon–

“Oh, you're here as well, Tadano?” Kazuya, the shield hero, said. Apparently already finished making his purchase; he was wearing a tunic and knapsack over his regular clothes along with some chainmail. His red-pink pants, headset and blue hair made him stand out all the same.

“You got recommended this place as well?”

“Yeah, by my new party member; Tadano meet Myne, Myne meet Tadano the bow hero.” Are four letter names common in this world or something? 

“Pleased to meet you Tadano sir,” the red headed lady said with a bow. She stood a tad taller than Kazuya and her armour got a slight upgrade.

“Likewise.” I moved over to where they kept the bows and Kazuya followed from behind like a curious little brother.

“Looking at the different types of bows?” He asked.

“Well I’m already covered on the armour front so…”

“But we can’t have any weapons besides these,” Kazuya pointed to the bow on my back and shook the shield on his arm for emphasis. “You saw what happened to Nanashi when he did.”

I did see him flailing about like a cadet getting chewed out for the first time… I took a quick breather before saying, “Yeah, but the help menu talked about a ‘weapon copy system’, right?”

“Oh, yeah there was something like that, wasn’t there?”

“ Wasn’t there? Were you just spacing out your DS?” I hoped even kids like them would take this situation seriously.

“I wasn’t! There was just way too much to remember.” Judging by his eyes he was double checking the menu right now. “And it’s a COMP, not… whatever that is.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I grabbed the closest bow on the shelf and what did you know?

Weapon copy system activated.

Kova Wood LongBow conditions unlocked

Tan Kova Wood LongBow conditions unlocked

Amber Kova Wood LongBow conditions unlocked

Orange Kova Wood LongBow conditions unlocked

White Kova Wood LongBow conditions unlocked

Pale-Yellow Kova Wood LongBow conditions unlocked

…

That’s… a lot more weapons than I was expecting, I only touched the brown one. Transforming my weapon, I examined some of the different forms.

Kova Wood LongBow 0/5

<ability locked> equip bonus: attack +1

Amber Kova Wood LongBow 0/5

<ability locked> equip bonus: attack +1

Orange Kova Wood LongBow 0/5

<ability locked> equip bonus: attack +1

They were all the exact same shape and size as the weapon on the wall. The attack bonus they gave were pretty small by themselves but according to the help menu, if you wielded the weapon long enough the bonus would be unlocked. Making it a permanent increase to your personal stats– even when switching to a different bow. Copying was even more lucrative than I thought.

“Hold on, let me try.” Kazuya unhooked one of the wooden shields hanging on the wall and held it. “... Ah yeah, it worked.” He did the same as me and cycled through a bunch of differently coloured shields. Myne was playing it cool but she was clearly astounded by our weapon's supernatural power.

“Told ya. But do you have any guesses on why it gives us so many versions of the same weapon.” Not that I was complaining.

“Well, I think all of the different colours are something that this wood can naturally be, depending on its age and stuff… I guess it’s there so you don’t have to go out of your way to make different coloured bows with the exact same type of material. Although maybe that’s too gamey of an explanation.” This world seems too gamey for me already.

Kazuya mumbled something about ‘intelligent design’ to himself before the blacksmith caught on to us. “Hold it! What exactly are you doing there?” I gave him a basic rundown and he had the gall to say: “You know I’m the owner of this business. What you’re doing basically amounts to stealing.”

“How? It’s not like we’re taking any of your supply.” Kazuya said and while he was correct, scummy business types would think of this as us bypassing a purchase and taking advantage of their hard work . Doing even the most minor of service without getting compensated is impossible for guys like them. “And like I said earlier, we’re heroes right? All of this is investment in the safety of your world.”

A visible debate wracked Elhart’s features until he relented. “Fine, go ahead, but be careful when handling the weapons. I still gotta sell them.” What followed was us going around the shop and touching everything that wasn’t tied down or covered up. I even managed to copy a crossbow which gave me an idea that sounded too good to be true.

“What the– where did you get that?! ” Kazuya exclaimed when he saw me suddenly whip out an automatic machine gun. 

“Relax, I had it with me when I was summoned. Its name is Monopole.” Made by Irving and Chen of the Schwarzwelt Supply Team. They're the best of the best and this gun shows that.

Weapon copy system activated.

I couldn't restrain my smirk. I could still use my guns! I didn’t have to rely on a bloody bow to survive out here! Doing my best to ignore the inquisitive looks everyone gave, I tried to transform my bow to one of the most impressive guns I’ve ever held… But it didn’t work…

Monopole locked: Level required: 87

… Myne asked me something, probably to do with me going from stoic to elated then to annoyed but I didn’t pay attention to it. The Monopole was simply too good of a weapon and the status magic recognized that, that’s all. Reaching through all manner of compartments that my Demonica possessed I found the weapon that I was first issued. 

The ‘strike rifle’, a standard-issue automatic rifle. It could barely hold out against the demons and many brave soldiers had died relying on it… But it would make do here.

Weapon copy system activated.

Strike Rifle locked: Level required: 57

57… Level, 57… Ok, this legendary bow had to bow down to a level requirement, sure, whatever. I can just use the gun on its own, no copying necessary– *ZAP* 

Legendary Weapon specification: a weapon besides the assigned equipment was held, violating the rule.

A formidable shock erupted throughout me as some sort of reprimand, but you know what? Fuck, that. I kept my grip on my rifle, I’ve faced worse.

“Are– are you okay there, Tadano sir.” Myne asked me again.

“All’s good.” I replied through gritted teeth and tensed muscles. The shock was only increasing in intensity every moment I held on. It felt like getting hit by Ziodyne but my Demonica wasn’t recognizing any damage and my hair wasn’t standing on end. It was just pain, plain and simple. I could recognize that but it didn’t make it any better. 

“You’re obviously not okay,” Kazuya said, understanding the consequence of breaking the rule . I didn’t have my finger anywhere near the trigger but he walked to me slowly and held out his hand. “I know it’s awful that you can’t use your guns here but it’s nothing that we can’t get over right? Nothing’s going to change by putting yourself through this, so let’s just drop the gun, ok?” 

Did Kazuya seriously have to say it like a suicide preventer? Who the hell does this kid think he is, some sort of hero– oh wait that’s probably it isn’t it? And he's trying to impress the lady even when the situation doesn’t call for it. 

Motives aside, he was right. I relaxed my hand and the rifle fell– wait, no –it shot out at maximum velocity… right into the face of the blacksmith. Kazuya attempted to shout a warning but everything happened way too fast.

And yet, Elhart caught the gun. “I told ya to be careful didn’t I?! What in the world are you two doing now?!” The reaction time and speed that was so effortlessly displayed left us speechless and while the pain from the weapon went away I was left with a pretty bad headache. Kazuya gave Elhart the second rundown for the day (hopefully) while I took a breather.

“Drink up.” Kazuya’s red-headed companion said as she held out an ornate flask. It contained a translucent liquid.

I took it and asked, “This isn’t vodka is it?” 

Myne tilted her head with an overexaggerated curiosity “Nope! It's just a little something to help with hangovers.” I guess something to soften a hangover really deserves such a flask, if it really works. I took a swig and it tasted kind of like a sports drink, somehow… 

Holy shit, my head felt ten times clearer. My headache wasn’t caused by alcohol but it completely disappeared! “How in the world did you make this?” Every hangover cure I’ve got roped into trying was just a scam. How did this world invent the second coming of the holy grail? Was it an ingredient unique to this world?

“Hehe, it's a trade secret,” Myne said leaning over so we could see eye to eye but mostly so I could get an eyeful of her cleavage. “But you must be really strong to go through all that without breaking a sweat.” She was trying to act cute and sexy but her words and actions felt like the worst way to cure a hangover, getting dunked in ice cold water. 

Another ass-kisser huh. Although her type of ‘sucking up’ is probably more literal compared to Mald’s… I think. “Look, would you stop with that , let’s keep it professional here. If you’re going to flirt with anyone, flirt with your new partner.” As this world’s heroes should I expect this type of behaviour from everyone I run into?

"Huh? What about me?" Kazuya didn't hear what I said but he did notice when I pointed at him. A contemptful sneer shone across Myne's face before she took back the bottle and skipped back to her partner. The new metal part of her armour caught the light and reflected it directly into my eyes, which... had to be coincidental.

Even if she’s a ‘gold digger’, the king and his court must have vetted her adventuring or combat capabilities, so I wasn’t really worried about them. 

Headache cleared and excuses given, I went up to Elhart and found him giving a thorough examination of my rifle. “Is this some sort of firearm?” He asked.

“Obviou– wait what? You know what guns are?”

“Hmph,” Elhart grew a grin. “I do, I do. They say whenever you heroes get summoned you would never stop telling us to make these things.” Yeah… if I didn’t bring any with me I would’a told them to do the same. “I’ve seen a couple of prototypes from Faubrey but they’ve never given off this sense of… elegance .” With wistful eyes he passed the gun back to me.

“It’d be hard to recreate one of these boys from basic principles. Shame the previous heroes weren’t better gun nuts.”

“Uh, huh.” Kazuya was clearly uncomfortable with all this talk about weapons. “Guns weren’t the only things they recommended to make… right?” 

Elhart gave a mumble and scratched his bald head. “Look kid, I'm not a scholar, alright… I think they had a hand in creating our sewer system?” Civvies can’t live without their toilets and showers. “And you don’t have to worry about the guns here, they've never really been any good.”

“What do you mean they’re not good?!” I said. Even if they only had flintlocks here, that's still way more reliable than a bow! They had better range and accuracy, could pierce through most armour of this general era and a platoon didn’t have to train for their whole damn life just to fire one shot.

Elhart let out a massive sigh this time. I would have felt bad for him if I didn’t need an answer. “Oh boy. You’ve seen your attack stat in your status, right?” We nodded. “The damage and penetrative power of the bullet is only determined by your attack power. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea for a weapon but… it could only reach its maximum potential once you hit level… 100 – maybe not even then. So for now it's better to just stick with the bow and arrow.”

… What the fuck kinda bullshit is that!? He's basically saying that Newton's third law doesn't exist here! And Elhart had even more to say: “That law affects the power of explosives too so depending on who uses it, the gun might just blow up from pulling the trigger!” I don’t even know what to say about that one. 

“If that's how this world works, what makes one of your swords or pieces of armour stronger than another?” Kazuya asked, making a great point. I mean, what would even be the point in armour, if everything relied on your attack or defense stats.

Wait, is that why Rojeel’s chestplate covered only his torso? Or why everyone was fine with Welt wearing pyjamas? If I chewed them out for literally no reason, and they didn’t correct me because I was a hero… I’d feel like a major ass– no, I would be a major A asshat.

“It’s not like weapons and armour don’t have their own attack or defense stats, it’s just that bows and guns are really similar stat-wise. And like I already told you, my strongest equipment has a variety of enhancements applied to them, which is why they’re so ‘expensive’.” Elhart drummed his fingers against the desk.

Vass came up to the counter while laying out a few weapons. “If your discussion on Law of Local Status is done, we will be buying our equipment now.” They followed my suggestion on what type of armour to get, even replacing some of their shabbier equipment. But Welt only saw fit to add some chainmail between his coat and undershirt.

“Ah, yes. I believe that should all come to…” Elhart’s brow furrowed as he studied the equipment. “540 silver pieces.”

“540…” and I was only given 600 silver. I glanced behind me and all of my party members were pointedly looking away. Like I caught whatever Kazuya had. “You all picked these out. Why aren’t you getting your purses out?”

“I believe you were the one who told us to get better armour? Something about, ‘too much exposed skin ’ yeah?,” Vass groused while fiddling with her headband…

“... Yeah, and that gives me another idea: helmets!” I said, addressing everyone. “But you know, I don’t think it would be very comfortable wearing one with all that hair but that’s something that can be easily solved. In my world, anyone joining the military would be christened with a buzz cut but since you're all experienced, we can settle for a High n’ Tight.”

“A… High and Tight? ” Vass said voice and eyes filled with confusion and most importantly, dread. Rojeel and Welt were even cradling their ponytails.

“Yes and it’s just as it sounds. The back and sides of the head are cut to a sixteenth of an inch and around here”– I used Elhart’s head to demonstrate. –“at the top, is a quarter inch of hair that's akin to moss on a rock.”– He smacked my hands away while trying to hide a smirk. “So to hell with it, I can cover the cost of everything and if it turns out that I don’t have you money for a barber I'll just cut your hair myself.” 

“Ehhhh, what the hell?”

“Th-th-there's no need to go that far.”

“Is wearing a helmet with hair really that uncomfortable?”

Mald came to my defense, not that it was needed. “If the Bow Hero demands something of us, then we will oblige . But if I may ask, where does facial hair fit in?” He asked with puppy dog eyes that didn’t really work on his face.

“Uh, don’t worry, you're fine.” The length of his moustache or how it was framed around his mouth was probably against regulation but they didn't need to know that. “After that we will then follow standard Marine Corps Uniform Regulations. No ‘faddish’ or ‘eccentric’ wearing of head, facial, or body hair, Sideburns will not extend below the top of the orifice of the ear, Fingernails shall not extend past the fingertips–”

“Alright, alright they get it.” Kazuya interrupted right when I was about to say women’s fingernails were allowed to be at most a quarter inch from the fingertip. “You're taking ‘hurt people hurt people’ to an absurd extreme. You haven’t even started haggling the shopkeep and you’re going for your party members' throats!” I was mainly aiming for their hair– Oh for fuck’s– haggling, I’ve had enough of that from dealing with demons and car dealerships!

Kazuya noticed my aggrieved expression and went to the counter, “You can give the same discount you gave me to this hero as well.”

“Well, I did and the price we’re left with is 540 silver. Don't worry, I remembered your advice ‘Selling equipment at top price to holy heroes would be against your self interest ’… ” Elhart mimed.

“I didn’t mean to sound threatening!” I wasn’t there for their initial negotiation but for his part, Kazuya did seem sorry. “But my discount was for a full set of armour and a sword alongside a tunic with complementary chain mail. Tadano’s order is just a bunch of miscellaneous odds and ends from around your store. It would be better for you to get this stock off your hands.” Wasn’t buying things individually usually more expensive than buying a complete set? “260… no, 280 silver seems about right for all of this”

“ Miscellaneous odds and ends … Again, you disrespect the craft that goes into every piece I make.” I couldn’t tell if that was genuine or if he was just selling his argument. Actually, if he really did make this stuff it probably was genuine. Elhart shaked his head and turned to me. “If you sell me whatever your companions are replacing we can cut that from the total cost.” 

That sounded like a good compromise between all of us but I had to bring up the fact that: “You're changing the subject; we need to work out the price of what we're paying for before we barter with our armor.”

“... Fine.” We ended up getting everything for 200 silver. Before departing I brought up the experience penalty when heroes fight close together. 

“Yeah, that’s really annoying.” Kazuya groaned. “So I guess this is where we part ways?”

“Not yet. It doesn’t state how far apart we need to be to start getting experience again,” I said.

“I guess that’d be good to know. Do you have measuring tape then? Or a rope?”

“Nothing as simple as that. My demonica is capable of recording distances.” It had a fully onboard tracking and mapping software superior to any satellite-based system. 

“... Oh, does it have a pedometer?”

“... Sure.” 

We headed to the fields outside the city where there was some ‘easy prey’, as Vass put it. Upon leaving the gates I was assaulted by the beautiful view.  So much green, health, vigour… It was an endless horizon filled with trees, grass, birds, mountains. A true fantasy world without today’s oil frackers and carbon emitters… 

What the hell am I saying? Fantasy? This place is real so I’m sure this view can exist somewhere in my world's future.

My party, long since used to the look of the land, treaded through the tall grass . I was going to ask my fellow foreigner his thoughts when I noticed some weird orange growth on his leg. “Kaz… what is that?”

“... They’re trees?”

“No! Not the view, the thing on your leg!”

“What?... Eugh!!” He tried brushing it off but it was firmly attached to him… Wait, were those teeth?

“Oh, that’s just a balloon monster. Don’t worry about them.” Vass barely glanced back at us and kept trawling along. It seemed everyone was used to these vermin latching onto people. They're probably just as noteworthy as getting a prickly burr stuck to you. 

“... But it’s biting me.” Kazuya started to pummel the Balloon with his fists but they just bounced off. 

I crouched to the monster’s level and examined its bizarre physiology in action. It had slanted white eyes and what appeared to be razor sharp teeth digging into Kaz’s jeans. “Does it hurt at all?” 

“No, not at all. I didn’t even notice it was there.” What a pathetic creature. Not even on the same level as burrs.

I reached out to touch it but the balloon did a 180 and bit my finger. “Gah!” Even through a padded glove it caused a hell of a lot of pain. I put the balloon under my armpit and, employing the classic armpit fart manoeuvre, popped it. Luckily there was only air inside, no blood or viscera. 

Mald strode to us with his head held high and exclaimed, “Shield Hero! What exactly are you doing?”

“Wh-what? What do you mean?” He took a step back from the man twice his age and size. 

“Don’t be ignorant! How dare you let a monster approach and attack Sir Tadano. Are you not aware of the fact that we are fighting monsters here?”

“But there’s only weak monsters around here?... Right?” Welt asked fretfully.

“Their power is irrelevant. What is most important is that the shield hero is ambivalent in his role as protector. How could one ever rely on someone so inattentive on the field of battle.” That's a lot from someone who's done diddly squat.

Rojeel stood beside him. “I don’t know if ‘inattentive’ is the right word. From where I was it looked more like the shield hero was luring Tadano into being bitten.” 

“What!” Kazuya exclaimed.

Welt nervously rubbed his arm and looked down. “It… is a common enough prank.” Your past traumas aren't relevant here!

“I would expect that type of behaviour from literally anyone except this kid. He's much more likely to be the victim of this type of hazing ritual than the perpetrator.”  Kazuya was nodding along to my words but raised his brow at that last bit.

“I mean, I would like to believe that too but wasn’t the shield hero carrying the balloon by his side?” Rojeel questioned.

“Ok now you're just being ridiculous here.” That was such an insane misread that it made Welt's fashion sensible. “It was just biting his leg.”

“Yeah! Didn't you see its teeth? I mean look,” Kazuya sounded very eager to get this conversation over with. He even went through the trouble of furling his thin jeans to show bite marks… but there was nothing there. “Huh?” 

“Hmmm,” Mald scratched at his chin. “And what exactly are you trying to prove? That you're scrawny, instead of malicious?”

“Ah, look. I’m not gonna say one thing or another but if he was being bitten, there definitely should be teeth marks on him,” Vass said. “Especially at level 1.”

I took off my thick glove to corroborate her statement and sure enough, she was right. Which was an entirely different problem in and of itself. The answer of which, probably laid in what Elhart was talking about with attack and defense stats. 

“Kazuya, hold out your palm like this.”

“W-why?”

“It'll show what actually happened.”

“... You saw that it was biting me. What other proof do you even need?” He whined but held out his hand anyway.

I grabbed my bow by the lower limb and, emulating my grade school teachers, smacked him across the palm.

“Ow– h-huh?” He retracted his hand nearly instantaneously but looked it over slowly, with a slack jaw. The marked and reddened skin that would showcase such an assault was nowhere to be seen.

“Did that hurt?”

“No, not all…”

“I guess the shield by itself gives you high defense…” But more than my demonica? What the hell is wrong with this world?