~Y/n pov~

Me and Itsuki decided to go and see the dragon hourglass so we could register the countdown to the wave.

It was kept inside the three heroes church, when we told them who we were they let us up right away, but something felt off about them.

When we were walking down the corridor we met up with Ren and we could hear talking .

"If it isn't Naofumi. Why are you even fighting for him?"

"Hey Sir Motoyasu is talking to you!"

We approached the door that lead to the dragon hourglass to be met with Naofumi just leaving , Motoyasu and Myne were also there and another girl I didn't recognise.

She seemed to be a Demi-human.

"Uh..." Itsuki blinked in shock, probably not expecting the door to suddenly open or perhaps he wasn't expecting Naofumi to be here .

"Hi there, I'm Motoyasu the spear hero!" I heard a flirty voice call out.

It caught everyone's attention as we looked to where he was standing , he was hitting on the Demi-human.

He would literally hit on anyone anywhere , what a dick.

"You're a hero?" Her voice was soft .

"Wow you're cute." The idiot continued to flirt .

"Huh?"

"Why are you praising a Demi-human?" A salty voice pitched in.

"A girl as adorable as you shouldn't have to wield a sword, I can protect you from now on." He winked at the girl, completely ignoring Myne's bitchy whining .

At that, Naofumi turned and started walking towards them.

She jerked her hand away from his, "I-I can't I promised master Naofumi I'd be his sword."

Master?

"Are you kidding!? That's insane..." Motoyasu seemed shocked , "If you stay with Naofumi you'll be in danger."

Naofumi stopped right in front of the blonde jerk and glared .

"Tell me I'm not right?" The idiot smirked , "Or don't you have the guts?"

Silence followed, Naofumi walked around Motoyasu and grabbed the girls hand, "We're outta here."

"Oh come on! Don't tell me you haven't heard any of those rumours going around about him." The big idiot just had to open his mouth.

Naofumi stopped abruptly and gritted his teeth.

"Rumours?" The girl echoed .

"See you when the wave hits." Itsuki stayed impassive.

"Good luck." I muttered so only he could hear, he nodded in response .

"Just stay out of our way!" Ren spat.

With that, Naofumi left.

On the way back to Melromarc we happened to bump into Ren and he and Itsuki seemed to be getting along well. I'm sure we'd be taking quests together in the future .

After about ten minutes , Motoyasu and the bitchy princess left.

Me, Ren and Itsuki approached the hourglass and each touched it. A countdown appeared which told us that we had less than 48 hours before the first wave would hit us.

Even though I was kind of nervous I knew we could do this. When you're in a party with one of the heroes , it teleports us as well as our party to where the wave will hit so I guess that's useful .

~*~

The next two days consisted of getting new equipment some last minute training and me and Itsuki actually hung out with Ren, I guess I feel a bit closer too him because of it .

But alas, it wasn't all fun and games , the first wave was finally here and I just hoped we were ready.

Those were the last thoughts that consumed my mind before everything flashed gold and I found myself on a field.

Looking around there was no signs of any monsters, but that was when the sky suddenly darkened .

Weird , red swirly portals of some sort appeared in the sky and emerging from them came monsters, they were falling but slowly and controlled before softly landing on the ground.

I readied my weapon and so did the rest of the party .

Lots of the monsters appeared but with the help of Ren ,who was nearby so we decided to team up , we managed to push them back.

However as soon as we defeated them more and more kept appearing.

Just as we had gotten out of breath some soldiers had appeared to aid us and I'm glad they did .

BOOM!

I looked around frantically trying to locate the source of the sound, and that's when I saw it.

One of the villages a few miles away from where we were fighting was one fire but we were surrounded and it was too far away so it's be pointless trying to go there .

I believe it was called Lute or something . I just hoped the villagers had escaped in time or someone was helping them .

The fight continued for about ten more minutes before the remaining monsters started retreating back into the red portals and suddenly the sky cleared up and that was it.

It was so weird , where exactly did the portals lead and why were they here?

Did they maybe come from a different planet, or maybe even a different world? No that's seems far fetched... or is it? In a world like this I don't think anything is impossible.

We found ourselves with Motoyasu's group when we started walking back.

"This wave was a piece of cake! Walk in the park!" He bragged on as usual.

"Yes it was quite easy right?" Ren nodded thoughtfully.

"Yup." Itsuki agreed.

I smiled and nodded, while it may have been a long fight, the monsters were easier than I expected from how much they had exaggerated the wave but maybe it was because of how strong we had got from all the training we did. And maybe it was easier being heroes with legendary weapons .

"Anyone seen Naofumi?" Motoyasu asked actually sounding kind of genuine for once in his life."

Myne smiled coyly, clinging to Motoyasu like a slut, "I'm glad he wasn't here , he would of held us back and we wouldn't of had as much fun!"

Motoyasu laughed bashfully, "For sure!"

~*~

From all of that intense killing , every member had reached level 40 in our party so when we got back to Melromarc we decided to take a quick stop at the hourglass .

Since me and Itsuki were heroes with legendary weapons, unlike the others we didn't get a class choice we had only one option probably because we are heroes of legend and our class is already set in stone .

~*~

Having defeated our first wave, we were having a celebration , which all the heroes were invited to. It was taking place in a big hall in the palace and there was all sorts of nice looking foods.

Itsuki and Ren were stood near me having a conversation but I wasn't really paying attention, instead my gaze was fixed on Naofumi.

He was sat in the corner next to the window with his party member trying to cheer him up with food, he looked miserable and I don't blame him.

Conversation stopped as the king started speaking, "Thanks to our heroes the battle was splendidly won and tonight we celebrate,"He held up his glass of wine , "to the fullest."

Cheering was heard as everyone else who was holding a glass held it up, I didn't have a glass as I didn't really drink.

Motoyasu had girls swooning over him and he was loving the attention , Myne was getting angry at said females and being jealous even though they weren't dating or anything .

"Hey ,Wait you!" Motoyasu followed Naofumi's party member .

This wasn't going to end well, I simply stood back and watched slightly amused at Motoyasu's flirting attempts .

Myne stopped him and then whispered something in his ear, he seemed shocked by whatever she told him and I could tell whatever it was, it wasn't going to end well.

The blonde haired idiot clenched his teeth and stormed up to Naofumi, "Naofumi, time to fight."

Naofumi looked unamused .

What the hell was the idiot thinking? Picking a fight all of a sudden, fighting among ourselves would do nothing and only worsen the situation.

"I've heard that you've made poor Raphtalia your slave and she obeys you're every command." Motoyasu accused, is that what Myne was whispering to him earlier ?

"And what do you care?"

"Watch your tone!" The dummy snapped back.

"She's my loyal slave. What's it to you?" His voice was void of emotion.

"You think it's okay to enslave others ?"

"Do you even hear yourself? Slavery is legal in this crazy place and she's been a great help to me." Naofumi explained .

"But we're heroes!"

I scoffed slightly , hero my ass , all he does is gets his party to kill monsters and then tell them he did it to make them swoon over him.

Talk about narcissism.

"We shouldn't behave that way here and you know it!"

"You have a right to your opinion and I disagree."

The blonde flirt gritted his teeth and pointed his spear towards Naofumi, "Let's do this then, if I win you're gonna set Raphtalia free."

"Alright then, what if I win this fight?"

"That won't happen," he exclaimed cockily , "But if it does things will remain the same."

"Don't be such an idiot ." Naofumi sighed walking away.

"M-master Naofumi!" Raphtalia yelled after him .

"Does he actually have a slave in his party?" Itsuki asked in a judging tone.

"Hey, give the man a break, you know what's he's been through." I glared at him.

He looked away guiltily, "You're right, sorry."

Just as Naofumi and Raphtalia were about to leave, they were blocked off by a guard holding a fancy pitchfork .

"It has been brought to my attention that you, a hero , has been using a Demi-human as your slave to fight for you ." The king accused , "You've violated our customs and that won't go unforgiven."

Myne smirked and giggled, she must of had something to do with this. She looked so evil, it was then when it came to my realisation, Naofumi was definitely set up, and I didn't notice sooner.

I also didn't do anything about it, I felt so guilty, can't imagine what he's been through. But it's no time to be regretting the past now.

"Accept the challenge !" The king ordered.

Raphtalia gasped , "Hey they don't need to fight ! I'm with Master Naofumi with my own free will and..."

The girl was cut off by a guard covering her mouth and dragging her away.

She started kicking and trying to escape.

"You leave her alone!" Naofumi demanded .

"Let her go, that's harassment ." I agreed stepping up.

Itsuki gave me a nervous look but I nodded to him confidently as if saying , 'I know what I'm doing.'

"Ahh you poor creature , you've been placed under a curse that has forced you to defend him." The king seemed to have no sympathy despite his words.

"Stop it don't hurt her." Naofumi panicked.

At the kings order, everyone raised their swords and pointed them at him.

Motoyasu stepped up cockily, "There is no way you're getting out of this you coward !"

They started heading to the arena but I quickly ran up to the guard who had Raphtalia.

Itsuki yelled my name and chased me in hopes of stopping me doing anything rash.

"Let go of her." I demanded to the guard.

"Oh yeah what you going to do about it." He sneered.

My glare hardened, "Let's make a deal, you let go of her and she can come to the arena with my party instead , deal?"

Itsuki stood behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder and glaring at the guard .

He cowered under ours sharp gazes, "F-fine."

Raphtalia gasped for breath as the hand was removed from her mouth and she crumpled to the ground.

I reached out my hand to her , "Are you okay?"

She smiled gratefully at me, "Thanks so much for that."

"I saw you at the room with the dragon hourglass but I never introduced myself." I reached out my hand for a handshake , "Hi I'm Y/n and that's Itsuki."

Itsuki nodded respectfully , for some reason his hand still on my shoulder refusing to let go.

"I'm Raphtalia nice to meet you." She bowed her head politely .

"No need to be so formal." I smiled .

~*~

"The duel between the shield hero and the spear hero will now commence." The announcer announced , "It will end only when one of them are pinned or accepts defeat."

Two doors opened as they stepped into the arena , the crowd cheering .

Me, Itsuki , Ren and Raphtalia were sat in the front row, I was sat in between Itsuki and Raphtalia and Ren was beside Itsuki.

"Sir Motoyasu," an obnoxiously annoying voice called out , "I wish you the best of luck."

It was, you guessed it, Myne .

She wasn't even in the stands she was stood at the edge of the arena was that even allowed ? What if she interfered ?

I decided to keep a close eye on her just incase.

"Remember the rumours about the battle of the great spear hero and the unmovable shield?" Motoyasu asked even though I'm pretty sure no one has heard of it, "Naofumi, be a man and surrender."

I don't think a 'man' would surrender that easily . God Motoyasu is so dense .

Naofumi stayed silent , readying his shield .

"Begin!" The announcer cut in.

Right off the bat, Motoyasu charged at Naofumi but he simply blocked with his shield .

"Not to bad." Motoyasu smirked.

Naofumi's expression didn't change , "Did you know in the tale , the spear hero actually lost?"

Motoyasu was thrown away from the momentum of Naofumi pushing the shield forward.

"Because the spear couldn't pierce the shield!" He yelled.

Motoyasu growled, "Chaos spear!"

A flurry of attacks went towards Naofumi, that he didn't have time to block or dodge .

Quite a few of them pierced his clothes and skin as a bit of blood splashed out and he was flung back grunting slightly.

Raphtalia looked like she wanted to step in but I gave her a look to tell her not to.

Naofumi got up and charged towards him, Motoyasu doing the same.

This went on for quite some while and when it looked like Motoyasu had the upper hand and was going to win, a balloon monster latched onto Motoyasu's waist and started biting him.

Naofumi smirked, opening his cloak to show more of the balloon monsters biting him but it seemed to leave him unaffected.

It must be because he is the shield hero , so he must have pretty high defence .

The tables suddenly turned as Naofumi started manipulating his defences and turning them into attacks.

"At this rate the shield hero might win!?"

"Naofumi and his shield have the upper hand." Itsuki concluded.

Ren hummed in agreement .

I saw a flash of what I assumed was relief in Raphtalia's facial expression.

The crowd started complaining .

"Does the lowly shield hero think he can win against the spear hero?"

"Have you no respect?"

Just as Naofumi was about to attack Motoyasu, a huge gust of wind came out of nowhere and blasted him back.

Averting my attention, I realised that Myne was holding her hand out meaning most likely she had cast the spell and that made the duel unfair .

Is that why she was stood at the edge of the arena ? So they could cheat? Did they come up with this plan together or did Myne do it completely on her own accord?

To another other person they probably wouldn't of notice the spell.

But I certainly did and I'm sure Itsuki and Ren also noticed.

Taking this chance , Motoyasu went in for the final blow, casting lightning spear.

The spell managed to pass Naofumi's defences and shocked him, making him fall to his knees. (Naofumi isn't on his stage. Let's give him a controlled shock-)

Raphtalia yelled and panicked stood up , wanting to make her way to him.

This time I didn't stop her .

Motoyasu stabbed his spear next to Naofumi's face, "The battle has been won!"

The crowd cheered at his victory, just like that the interference went unnoticed .

At this, me , Itsuki and Ren made our way to the arena .

The king smirked, with him as the ruler of Melromarc we were definitely screwed.

His way of rule is so messed up.

Naofumi stood up weakly , "You didn't win. So what happened to this being a one on one duel?"

He was pissed and he had every right to be.

"Ha , little man's a sore loser." He mocked.

I snuck up behind him and whacked him really hard on his pressure point, his eyes widened in shock as he fell to his knees and fainted .

Rubbing my hands together , I pretended to rub of dust, "It's about time that blonde idiot shut up."

"Motoyasu!" Myne shrieked running towards his unconscious body.

Itsuki chuckled slightly approaching me and grabbing my arm, standing slightly in front of me in a protective matter, "Now don't go getting yourself in trouble."

Naofumi crouched over and started having a panic attack, tears rolled down his face as he gasped for air.

Raphtalia knelt beside him, trying to calm him down.

A guard grabbed her arm and jerked her away as she struggled.

They poured some sort of potion on her which for rid of her slave mark as Naofumi watched afraid and in shock.

His shield set on fire as he screamed out.

This was bad, very bad.

Raphtalia gasped running back towards him, but not before spitting on Motoyasu's unconscious body.

He was pulled into a hug by the cute Demi-human and he struggled for a while .

The distant look in his eyes eventually went away as he came back to his senses and just collapsed into her arms .

Itsuki decided to step in, "Myne I'm sorry but I have to ask about your illegal use of magic interfering with the dual."

"I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Really now?" My voice dropped with sarcasm.

Motoyasu started coming to his senses and regained consciousness.

"That was quite the hit you took from Y/n." Itsuki teased as Motoyasu scowled .

"Oh yeah!?" He clenched his fist.

Ren stepped forwards so he stood beside Itsuki, "Hate to say it Motoyasu but you lost that duel."

Naofumi looked up in shock to see us defending him.

"Itsuki, I need to talk to you later." I told him in a whisper so no one else could hear.

His gaze landed on me, his facial expression softened, "Yeah ok."

~*~

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3100 words

A/n someone pls give me more insults for Motoyasu :) thanks