"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."

- H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature

Raphtalia hated the dark.

It wasn't because she couldn't see where she was going. Most objects in her path were almost as clear as day, revealed in hues of green for her to navigate around. Mommy had explained it to her as a gift from the gods so that their people could traverse the night world. They did not need the sun like humans or other demi-humans, but sudden bursts of bright light would harm their eyes as a reminder that they should not solely rely on this gift to see.

But it was different now.

The formerly light green had become a darker shade, almost emerald and brighter than before. Her marking lightly pulsed as she held the sword in front of her, the blade slightly shaking from both her nervous steps and her own fear.

She had stayed by the river until the sun had set and the moon began to rise. Part of her hadn't wanted to get up. After all, she had killed two men and there seemed to be something changing her. The Shield Hero's mark was making her veins glow and it gave her strength. The fact that she had killed two knights with a sword far too big for someone like her was proof of that.

"But the anger... I never got angry like that before today!" Was it a blessing? No, it couldn't be. Blessings don't make people feel horrible about themselves. They don't make the blessed feel sick and guilty over what they had done. None of the stories of men and women being given fantastic powers ever talked about what Raphtalia was feeling.

But, in the end, she decided to move. She could not stay, not with the bodies of the knights decomposing and acting as an easy meal for monsters. Not when their companions would come searching for them and be all too happy to enslave or kill her for their deaths.

Knowing that she had a long journey ahead of her, she had done something unthinkable.

She had looted their corpses.

Raphtalia still felt sickened by that. She had taken off the red-eyed knight's belt and tightened it around her, disposing of anything that wasn't food or money and doing the same to the fat knight. She gagged when the smell of their decay and empty bowels hit her nose, and she had closed her eyes to avoid the sight of their blood.

Blood that she had spilled.

But she had done it. She put Rifana into the empty pouch in front of her right hip and, hesitantly, she had taken the fat knight's sword.

It was almost bigger than her, yet it felt as light as a common stick.

Raphtalia knew that she wouldn't make it far in her journey without a weapon. There were monsters in these woods and the knights would still come after her. They wanted to kill her because the Shield Hero had freed her, and she would rather die than be chained up again.

"Can I do it, though? Can I really swing this sword to fight them off? Can I... can I kill again?" Shaking her head, Raphtalia continued walking forward and ducked under a low-hanging branch. "No... no, I don't need to. I can just run! Yes, I can run and no one else will have to die! I don't... I don't have to make anyone else bleed!"

Blood. All that blood from those two men came from her.

She was standing still again, her whole body trembling as she hyperventilated. What had happened to her back there? All that anger... she had been so eager to smash them! To kill them! She didn't even really see them as she did it, instead seeing the visages of her former tormentors. When she was driving the blade through their flesh and bone she had seen the monsters, her old trader, and Idol.

"I might as well have been killing them. I want to kill them. Those two would've seen what Idol had done to me and laughed!"

The worst part of it was... some piece of her felt satisfied. It relished in seeing the life drain from the fat knight's eyes after all the remarks he made. After he picked up Rifana and treated her like his future property, something in her snapped.

She wanted to smash them like the Shield Hero. For her fist to become his fist and...!

Something rustled and she whirled around on her heel. She could see a white blob coming from the bushes. "A Balloon monster!?" She couldn't tell what type it was. The gods had given her people the ability to see the night world as clearly as day but they did not give her the gift of distinguishing colors during its use.

Raphtalia heard it hiss, seeming to deflate but she knew that it was only preparing to leap at her. It would be on her even if she turned around to flee, biting through her flesh and making her bleed like Mommy and Daddy. "But I... I don't want to kill it! I don't...!"

"But what about Rifana? Are you willing to let her die just because you don't want to see blood?"

That voice, her own but soft and more mature, cut through the haze of fear. She could see it now. The Balloon biting through her neck and as she fell Rifana's egg would roll out of her pouch. The Balloon would notice it, hopping towards its next victim salivating from the mouth.

Salivating like the three-headed dog.

"No... NO!" The hot anger came from within, her mark pulsating as the hues of green in her vision grew darker. "No one will hurt her! Not again!" The Balloon leapt as Raphtalia brought her sword to the left and swung horizontally, screaming as the blade whistled in the air before a loud squelch echoed into the night. "NOT AGAIN!"

The Balloon was cut in half, the creature popping as its remains fell forward and dropped onto the ground. She breathed in and out while staring at the marks of blood on her blade while the white glow of the Balloon slowly faded.

"Safe... we're now safe..." She muttered to herself while patting Rifana's bag. "I... I don't feel so bad." Was it because she was protecting Rifana?

But she still couldn't look at the slain Balloon. Instead, she stepped over it and continued to follow the pulses of her mark with the sword held in front of her.

Night belonged to the monsters, after all.

It was their world.

Father Claude Callahan sat in the rich carriage that the church had sent him off in and looked at the holy scripture only to feel nothing.

There was a time when looking at the divine text of the Church of Three Heroes would give him confidence. It would soothe his mind to know that he was doing the will of the gods.

"In this book is the true scripture. One free of the lies of the Shield Hero, one not tainted by the Dragon's whispers so that we may march like sheep to the end."

That was the first lesson the priesthood had taught him.

He had grown up on the church's teachings, studying in the squalor of their schools living on little more than bread, cheese, water, and the occasional meal of meat. They had been told that this was to make them humble. That in order to become closer to the gods they needed to have as little as possible.

What a shock it was when he had reached his standing as a priest that most of the Church lived in the lap of luxury.

Claude had known how the people of Melromarc revered their order. The only way the deacons could obtain funds for their housing is by begging on their knees in the street. So many were willing to give copper or silver pieces to them. But what the priests received happened to make those paltry givings pale in comparison. Nobles showered them with riches and even the king himself was willing to throw so much gold their way when the bookkeepers and Her Majesty weren't looking.

Their meals were feasts, their wine superb, and their entertainment fit for royalty.

It was how he obtained his little problem.

Claude reached into the cabinet and uncorked a bottle of the wine he was nursing. Taking a swig he looked down on the texts of the church. "Why can't I feel you?"

But he knew why. How could he not?

It had started only a few months ago. His Holiness, Pope Bisca T. Balmus, had sent a notice to all followers that they had granted the Kingdom of Melromac the blessing to summon the Cardinal Heroes. The Shield Hero would be dealt with shortly and the Kingdom would become the true holy city of the world.

Claude had many questions but wouldn't speak them. The church was a place with thin walls, and heresy would not be tolerated.

"Why? Why would we be the ones blessing the kingdom? If it were truly the will of the gods, then wouldn't the kingdom have gotten them regardless?"

It frightened him. He had gotten a nagging feeling that this was less the will of the gods and more of the machinations of man. It was no secret how embedded the church was with the high society of Melromarc. Could it be possible... no, he imagined it was possible.

His Holiness had acted as a man and not the mouth of the gods. All in the name of securing their power and having control of the true Cardinal Heroes.

He took another swig of wine. He needed to drown out these feelings in a deep sleep of alcohol. He could not keep thinking them lest he sign his own death warrant.

"Have the gods turned their faces away from us for this blasphemy?"

Claude's family had grown up poor. He had been sent to the priesthood solely so that they would have one less mouth to feed, and so that one of their number could perhaps make something of himself within the order. He had grown up with the scriptures rattling in his mind. Tales of the Fathers who worked alongside the Sword, Spear, and Bow Heroes. The tales of treachery from the Shield Hero who fought against them and the gods. It was said that one day, the Shield Devil was fated to end the world. That his Legendary Weapon would consume the sun and the moon before doing battle with the Heroes for the fate of the chosen.

Yet, now that he was old and embedded within his order as a lowly priest, he could see the contradictions to the scripts. The 'exceptions' made by the High Priests and the Pope. He had seen demi-humans and even attended an autopsy of one during his studies. The intent was to prove the inferiority of the species by showing their unholy organs.

But Claude wanted only to look away. He could only see the poor demi-human as merely a human with extra features and was forced to sit there and take notes.

He had gotten high marks on his examination later that month.

"Damn it all. Damn it all..." His faith was weakening. He could feel it and it terrified him. "I must believe. I cannot afford not to. Even if members of my orders have turned their backs I must stand firm! The Shield Devil will kill us all if I were to crumble now!"

Slowly his eyes began to close. The alcohol was finally doing its trick. His escorts would have to carry him into the Village of Caspian's church but what else were they good for. They were brutes brainwashed by the scripture and blind to their own wretchedness.

A roar came from nowhere, loud and angry. It sounded human and yet it was not. Claude had heard monsters cry out while knights and adventurers slew them. He had seen first-hand the evils that the Waves spewed out. It was nothing like that at all.

Claude sat in his chair, clutching his bottle close to his chest as the bible fell off his lap and laid just before his feet. "What manner of creature is this!?"

The roar soon ended and the cart shook. The horses whinnied while the knights shouted curses to calm them. The door to the cart opened and a knight bowed at him before entering. "Father Callahan, are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine, Sir Don." Claude licked his dry lips. "Are we under attack?"

"No, no it appears that the monster is nowhere near here. I'll send some men to look but I don't expect to find much." The knight smirked. "Especially with the Church's divine protection over us!"

He bit back a laugh rising from his throat. This cart was merely wood and metal. Fat lot that would do against the bigger beasts. "Yes, yes of course. Carry on then."

The knight bowed, sent a short prayer, and closed the door.

The priest would soon continue his journey drinking, trying desperately to forget the roar he had heard.

The cry sounded so angry...

"At least there weren't any monster corpses this time..." Bruce trudged across the fields of a massive farm. He had woken up in a forest again, once again in an unfamiliar location. However, his intuition... the Hulk's intuition was guiding him to the shabby-looking farmhouse that was in the distance. "And breakfast was easy to find."

The benefit of stumbling on a farm with no farmhands around was an abundance of fresh food. He could get an armful of vegetables and fruits and hide out somewhere else in town with a full belly and no regrets. Sometimes, if he were lucky, he could sneak into the barn and get himself some milk from a cow.

It wasn't like the bacteria would kill him anymore.

"The differences in this world's fauna are fascinating." The fruits that bore a resemblance to strawberries save for the spike-like growths on the sides actually tasted like the fruit, albeit with a semi-spicy aftertaste. There was a form of corn that grew in bushes, not unlike raspberries, and potatoes seemed to grow from miniature trees rather than underground. "Though that does raise questions in regards to the feast we received in the castle. Everything there looked like it had come from our world." The fact that some animals from his world were on this alternate one was an amazing coincidence. But how did the people of Melromarc know how to cook them in a recognizable fashion? "Our summoning was a ritual... it must mean that there have been other Cardinal Heroes. They likely described our cuisines in some form or another to the kingdom and they sought to recreate the dishes."

Yesterday had gone a lot better than the day before. For the most part, he had avoided monsters save for running into mushroom-like creatures that were highly aggressive. Thanks to the Voice Ganger Shield and multiple kicks he had been able to kill a few and run away before more could come. The entire exercise actually earned him the "Mush Shield" and advanced him by two extra levels. After using its Plant Appraisal skill and the Leaf Shield to gather some healthy medicinal herbs he made his way to a small village to ask about their purpose.

Most took one look at his shield and sneered at him, muttering about foreigners and heretics. A merchant, however, was more than willing to 'enlighten' him about the herbs. They were a primary ingredient for healing potions which advanced recovery from physical wounds and elixirs which helped people to recover from poisons and the like. The merchant had been willing to give Bruce money for the herb leaves he had collected but advised him to drop the shield since the place was a "Three Heroes" village.

Apparently news of Bruce's death had reached the place, so they didn't suspect him of being the Shield Hero. They just thought he was either some heretic, confirming Bruce's suspicions that the bias against the Shield Hero had some deeper meaning than implied cowardice, or someone going to a party where they would make fun of the Shield Hero.

"Even then, the man short-changed me." Probably had patted himself on the back for swindling a shield-wielding heretic too. Bruce glanced at the Hulk's reflection and stated, "You smashed up his shop last night, didn't you?" He rolled his eyes when the Hulk grinned back at him.

Sometimes his other self, even one as mysterious as this new persona, could be childishly petty.

But the money was enough for one hot meal and a night in a dirty inn. It still amazed him how he could get Japanese-style curry in an obviously Western medieval-era country. It was a nice break from just wandering around aimlessly relying on his sixth sense.

The Hulk, however, had other plans and come nightfall Bruce found himself at the edge of a farm with a notification telling him he had gotten the small Needle Shield.

The closer he got to it the more run-down it seemed. Several wooden boards were falling off, the paint was curling, and there was a washed off marking on the side that he couldn't understand. "Judging by the penmanship, it's probably nothing good."

The Hulk had guided him here for a reason. There had to be something that only he, they, could solve and it all started here. The Hulk was good at this kind of thing, guiding Bruce on the trail to heinous crimes or something involving gamma radiation. Usually, the trail started out in a bar but there were cases like this where he would go to some family home and, by complete chance, get wrapped in their problems.

"So breaking and entering would not make a good first impression." Clutching the hem of his tattered pants, Bruce trudged to the front porch and knocked once. Silence greeted him so he knocked again. "Hello?"

"G-Go away..." He heard a feminine voice mutter from within. "We've given you your taxes already. What more do you want?"

"I'm not here for that." That tone was never a good sign. "I'm here because I'm wondering if you need some help." When he didn't receive another answer he decided that now wasn't a good time for subtlety. "I'm a Cardinal Hero, after all."

The door cracked open and Bruce got a good look at a young woman, likely in her twenties, with short black hair and cat-like ears that were white-tipped. Her eyes were yellow and slit, growing wide as they looked at him up and down before focusing on the Legendary Shield. "The Shield Hero?" She asked in a soft and shaky voice.

Sighing, he nodded in confirmation. "I understand if you've got questions but..."

She suddenly grabbed his right hand and said, "You need to come inside, Lord Banner. It's not safe to talk here." Before he could answer she practically dragged him in and shut the door.

Well, it was a nice change of pace than some variation of "you're supposed to be dead".

"Father? Father, are you awake?"

Claude groaned as he got up from his bed, head pounding as if the gods themselves were admonishing him for his vice. "Yes, yes I'm coming! Quiet down that blasted racket!" He rubbed his temples while looking to the right. In the mirror, he could see that he hadn't changed out of his robes from last night. There was still a red stain on his collar from the wine he had spilled. "Why bother changing? They'll either completely be blind to any faults in my attire or ignore it out of fear."

Still, he needed to make some effort. After he quickly brushed his hair with a comb he opened the door to his room to be greeted by his knight escort. "What seems to be the trouble, Sir Don?"

The commander of the knights, Sir Don, kneeled and said, "I must beg for forgiveness, Father Callahan, but it is nearly ten and the mayor would like to begin making his collection rounds."

"I see... Well then, let's not keep them waiting." Motioning the knight to get up he followed the five knights out of the church and into the village streets. Caspian Village was bustling with activity with stores selling their wares, children playing, and both the men and women talking among themselves as they went about their tasks. Whenever they spotted him they lowered their heads and tapped their forehead and both their breasts with the right hand. Claude, in turn, raised his own and muttered a soft "Peace be with you."

It felt empty. Like his words were merely routine rather than a blessing of any kind.

Rather than remain silent and let the knights go on about religious drivel, he started some small talk. "The buildings are rather well-maintained." He motioned to the small butcher as they passed it by. The wood planks had been freshly painted and the establishment was clean. "Has the village come under recent riches?"

"All thanks to the mayor from what I hear!" Don smirked as he pointed to the vegetable seller up ahead. "Especially since he set up that little deal with the beast farmers!"

Claude's eyes widened at that. "The farmers for this village are demi-humans?"

The commander sneered. "Yeah, disgusting isn't it? From what I hear, the old mayor had not heard the true word and had 'freemen' settle around here. Well, after that heretic bastard kicked it the current mayor decided to make some corrections. He had them all go to the outskirts of town and use the foul land there." Claude could not help but shudder at the chuckle elicited from the man. "Used to be the site of some old battlefield."

This situation wasn't uncommon. 'Freemen' were slaves that had been freed by their owners, either by serving their indentured servitude or in the case of demi-humans freed by their former master's will upon death. While by definition they were legal citizens of the kingdom the reality was different. They were treated trash, given low-paying jobs fit for their former stations in life.

Really, being a freeman was just being a slave with some empty perks.

The policies regarding them differed from village to village, but it usually had all of them perform menial labor and getting abuse from some cruel locals. On occasion, the human residents would find it in them to erase the 'uppity' demi-human.

"Disgusting..."

"I know, right?" Claude bit his lip. He must be slipping with his old age. Luckily the knight was too stupid to guess it meant anything other than what his cruel little mind decided a priest's opinion would be. "Well, don't you worry, Father. Most of the proceeds go straight back to the village and the demi-humans get barely any copper! Hell, if they can't pay their taxes then the mayor strips away more acres of their land!"

"I'm beginning to dislike this man already." But he had been sent to this village for a reason and he would do it. "Even if it's distasteful. Even if it only benefits man and not the gods."

Despite the king's policies towards demi-humans and his devotion to the church making him fairly popular in the eyes of nobles, his standing with the common folk was shaky. While the Queen was away performing negotiations with the neighboring countries he had begun to steadily increase taxes to help fund the church's expansion. A significant number of the poorer citizens may be devoted to the church as well, but they disliked the idea of giving up their money to an earthly government for no reason.

That was where the church came in. The Church of Three Heroes had decided that it was important to make their presence known and give the decisions of the kingdom a degree of legitimacy with priests accompanying the mayors and tax collectors. Claude had been sent to this village on a whim, far from his home in Calla Bryne which rested to the east.

"But that would require the High Priest to give a damn about our feelings." Despite being a priest he was still an outsider. The people of this village showed him the due respect that a man of the cloth deserved, but even he could not tell if it was because they actually revered his presence or they simply did not wish to have their bellies gutted by the fanatical.

It made the swirling in his stomach and the pounding of his head worse. What did it say about their order if he could not tell who was devoted or fearful?

"Well, I'm not complaining. A tater is a tater in my opinion!" One of the other knights snickered. "And if it's that good, imagine what'll happen when its human hands growing them!"

Claude's eyes caught the sight of the local tavern. Compared to the other buildings it was far messier with fresh vomit and urine on its sides and discarded mugs in the front. The owner was making only the barest of progress as another hungover patron from the other night stumbled out the doors, but he seemed pleased with himself.

"A party of some sort?"

They reached the mayor's residence and he frowned at the sight of it. It was a mansion built of stone rather than wood with heavy oak doors that looked as if they could withstand a siege. This was the work of someone who wished for a castle but lacked the funds for a proper one. Don knocked twice and the doors opened before they were ushered in by a female rabbit demi-human slave, her top slightly opened to display a slave crest emblazoned on her collarbone. Claude could see the lustful gazes of the knights as they passed her by, the young woman keeping her head down and doing her best to ignore them.

The Church of Three Heroes had always taught that the demi-humans were cursed beings. The product of the first murderer, the father of the first Shield Hero, rutting with animals and birthing an unholy race from their loins. To the church, demi-humans were beneath even animals and were certainly not people. The church held a dim view of indentured servitude but kept silent in regards to demi-human slavery. Despite rape being considered a cardinal sin, rapists of demi-humans were not subjected to the harsh eye of the church.

"It's vile... if they said that laying with a demi-human was akin to bedding a beast then the devoted would cease their acts. But they cannot even do that?" This was a contradiction that Claude could not overlook. It was vindictive, outright cruel, and unbecoming of the true word of the gods to allow such sinful acts to occur. Even if demi-humans were supposedly cursed, did they not all bleed the same? Did they all not have a brain, lungs, and heart?

"Welcome! Welcome, Father Callahan!" The mayor of the town, Jargeen, greeted him garbed in fine velvet robes and an obvious blond toupee. The man was well-fed if the flabs of fat and the buttons barely holding in his girth were of any indication. "It is an honor to have a man of the church here in Caspian!"

"It is a fine town, Lord Jargeen." Claude allowed himself to say while he took in the flushed cheeks on the man. While fat men were usually short of breath and blushed from the exertion of walking this was different. "You seem to be of high spirits."

"Oh? You haven't heard the news, Father?" When he shook his head Jargeen grinned. "The Shield Hero is dead!"

Claude felt cold. His body began to shiver and his eyes widened. With a mouth that suddenly felt dry, he sputtered "W-What...?"

"It's true!" The mayor laughed while clutching his immense belly. "Can you imagine that? Not even a day after being summoned the Shield Devil has been killed! It wasn't even the monsters that did him in, but the knife of a mere mortal man!"

"No, no that's impossible! It cannot be!" The Shield Hero was fated to be killed by the three true heroes at the end times. When the land was enveloped in darkness the heroes would combine their weapons and break the unbreakable shield that protected the unholy and damned. It was written! "And yet it has happened again!?"

The previous Shield Hero had been struck down in Siltvelt less than a month in his journey, though the circumstances were unknown. In fact, all the Shield Heroes' deaths were done under mysterious circumstances. The Church of Three Heroes merely declared that this was the will of the gods. That they ended the Shield Hero before he could begin his vile work and allow humanity time to prepare for the end times.

For years he had believed that... until the previous Shield Hero's death. It did not take a genius to see that the Shield Hero was killed by the ruling classes for being ideologically opposed to them. The gods had nothing to do with it, and it was merely the fact that the heathen church saw little use in the man that held the shield.

"A-Are you sure, Lord Jargeen?" Don asked in a quavering voice. The knight could not believe his ears either, but for another reason. The news, to him, was just too good to be true. To him, it must be some sort of joke that the mayor was playing on them and everyone would soon burst out laughing at his foolishness in believing it. "Surely, you are mistaken!"

"I am not! A messenger from the king himself came to inform the townsfolk!" The disgusting man gave Claude a smug look. A spoiled child seeking praise from a parent. "Apparently, the Shield Hero went off and got himself killed over some random demi-human! Can you imagine a more fitting end to the Shield Devil? Dying over some piece of trash?"

"Stop it. Stop acting so cheerful over this!" This was wrong, all wrong! The Pope made no declaration of planning the death of the Shield Hero because, for all his selfishness and heresy, he had known that duty lay solely with the Cardinal Heroes and the gods. Yet despite the Pope being the mouth of the gods, both greedy demi-humans and some random human were able to slay the endbringer? "Do they not see? Can't they see how this shakes the very foundation of our faith!?"

"I-I..." Claude was at a loss for words. Should he shout at the man to cease his self-satisfaction? Make his thoughts heard about how this went against the very words of the gods? But what good were the words of the gods when they were obviously wrong?

The empty feeling in him grew. The scriptures he carried feeling more like dead weight than a collection of holy words and prophecies.

"Gods, I need a drink."

The knights snickered before laughing. With loud banging of metal against metal, they clapped themselves on the back in celebration.

"Glorious! This is such glorious news!" Don shook him in his joyful state of being. "Now, there is nothing to stop the Cardinal Heroes from defeating the Waves! Those damn demi-humans have lost their savior and the age of man has finally come!"

"Get off me. Get off my you scum!"

"Speaking of which, where is that fine rabbit I saw earlier!? This calls for a celebration!" The captain began looking around, sinful thought after thought racing between those greedy eyes. "It's about time we show those freaks the new world order!"

"May you rot. May you burn in the fiery pits at the bottom of the damned void!"

"Oh, me and the city guard had a fun time yelling at those beasts that dare to think they are free." The mayor nodded to himself, his eyes growing misty and fond. "How they cried and cried... slinking back into their hovel at our jeers. Some of the children even threw their own disgusting produce at them! Such a beautiful sight that shows the unity of man!"

Were these the men he was supposed to be in paradise with? All those who remained in this world after the Shield Hero's death would be rewarded with bountiful riches and rewards. The gods smiling on them as humanity was ushered to a peaceful new age in paradise. But if the Shield Hero was dead and these men were with him...

"A drink. One drink... that's all I need..."

"Lord Jargeen!" Loud knocks silenced the celebration. "Lord Jargeen, I have urgent and terrible news! Open up, damn you! I must tell you! We do not have time for delay!"

"By the gods, what is it!?" The mayor sneered and barked, "Jessica, you damned animal! Open that blasted door already!"

Silently, the slave did just that and the heavy wooden doors burst open to reveal a messenger knight. His face was drenched in sweat as was the cloth that adorned his body. He had a crazed look in his auburn eyes, the irises shrunk to a pin and shaking as he ran down the hall.

"Slow down, boy!" Don and another one of his men grabbed the messenger by his arms. "You look ill! What happened? Were the beer and wine too much for you?"

"There's nothing to celebrate! No-!" The messenger began to cough and Claude grabbed one of the knight's water pouches. Bringing it to the boy's lips, he drank greedy gulps before continuing. "M-Many thanks, Father, but..." The messenger's voice lowered. "T-The Shield Hero... he lives!"

Nobody spoke. All those cheerful faces gave each other nervous glances, seeming to write off the messenger as a madman.

Jargeen shook his head. "That's impossible. I've only received word yesterday that the devil had died!"

"Keep your voice down! That's an order from his majesty, the king!" The messenger hissed before reaching into his pouch. Producing a scroll he handed it to the mayor. "The Shield Hero turned into some sort of beast and... and he... burst out of his grave..." The man shed heavy tears as he continued. "Princess... Princess Malty is bedridden from her injuries and... and the beast broke the castle walls! By the gods it's horrible..."

Claude saw Jargeen's face grow paler as he read the scroll. A line of scripture entered his head.

"And so the Dragon spoke unto the Shield, 'go on into this world free of sin and spread my word. No mortal blade shall make you bleed and never to death will you be slain'."

His hands tightened onto the collection of scripture as the knights tried to convince themselves this was a sick prank by the king.

None of them noticed the slave's rabbit ears twitching.

"How can soldiers eat this stuff?" Raphatalia took another bite of the hard dry cheese that had been in the soldiers' possession and tried not to cough. It was brittle and sharp in flavor to the point that she wanted to throw up. But at the same time, she could not stop eating it. She hadn't eaten for almost a day and this cheese along with the pieces of bread that had nuts and fruit in it were like a feast to her. "They have enough money to get good food!"

She was sitting in the base of a tree, the sunlight beaming onto her with the sword resting to the left and Rifana to the right. The silver blade had old blood on it, still sticky and only starting to dry. Such a sight would've horrified Raphtalia just a day ago, and she still couldn't bear to look at it directly.

But he night had been its own host of horrors that made the blood seem small in comparison.

Monsters had come after her in the forest. Small ones that growled and lunged, intending to rip her to shreds. She kept swinging the sword, screaming and babbling to quell her fear. The anger and the Shield Hero's mark kept her aware of her surroundings, but the thing that had made her stay awake was the thought of Rifana having no one to protect her.

"But she had no one to protect her. The real Rifana had no one."

Raphtalia held the last crumb of cheese in shaky fingers. Fingers that held Rifana's dying body as her friend tried to remember their village flag.

"And all I did was smile."

She dropped the cheese and held her knees to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks as something kept talking to her.

"The Shield Hero had come, but far too late. And what did he say when he freed me? Smash the puny humans that enslave and torture. Why feel guilt or fear from that? What good are smiles when all they know is pain and death?"

"Stop it…" She sobbed to herself. "Please, no more… I want to save Rifana. That's all that matters…"

"Yes, because I couldn't save her when it really mattered."

Did the Shield Hero feel like this? No, surely the Shield Hero that had freed her would sneer at such voices and silence them forever. He felt no guilt with his holy wrath. Heroes do not think such things, and if she found him…

"When I find him he'll tell me what to do. He'll make the voices go away. He'll save me."

"Be silent, you cur!" The crack of a whip broke Raphtalia out of her thoughts. Wiping her face, she slowly peaked from the top of the hill to the road below. Riding down it was a cart packed with cages of monsters that snarled and bit from between the bars. Trailing behind the back end of the wagon and led forward in chains were five demi-humans, two men in the front with women and children behind them, alongside what appeared to be a couple of humans between the demi-human men and women. It was led by a troupe of guards, with a rider up front. One guard to the right was waving his fist at the cage in anger. "One more word out of you and I'll cut off your tongue!"

"Your mother would be most upset about that loss!" Came the crass response from a muscular human with blond hair that bordered on white dressed in only his pants. When the guard struck him on the shoulder with a whip he laughed. "And death would be better than what the lot of you got planned for us!"

"Speak for yourself, human!" Came an angry reply from one of the human's fellow captives. A member of her kind, a tanuki woman with shoulder-length dark red hair and black circles around her eyes. She was rather thin but that snarl promised untold pain to the man in front of her. "I intend to live!"

"And what, rip your future master's bloodline off with your teeth?" The woman kicked the human man in the small of his back, causing him to stumble a bit. "Feisty one, aren't you? I can see why you were sent alongside us!"

"Slave traders." They were likely on their way to a village in order to sell their wares to any nobles who desired them. These were the type of men who found her and the other survivors of her village, wearing cruel smiles as they bound them all in chains and seared the slave crests onto their bodies.

She wanted to hide. To take Rifana and hide in the forest without looking back. What if they caught her? What if they wrapped her in chains?

"I have the strength to beat them. The Shield Hero gave me the power to break their puny chains. Use it. Use it again and spill their blood."

"But… but then I had no choice! Rifana was going to be used by those knights and I…"

The child demi-human caught her eye. A weasel, like Rifana, the old Rifana, but with dark brown hair and her right eye shut with dry blood on her cheek. The chains on her wrists bounced as she held them in front of her, trying desperately to keep up with the older women and not fall behind.

Rifana's arm fell onto the cold and dirty floor, the chain links clinking against each other before ceasing. Raphtalia kept her smile as the rise and fall of her friend's chest ceased, the eyes growing dark as a putrid smell hit her nostrils…

"Stay here, Rifana." She whispered to the egg as she got up and grabbed the sword by the handle. The mark seemed to celebrate her decision and throbbed in anticipation. "I'll be back soon…"

And with each step she took on the green hill, the anger in Raphtalia's body multiplied.

XxxXXxxX

Martin Leigh did his best not to wince while marching forward. "Damn woman has one hell of a kick despite being a thin thing."

It was rather funny being one of two humans in a caravan of beasts and demi-humans. It truly put things into perspective. To these slavers and the people that would buy them, they were all equal by being less than shit.

"And to think I was living the high life only a few days before."

He had been an adventurer and a damn good one in his opinion. No job was too small or too dirty for him to do so long as he got paid a reasonable price. Killing monsters or killing men was the same, they all bled and died like anyone else.

Some of his fellow adventurers in the guild often said that he was better suited for mercenary work and Martin couldn't disagree with that sentiment. At least if he were a mercenary he wouldn't have to pay taxes and all the other shit to feed men that hadn't seen battle in years.

Even the first Wave had been good to him. He and a couple other adventurers had defended a village as best as they could and only suffered a few casualties. They had been treated like gods by the villagers, given all the food, ale, or women they desired coupled with several families' life savings. A very profitable outing in his opinion.

But after that things went downhill. Knights from the kingdom began recruiting adventurers to be members of the Cardinal Heroes' parties. Everyone that joined would get a sackful of silver each month and all they had to do was follow the king's every order. One of which was to not become a member of the Shield Hero's party.

Martin was no fool. A man would have to be blind to not see the influence that the Church of Three Heroes had on the kingdom. Well, he had no intention of serving someone who bowed and scraped to another master so he had refused.

Then he was betrayed by the guild. Oh, they said that the jobs weren't suited for lone adventurers but he knew that was a load of horseshit. This was the king and church deciding to punish all adventurers who didn't accept their 'generous' offer. The one job he did get was to a mayor that wanted some men who kicked the shit out of his tax collector dead.

He did it but then the noble kept making all those snide remarks. How Martin should be grateful, that it made sense for a brute like him to do such a dirty job, and that he would've been suited for the Shield Devil's party and other religious shit.

So he bloodied the fat bastard's nose and got imprisoned for it. The noble pulled some strings and had him become a slave with the guild denying ever having registered him.

"Bastards. I'll make them pay the next time I see them."

"It's funny. I haven't heard you pray at all since I was shackled here."

Martin raised an eyebrow at the man in front of him. It was a young human no older than nineteen with skin red from the sun and long brown locks that reached his shoulders. The boy was looking over his shoulder and Martin saw his piercing green eye.

"Mind saying that again?" He asked as they marched, the sound of the horses hooves and the snarling of beasts drowning into the background.

"I've noticed something since we've begun our march." The young man inclined his head ahead of them to the Kitsune and Nui in front of them. "It took a bit longer for these two, but they began praying to their deities an hour back in between sobs. The women are cursing theirs under their breath and of course, the child is begging to be saved until threatened by our guards. Yet you haven't uttered a peep? Why?"

"I never pray to gods." Martin chuckled at the boy's disbelief. "Not since I was a boy when my father would've cracked me over the head for such disrespect. Then when I was old enough I beat him and ran from that tyranny."

"An unbeliever, are you?"

"Please, only a fool wouldn't believe in the gods. There's plenty of evidence with the Legendary Weapons and the Waves being just the biggest examples." He shrugged his sore shoulders. "I just don't give them the satisfaction of my prayer. My fate is my own and anyone who says otherwise can go to the pit."

"You are an interesting man." The boy smiled slyly at Martin. "My name is Steven of House Hawkwind."

"A noble? Here?" The Nui looked at Steven and snarled. "I should kill you just for having the same blood as our captors, human!"

"Thankfully, the people in my country aren't fond of inbreeding."

Martin couldn't help but notice that the boy's chest wasn't swelling in pride. A strange attitude for a noble. "And where is your country?"

"Faubley."

He sucked in a breath. What on earth was a man from Faubley doing in Melromarc? Martin had heard whispers about the continent, home of the bloodlines of heroes and holder of their technology that the Church deemed 'unholy'. "And what brings a noble from so far away to this lot in life?"

Somehow, the boy's cheeks grew redder. "Well, I was being housed by a noble as I made my travels across the land. But, unfortunately, there was an… incident… with his daughter. I tried to explain myself but…"

"Oh, so that's how it is?" The noble's daughter got lonely and decided to see if the man from Faubley was better than her usual lay. "Well, that is certainly a unique way of ending up a slave!"

"Should've killed ya. At least then I wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of being in your company." The Tanuki behind him growled. "We end up slaves to bastards while you two will be just sentenced to hard labor!"

"Not with my future 'master'." Martin knew because the noble bragged about it while he was shipped away. He was being given to an acquaintance that loved to throw away his money so he could torture and kill. "I'm little better than you demi-humans. We're all going to get hell for our crimes and there's nothing that can be done about it save for death."

"Mommy…" The child in the back sobbed. "I want my mommy…! I don't wanna be a slave!"

"Shut it, all of you!" One of the guards screamed. "Shut your trap or I'll make you regret opening your damned mouths!"

"What is there to regret? You've already enslaved us!" Stevens yelled back, his eyes narrowing in anger. "Do you think that you can do worse than just inflict physical pain? Or will you just yell and go on and on about human superiority!?"

The whip cracked and a line of blood appeared on the gash across Steven's forehead. The noble, however, didn't seem to mind and kept going. "You people… you are so damned boring! Predictable even! Have you no shame about beating women and children? Do you spend nights alone feeling satisfied about chaining up…!?"

Martin had to admit that the man knew how to withstand whips. Gash after bloody gash appeared on his sunburnt body but Steven hurled curses in turn at the guard. The two male demi-humans and the Kitsune woman in the back pleaded for him to fall silent but the noble from Faubley didn't hear them or didn't care.

After a moment of this, something caught Martin's eye.

A young Tanuki girl dressed in rags that came up to the middle of her thighs was running down the hill. Her eyes were crazed and glowing such a strange green. Her veins were also glowing and trailed down to the mark on her collarbone. She was carrying a sword for an adult man and far too big for her tiny army, yet she held it over her head like it weighed nothing. She was screaming something but it was drowned out by the cracks of the whips and Steven's curses.

"...and your mother is the spawn of do-!"

"LET THEM GO!" The Tanuki drew near and swung her sword down across the guard's back. To Martin's surprise, he toppled forward and the adventurer could see that the blade had managed to sever the man's spine in half.

"By the gods!" The guard further back shouted as he whipped at his horse and began to draw his sword. "You little bitch!"

The Tanuki turned and bared her teeth. He thought that he saw the incisors were beginning to grow in size and sharpness with each pulse. When the guard drew near and bore to the left to swing at the girl with his right hand, the young woman brought her sword up and severed the hand from the wrist.

The female Kitsune screamed as the limb and sword fell by her feet and the weasel demi-human child fainted.

"Stop her, damn it! Stop her now!" The driver of their caravan shouted at the three remaining guards while stopping the cart. Two of them dismounted while drawing their swords and running to the Tanuki while one remained on horseback by the trader who was fumbling for his whip.

"Not again!" She screamed out in anger. "You're not going to hurt her again!"

"This girl's insane." Martin had seen that look in many knights and other adventurers. The one of a man who believed themselves to be somewhere else but here, trapped in their memories or wishes than reality. "But she's also trying to free us…"

"Put that sword down, now!" one of the two ordered as they drew near. The horses were running up the hill, clearly scared out of their tiny little minds from the excitement. "Do it and I'll make your death painless!"

"Smash. The Shield Hero told me to smash…" The girl was rambling to herself while holding the bloody sword up in front of her. "You won't hurt Rifana ever again!"

"Wait, Shield Hero?" This girl was a part of that Cardinal Hero's party? No, if that were the case then they would be with her.

"What the hell are you talking about, you damned demi-human!?" The Tanuki replied to this by charging forward and swinging her sword vertically. The guard brought his up and blocked the blow, but to Martin's amazement, the Tanuki girl seemed to be winning the battle of strength. Her glowing veins grew in intensity and spread as the blade inched closer and closer to the man's collarbone. "Don't just stand there, Dante! Help me!"

"R-Right!" The man's comrade began moving with the intention of circling around his comrade and striking at the demi-human.

"First mistake about this method of transporting slaves." Martin stuck out his left foot and tripped the fool, making him crash into the back of his fellow guard and lose his battle of strength. "They can do something like this."

The man howled as the blade cut through his collarbone and squirted blood onto the bound slaves. The blade's point went right through the tripped guard's forehead and pierced the brain, killing the man instantly.

"That's enough!" The trader snapped his whip and the girl cried in pain as her rags tore and a red cut appeared on her back. She whirled around at the man who held up his whip ready for another blow. "You uppity demi-human! You would dare…!"

The girl didn't let the man finish speaking. With a bloody arc that severed one of her victim's heads, she threw her blade past the trader's last remaining guard and buried into his chest. He stumbled back, blood oozing onto his clothes and bubbling from his mouth before falling back dead.

"Y-You…!" The last survivor of the rampage turned his horse around and rode away, fear plainly written on his face before riding away. "The kingdom will hear about this!"

Martin looked back at the Tanuki girl, who was hyperventilating and looking at her bloody hands. "She's in shock… and yet this isn't the first time she has killed." That intent was clear as day with how she mowed through those five men. She had come in wanting to spill their blood. "And yet she's frightened of it. Did she survive the razing of a demi-human village?"

"I-I did it!" The girl giggled and looked at them, a crooked smile spreading across her face marred by speckles of blood on her cheeks. "I saved you all! I-I did something good a-and I didn't smile once! Heh…"

"Girl, if you want to save us get the keys on the fat man's belt." Martin knew he had to act fast. The last thing he wanted was for this girl to break down amid the bodies and for them to wait for the knights to come. "Do it so that we can be free of these shackles!"

Some sense returned to her eyes at the order. "R-Right! Right, I need to do that!" She set off for the fat man, keeping her eyes on his belt and seeming to do her best to ignore the rising pool of blood.

"Did she grow a few centimeters?" Steven whispered to him, his eyes wide with astonishment. It wasn't every day that one saw the death of five men at the hands of a little girl. "I swear I saw her… when the battle ended…"

"I've heard of such things." Martin eyed the Tanuki behind him, whose eyes were narrowing at the young one. "Some demi-humans physically age the more experience they get. Their bodies age in order to handle their increase in levels."

The woman seemed to notice him and huffed. "How the hell should I know, human? This is the first time I've seen it!"

"What's important is that girl likely just signed our death warrants!" The Nui whined while sitting on the floor, his hands covering his face and letting out hard sobs. "We're all going to die! Once the knights catch us there's going to be no mercy!"

"Oh get up! Didn't you hear that she was doing this on behalf of the Shield Hero!?" The Kitsune kicked him and his mouth was wide with a demented grin. "The Shield Hero has arrived and is instructing his chosen one to liberate us!"

"If that were the case he would've sent actual men! Not one mad child!"

"I-I'm sorry…" Martin looked down at the Kitsune who held the keyring in her hands. She was fidgeting while the glow of her veins and eyes slowly died down. "I-I just couldn't stand by and let them take you to be tortured and… and…" She began to weep. "Not again…" She raised her right hand and pet the slave crest on Martin's right bicep.

Something miraculous happened.

A green, unearthly glow came from the hand. Martin felt a tingling sensation spread across his skin before his ears were hit with the sound of unearthly screams intermingled with laughter. Pain shot into his flesh like a hot knife until he heard something crack.

The girl brought back her hand and looked at him in horror. "What did you do?" He looked down and saw that his crest had changed. What was once red was now green, the mark now cracked and broken as if the lines had been made of glass. "Did you… break my crest?"

"Fascinating…" Steven stroked his chin. "I've never seen magic like that before…"

"How…" The girl seemed as confused as them with this recent development. "The Shield Hero… he did this with his blood and I… All I had to do was…"

"The Shield Hero blessed this child!" The Kitsune man screamed in religious fervor. He jumped in place with maddened glee in his eyes. "The Shield Hero and the gods must have given our people a saint through you! You who break the chains and…"

"Will you shut up!" The Tanuki woman snarled at the man while the other woman and child stared at the girl. "Celebrate after we're out of these stupid chains!"

"How? This is impossible…" The Nui stared at Martin, the look of a man trying to comprehend the sheer impossibility of reality plastered on his face. "Only… only the rulers of the kingdom and traders can take off that mark! So how…?"

"Hell if I know." A girl with near-impossible strength and the ability to destroy crests? "This is new…" He noticed that the girl was zoning out while looking at her hand and snapped his fingers. "Girl! What's your name?"

"Don't shout at our savior, human!" The Kitsune screamed only to be silenced by Martin's glare.

"R-Raphtalia…" The girl whispered and he noticed that they were glowing again in that unearthly green. "M-My name is Raphtalia."

"Well, Raphtalia, my name is Martin." He held out his hand. "Now, it's obvious that you have one impressive gift given to you by the Shield Hero. I thank you and him for freeing me. How about you hand me the keys while freeing the others? I'm sure they would appreciate it."

"Saint Raphtalia, do not trust that human!" The Kitsune jabbed a finger at him and Steven. "The Shield Hero granted you this power to liberate our kind! We are to strike down our oppressors and…!"

"That's not true!" Raphtalia screamed, catching everyone off guard. "T-The Shield Hero… he freed me and other demi-humans in Castle Town, but he did not discriminate! He gave humans who had been enslaved freedom too, a-and gave them the choice to follow him or leave! T-To him, we're all equal and don't deserve chains!"

"You really met the Shield Hero? He freed you in Castle Town… and lived?" The weasel girl spoke for the first time, her voice almost a faint whisper in the air.

Raphtalia nodded furiously. "H-He beat the other Cardinal Heroes and smashed the walls! Told us… told us to smash anyone that tried to put us in chains again! T-That's why I… I…"

Martin grinned. Seems like this little tale of heroism just bought him his life and opened a whole new window of opportunities. "Well now, that sounds grand! Truly the Shield Hero is someone I can respect!" He motioned to Steven. "So how about it, Raphtalia? Want to try your hand in practicing what the Shield Hero taught you?"

The girl looked to the side for a second in thought before handing him the keys and rushing to Steven. As she placed her right hand on the center of his chest Martin unlocked his shackles and allowed the cool air to kiss the bleeding marks they left.

"Here you are, girl." He handed the keys to the Tanuki woman who snatched them away. "Feisty one, aren't you?"

"You don't fool me for a second, Leigh. I saw the greed in your eyes." She lowered her voice and said, "You're planning on following her… and so am I. If you even raise one hand against her I'll slit your throat in your sleep."

Martin whistled in appreciation. Those eyes were full of murder and she meant every word. "I'll keep that in mind and sleep with my sword, woman."

"My name isn't woman." The Tanuki rubbed her wrist while handing the keys to the Kitsune woman. "It's Poko and you better remember it."

He nodded and glanced at Steven. He could see in the young man's eyes that he was fascinated by the young Tanuki girl. Martin didn't know his reasons but the man would follow Raphtalia no matter where she went.

All of them were now fugitives. Escaped slaves that had stood by as their legal caretakers were slain and broken free from crests. If any of them were caught then they were as good as dead.

But Martin had no intention of dying and neither did any of these people. They would need money to survive, and he knew a few good ways to put Raphtalia's strength and power to work in that regard.

Once they were all freed from their chains and crests Raphtalia went back up the hill to collect an egg she called Rifana. The rest of them save for the young weasel whose name was Polly took the shoes of the dead men and anything of value that was in the cart. Once they had their spoils they collected the horses and rode off, Raphtalia holding onto Poco at the head while giving her directions.

"It seems the mercenary life is our future… and perhaps more."

"Really, this is too much." Bruce tried to give an assuring smile to the fifteen demi-humans that were watching him from across what could charitably be called a table. Whoever had made it was obviously not a craftsman because it moved with the slightest touch.

"No, it really isn't." The catwoman, whose real name was Susanna, looked down in shame. "It's all that we could scrounge up for you, Lord Banner. We would've had more meat but the hunters have either killed or driven off the animals from our land and we're barely getting any money back from our crops."

"I can see that from the soup alone." It was incredibly watery and had only scraps of vegetables in it. Next to it was a pan-seared rabbit that was incredibly small, likely a bunny, and this strange vegetable that they called 'sour breadfruit'. It looked like cauliflower but when fried it amazingly tasted like sourdough bread. "Well, you all need it more than I do."

A dogman winced at the sentence. "I-If it's not sufficient for you, then I can run into town and…"

"Okay, please stop like your walking on eggshells with me." Bruce set down his spoon and took a good look at all the demi-humans. They seemed to be in an odd state of fear and awe. Like he was some sort of alien dropped onto their lap. "I understand if you're a bit scared because I'm supposed to be dead, but…"

For the first time since he got here, Susanna smiled brightly. "Oh, we never believed that drivel!"

"Huh?"

A woman with more cat features complete with fur and whiskers snarled as she leaned against the wall. "Those Melromarc bastards always lie to us, especially when it comes to you, Lord Shield Hero. The Church of the Three Heroes just wants to screw with us and discredit you…"

"I mean, saying that you died because some human stabbed you!" The dogman laughed hard, clutching his stomach with tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "Couldn't they have come up with a better lie than that?"

Bruce's mind flashed to the cold steel piercing his neck and cutting through his windpipe. His own blood choking him as Myne strutted towards him giving her speech to rub salt in the wound.

"...Yes, it's hilarious." No need to excite these people by saying it's not a lie.

"I imagine that the king and the other heroes ran you out of the capital." Susanna leaned forward and put a tentative hand over his. "I'm so sorry that your journey has been wrought with lies and deception from those church fanatics…"

"Wait, so a church controls this kingdom?" Bruce almost felt stupid for asking that. Of course, the local popular religion would have a foothold in the politics of the kingdom. In this stage of cultural development, the church would be a political authority unto itself, comprised of nobles and holding control over what the common people thought or believed. Any royal family would seek their approval since it kept the rabble from asking too many questions along the lines of 'wait, why the hell do I have to grow crops that the local lord is just going to take away for little pay?'.

"Yes." The catwoman sneered at the thought. "Though calling them a church is being charitable."

"It's a goddamn cult!" A man with buck teeth and a beaver tail protruding from his back snarled. "None of the other countries believe their shit!"

All the demi-humans nodded in agreement. Susanna closed her eyes in order to steel herself before saying, "The Church of Three Heroes… they broke off from the Holy Four Heroes order and have made Melromarc their home. All they preach about is how us demi-humans are unholy abominations and… well… how you are the endbringer."

"...Why am I not surprised." Great, now this world has a cult that thinks the Hulk is their version of Satan. "Let me guess. They call the Shield Hero the 'Worldbreaker'?" The demi-humans exchanged confused glances. "Forget it." Bruce sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "So this religion is the reason why a majority of this kingdom is against me."

"But we're not, Lord!" The dog-like demi-human got up and placed his hand against his left breast. "We know the truth! How you only seek to protect our kind with your divine shield from the evils of this world! It's merely the damned humans like the king who are too stupid and cruel to see through the cult's lies!"

Bruce bit his lip but said nothing. Just his luck to be sent to a world where he and the Hulk were seen as divine figures.

The events of their time on Sakaar were still fresh in Bruce's mind. Days that stretched into weeks before they became months of betrayal, battle, conquest, comradery, and death. They had been called the Sakaarson and Worldbreaker, a savior and destroyer of the world who held its fate in the palm of their hands.

And where did that all lead?

Nothing but fire and death caused by a friend driven mad by vengeance and religious fervor. His… the Hulk's wife… disintegrating into ashes in his hands. Miek's deception bringing them back to Earth where they caused more pain and destruction.

"NEVER STOP MAKING THEM PAY."

"Yeah! Goddamn Aultcray. If her majesty hadn't left…" The catwoman's hands balled into fists. "She may have been dragging her feet about it, but she was trying to make our lives better!"

Bruce blinked. "Wait, the king had been doing this because the queen left?" Bruce thought about it for a second before he made the proper connections. "I see… so this country is a matriarchy and the king was left to act in her stead."

"That's right. And that bastard has been abusing his power ever since." Susanna glared at the fire. "He's been replacing the lords that weren't bastards with churchmen or nobles that share his views, increasing our taxes to help fund the church, and been doing everything in his power to spread their propaganda about you. The declaration that you were dead was merely another trick of theirs."

"This situation is looking worse by the minute." So the king had summoned him for two reasons. One was to use the Hulk to combat the Waves and the other was to eliminate their satanic or antichrist figure. "I can only guess that they thought whatever scripture said that the Shield Hero was immortal was only metaphorical."

"You should flee to Siltvelt." Susanna said automatically, her eyes locking onto his. "There you will be appreciated. Guarded, even!"

"Fuck that!" The beaver demi-human shook his head. "The last Shield Hero died there! Plus, the last thing he needs is to deal with those bloodline nobles! Shieldfreeden's ten times safer than that shithole!"

"Siltvelt… Shieldfreeden… so those are two countries that revere the Shield Hero." But he was getting a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. The Hulk was warning him against going to either of those places. "At least with Siltvelt I can understand. The last…" Bruce shook his head. Had he heard them right? "Wait, there were other Shield Heroes before me?"

Susanna opened her mouth to answer before a knocking on the front door rang out. "Susanna! It's Jessica! Open up, quickly!"

The demi-humans moved at once in front of Bruce to block him from being seen from the door. But he could see in the spaces between them as Susanna opened the door to reveal a rabbit woman in a maid outfit. Her eyes were wild with fear and her hair frazzled, a mark of some kind shining in the light of the sun as she grabbed the cat demi-human on the shoulders.

"Thank the gods you're here…" The rabbit woman, Jessica, panted out. "You… you have to leave! Don't bother packing and just go!"

"What's happening?" Susanna glanced in his direction nervously. "What the hell does that fat bastard want from us now?"

"I-It's the Shield Hero!" Jessica glanced over her shoulder as if checking to see if she was followed. "News just arrived that the Shield Hero is alive, at least officially, and that he had crippled Prince Malty and fled Castle Town after freeing some slaves!"

"Great. You crippled a princess too!?" Bruce groaned and put his hand against his forehead. "You're only lucky that this kingdom wants to kill me already."

"Jargeen is gathering the city guard and the knights that the new priest brought along with him. They're planning to march over here and kill you all for treason!" The rabbit woman began to cry as her body shook. "H-He knows the Shield Hero probably isn't here, but this is the perfect excuse for him to legally kill you all! I-I came as fast as I could but there isn't much time! You need to leave!"

"We can't."

The rabbit demi-human lifted her head and looked at Susanna like she was crazy. The cat woman nodded towards the others and they parted like a sea to show Bruce to the new arrival.

He couldn't help but feel a bit exposed as Jessica gawked at him.

"The Shield Hero is here." Susanna was eerily calm as she walked towards Bruce. "And we need your decision on this matter, Lord Banner. If you wish to stay and fight we will do so. If you tell us to flee then we will. The choice is ultimately yours."

"I…" Damnit, how the hell did he get into this spot!? Bruce was never a leader. The closest he had ever gotten was leading science teams and trying to teach his son Skaar. "In my opinion, you should all run and leave me here."

Everyone was looking at him like he was crazy, but he understood why. Bruce Banner was nothing to look at. A skinny human with a shield against who knew how many armed men? The very idea was ludicrous!

If the Hulk were out they wouldn't have hesitated like this.

"Lord Banner…" Susanna gave a nervous smile. "No offense, but… I really don't think that's a wise decision."

"They want only me. If you were to run now I doubt that this mayor will bother to send people to search for you."

"But this is our home!" The dog demi-human's hands balled into fists. "And I'm sick of bowing and scraping to these bastards that would rather see us wiped from existence! What good is being free from servitude if we're treated like less than bugs!? And you're the Shield Hero! By the gods, you should be leading us against them!"

The Hulks would lead them. All of them would smash these knights into broken heaps without hesitation. But he wasn't the Hulk. Bruce Banner knew that there were some battles that one could not win. "I'm also the Shield Hero who's telling you to get out now!" He raised his right arm to show his shield. "I've got this and come nightfall I'll be able to fight them off."

"Well, I hope that you're ready to fight now." The beaver demi-human was looking out the window, his face turning pale with each passing second. "Because that fat bastard can move when he wants to."

Bruce and the others rushed over and saw with mounting horror the glint of metal down the path and further into the trees. A party of two were approaching with drawn swords and arrogant smirks on their faces.

"A pair of overeager scouts. They want to see if these people will put up a fight." Bruce glanced up. The sun wasn't even close to setting. "Damn it? What do I do? What the hell do I do!?"

But he knew the answer. He knew it even before he heard the pounding of the Hulk's fists in his head.

He would have to fight.

Chapter 4: First Battle

Notes: Woo! New chapter out for you thanks to my new beta for this fic, Deadpan29 ! Couldn't do it without you dude!

The most difficult part about writing original content is the fact that most of the time, especially with a world like Shield Hero, you can't just use canon characters. Sometimes its just not the right time for them to arrive and sometimes they're not anywhere close to where your character currently is. Like, Bruce isn't going to end up in Lute Village right away since the Hulk's guiding him around and Raphtalia isn't going to catch up to him anytime soon. So, in come the OCs and original conflicts! I found that the most interesting way to use them was to provide outside perspectives. Father Callahan gives us a look into the Church and the people who follow it while Martin gives an outside look at Raphtalia and the kind of people who'll flock to her.

Don't expect Susanna and co to become regular important characters, though. Think of them in this mini-arc as the townsfolk in a Western and Bruce as the newly arrived gunslinger.

Hope you liked it, though!

Be sure to leave reviews and visit the TV Tropes page!