“Does everyone have what they need?”

“For the third time, Hestia, we double-checked our gear,” Rio replied, chuckling at Hestia’s uncharacteristic flusteredness.

“We only have a short few minutes left.”

“Yes, we all can see the countdown too.”

“Is everyone ready?” Martel asked as he approached, though he was surprised by the lackluster responses but thought little of it. Instead, the countdown on his HUD drew his attention. Several seconds went by before something caught his eye. Out in the distance, the sky seemed to become dark suddenly. It started as a fine point, then slowly began to jolt down in a shape similar to lightning. “It’s closer than I thought it would be,” Martel mumbled to himself. Martel and his party were on a large deck at his training facility up in the mountains. Their facility happened to be to the southwest of Hastings, while the invasion appeared in the relative north.

However, little time was given as a portal suddenly appeared in front of the party, not unlike the Fast Travel function.

“Let’s go,” Martel said as he led the way through the portal.

Everyone quickly got their bearings after going to the portal. They found themselves in a relatively open field, far closer to the way and no longer alone. Within proximity were 11 other groups, each of the heroes. To the party’s surprise, another group of 8 completely armored figures was within their cluster.

However, before they could gain their bearings, Ruby suddenly howled and dashed into the distance.

“It seems someone needs to take more care in training their dogs.” Freed sneered as he glanced in their direction.

“Blackey?” Leo, who had previously met Martel and ended up joining Yutsuki’s party, mumbled to himself as he watched the black wolf dash away before he took a good look at the surroundings. Suddenly, his expression changed wildly. “Shit!” He cursed before he suddenly dashed forward.

Both of their actions slightly took Martel aback, but he quickly checked the map and understood why that, at least Leo, had taken off. The city nearby was Lewis, west of Hastings, and from where Leo was from. The System teleported them to the South East of Lewis, and the Wave appeared to be at the Western side of Goblin Farm Forest, less than half an hour away from the city. With this information, Martel was about to speak to the group.

“I think they have the right idea.” Victor, the Russian Ax Hero, said with a laugh before sprinting toward the giant crack in the sky. Soon, only the parties of Martel, Yutsuki, Kuromi, and Helen remained.

“These idiots,” Martel said with a clicked tongue. Of course, he wasn’t particularly worried about this Wave. Unless some unknown factor appeared, this Wave would be fairly easy. What worried Martel was the precedent this was setting. By running up without planning, the heroes and the parties had made it clear that they would be working independently, at least for the moment. The lack of a plan or teamwork would make future Waves more difficult.

“Cynthia, drop off Hestia to assist with the retreat into the inner wall. We will be right behind you. Then, go request assistance from the other centaurs.”

“Understood, m’lord,” Cynthia replied before she quickly darted off with Hestia.

…

“Mommy, mommy, hurry!” A young girl whose age could not exceed single digits said in a choked voice as she held back her tears and pulled out her mother’s hand.

“I know.” The girl’s mother replied with a pale face. She clutched the wound that made her stumble, a bite mark on her leg. Luckily, her HP had kept the wound from bleeding, but it was far from fully healed. She internally scolded herself as she gritted her teeth through the pain.

With her husband adventuring, one of the ways they subsidized their family’s income was to look for herbs within the forest. Being a retired Adventurer herself, there should have been no danger for her within the forest, which was why she had no problems bringing her daughter. However, they seem to have bad luck as the spatial rift from the Wave had been extremely close to their position. Luckily, even with her daughter in tow, she was fast enough to outrun most of the invading forces, with one exception.

With the sound of multiple howls at her back, the mother’s hair stood on end as she quickly scooped up her daughter and ignored her leg pain. She briefly glanced behind her only to see a small number of black dogs, shaped similar to hounds, hot on her trail. Aside from being more evil-looking, the other difference from normal dogs was that they seemed to phase out of existence only to appear a short way away.

[Of course, it had to be blink hounds.] The mother thought as she quickly dashed the rest of the forest.

The blink hounds were fast, though they seemed to keep their distance intentionally. They knew that their prey was strong but injured. Even with their superior numbers, they instinctively knew that many would die in a frontal assault. If not for her rusty state from so many years of inactivity and protecting her daughter, it was unlikely she would have been injured in the first place.

Finally, the moment the blink hounds were waiting for came. After traveling at high speeds with an injury, the mother finally made a mistake as her foot did not find a solid perch. With only enough time to twist her body to protect her daughter from the fall, there was a resounding *Smack* as the world around her began to spin, having struck her head on a nearby tree.

The blink hounds now stopped the pursuit to ensure that she was incapacitated as they waited for the reinforcements of their nearby companions. Drool dripped from their mouths as they anticipated the first good feast after so long. Their bodies, extremely skinny from malnourishment, couldn’t help but tremble with anticipation.

“Mommy, mommy, wake up.” The girl said as she shook her mother’s shoulder, tears pouring down her face in terror.

Just as the blink hounds were about to pounce, an even louder howl came from the side. However, unlike the previous howls that seemed to have little influence on them, the blink hounds all simultaneously turned the direction towards the howl as the bodies became taut. Then, almost instantaneously, they turned back and rushed their prey even more desperately. It was as if they instinctively knew they might lose their chance at a meal if they were not fast enough. Unfortunately for them, their instincts were correct.

With a flash of black, one of the blink hounds completely lost his balance and suddenly found itself being used as a foothold. With a resounding *crack*, the blink hound’s spine snapped as the figure rushed forward. The next blink hound barely registered the flaming maw that sealed its throat. In one swift twist, the blank hound went limp with a *crack*, only for his deceased body to be used as a bludgeoning tool against the third. The sudden chain of events seemed to bring back some sanity amidst the blink hounds as the rest stopped their attack and growled impatiently at the figure standing before the mother and daughter.

The little girl rubbed her teary eyes as she looked up. “Mommy! Mommy! It’s Blackie! Blackie came to save us!”

Blackie, or Ruby as she had been named, snarled back with surprising ferocity. If anyone in the party could see her current state, they would be slightly taken aback. Ruby could be as docile as a puppy in their leisure time and only went wild during battle. However, her current state went beyond the definition of wild. She was very angry.

Due to her unique lineage, Ruby was far more intelligent than your average canine. It was the point where she could grasp abstract concepts and even the essence of language, though it was still limited. With this being the case, her thought process was relatively simple, more in line with an animal’s. One of these concepts was the concept of a pack, which was one of the reasons why she had quickly become so loyal to Martel because she recognized him as her pack leader. However, it did not mean that she forgot her past in the slightest. She didn’t forget the time when she was young, alone, hungry, and in the forest. She did not forget the time that a wolf almost killed her. Nor did she forget the family who rescued, healed, and fed her. They had protected her, and now it was her turn.

With a sound more reminiscent of a roar than a howl, Ruby charged forward at the blank dogs. The first was smart enough to blink away, but Ruby quickly adjusted her target and sank her teeth in the neck of another before it could react in time. One-on-one, it was a slaughter ground for Ruby. Power leveled, Ruby could easily defeat the malnourished blink hounds. However, what they lacked in strength, the blink hounds made up for in numbers. As more time passed, more blink hounds showed up and quickly entered the fray, which soon turned into a frenzy. The reason was simple, while they weren’t crazy enough to kill each other, they weren’t against cannibalism. This black canine was the only thing standing between them and the largest meal they’d seen in weeks.

Eventually, the fight began to take its toll. For every blink hound Ruby killed, one or two small wounds opened. Often it was little more than a scratch thanks to her high CON, but they added up. Additionally, when there were too many blink hounds to attack Ruby immediately, they turned their attention elsewhere.

“You bad dogs, stay back.” The girl said with trembling hands as she pointed a picked-up branch at the slowly approaching hounds. However, her words did little to deter the approaching horde. “You… You bad dogs, stay back! Stay back, or my dad will come and beat all of you up!” She continued, putting on a brave face, though her slow backpedaling toward her mother betrayed her fear.

Of course, the blink hounds wouldn’t fall for poker face. Even if they did, they likely wouldn’t care. Eventually, the closest hound couldn’t resist and leaped towards the little girl with its salivating mouth wide open.

The girl screamed as she closed her eyes and covered her face with her arms which caused her to stumble backward and fall. She was terrified and barely registered a gust of wind as someone passed her. Then, she had a resounding impact of flesh and broken bone.

“Get away from my daughter!” Leo roared as he sent a burst of Ki toward several other close blink hounds.

The little girl’s eyes shot open as she recognized the familiar voice. “Daddy!!” She excitedly said as her jaw trembled and tears flowed as the stress and grievances she had suffered began to spill out. “Daddy beat up all those bad dogs that hurt Mommy!”

Leo, who had just finished pushing back and intimidating the blink hounds, glanced back at his daughter with relief. Thankfully he had made it in time. His mood grew heavy as he glanced at his injured wife. She would need first aid, but they didn’t have the time. The pack would only grow a number and wouldn’t stay intimidated for long.

A bit of clarity to vendor the woman’s eyes. “Leo, take her and go.” She barely managed to say.

“Nonsense.” Leo immediately rebuked. “He was about to say more, but his words were suddenly cut short by a strange sound echoing through the woods. He had never heard the sound, but anyone from Earth would’ve been familiar as it was a stereotypical radar ping. What followed the sound was a very subtle way of mana that seemed to do nothing upon impact with their bodies. However, he suddenly found a red arrow atop the head of the blink hounds, and a green arrow appeared over everyone else’s. The strange occurrence paused the battlefield as no one moved or made a sound. There was only the slight rustle of leaves and a quiet feminine voice that whispered across the wind. “Arrow rain.”

Leo’s complexion suddenly changed as he quickly scooped up his daughter and moved to his wife, where he quickly protected them with his body. Many objects rained from the sky a split second later, followed quickly by the yelping and whining of many blink hounds. This only lasted for several seconds before everything quieted down.

Surprised that he was unscathed, Leo quickly turned around and could help but be slightly dumbfounded by what he saw. He had seen a similar scene several times before, but there wasn’t a single arrow in the ground. Every single arrow, now disappearing into flakes of mana, had accurately struck a blank hound.

“Daddy, look, the big sister is flying.” The little girl said as she noticed Yutsuki standing amidst the tree tops with golden wings on her back.

“Hurry up and treat your wife,” Yutsuki said as she landed, quickly snapping Leo out of his surprise.

Leo quickly administered potions and bandages to his wife’s wounds while Yutsuki gave Ruby a potion. Ruby’s vicious demeanor had completely disappeared, and she started acting like a happy house pet and snuggled up to Yutsuki, who gave her ear a good scratch.

“Wow, big sister, she likes you.”

“She is a good girl. She came running as soon as she thought you might be in danger.” Yutsuki replied. Of course, if she knew the real reason why Ruby was being so friendly with her was that she smelled Martel on her, she may have even fainted from embarrassment.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Thank you for coming to her aid.” Leo’s wife said to Yutsuki the potion had come into immediate effect.

“Of course,” Yutsuki replied simply with a smile.

“Was with that strange sound, the arrow overheads, and how come none of your arrows missed?” Leo asked, unable to hold back his curiosity while attending to his wife’s wounds.

“That’s Onii-, ahm, the Shield Hero’s magic. I only got a brief introduction, but it seems to mark enemies and allies and change certain non-targeted spells to targeted spells.”

“What is the Shield Hero here?” Leo asked as he glanced around.

“He was for a moment but left right after.” Yutsuki quickly replied with a slightly awkward expression on her face. She was nearly as surprised as Leo was. Martel was still heading toward the city but was monitoring the situation with his SRIN. One of his Talents allowed him to cast magic at a point he could see, with the demerit being an increase in mana cost the further away it was. As it turned out, as long as he got a live feed from the SRIN, it counted towards what he could ‘see.’ While this ability was useful in a pinch, the mana cost was exponentially more concerning the distance between his body and the casting point. However, that seemed like an extremely fair trade-off, given the utility of such an ability. Unfortunately, this did appear to only work with the SRIN, as he couldn’t do it over a monitor, but he wasn’t complaining.

…

“Let us in, you bastard!”

“Let us in!”

“My Lord, should open the gates and let-”

“Shut up! Are you telling me how to do things?” The stereotypically fat City Lord rebuked the nearby guard who had attended to intercede for the citizens below. He anxiously scratched his chin, which caused him to lose nearly every poker game he played, as he peered out towards the forest and the giant tear in the sky.

Due to his vanity, the City Lord had come to the city wall to oversee military actions. His motives were far from noble as he intended to boast about how he had fought on the frontlines against the Wave. Of course, as he had no intention of risking his own life, he had ordered the city gates to be closed. This resulted in a large number of people trapped outside the city. The city was relatively small, so the outer city did not have walls. As such, those who lived beyond the walls, which accounted for most of the population, would need to enter the inner walls to avoid enemies. Of course, the City Lord also intended to use them as additional meat shields and distractions while allowing the guards to whittle down the numbers from afar.

As he was daydreaming about retailing his heroic story of how he managed to protect the city even at such a tragic cost, a discordant voice suddenly rang into everyone’s ears.

“You fat oaf, what the hell are you doing!”

The look of bliss on the City Lord’s face froze as he angrily looked into the crowd. Even though they were not high-ranked, a City Lord was still nobility and could not be looked down on by the common people, much less a woman. He scoured the crowd in anger before his expression froze again as he noticed an armored terra-cotta-haired woman moving to the crowd with a look of anger on her face.

“Is that Lady Hestia?”

“It should be, as her hair is unique. I heard she had been missing.” Numerous voices rang out among the people as Hestia stomped through the crowd.

The City Lord gave a forced business smile. “Lady Hestia, it’s good to see you in good health. Your parents have been very worried and looking for you everywhere.”

“Thank you for your concern. My parents know my current situation. Now, open the gates immediately.”

The City Lord couldn’t help but give a smile in obvious disdain. “With all due respect, this is a matter of the city, and I have the final say here.”

Hestia’s face turned red in anger from the rebuttal. Technically, he had said nothing wrong. She was considered a noble but held no title as a noble’s child. However, it was extremely rare for any noble to so resolutely refute the child of a direct superior, much less the heir apparent. After all, what if the heir-apparent held a grudge after they took power? However, the City Lord held no qualms, partly due to how the nobles looked down on her. The other part was because he answered to someone above her parents.

“That may be so. However, I have come at the behest of the Shield Hero, who wishes to ensure quick and efficient evacuation of the outer city. I shouldn’t have to tell you the chain of command during a wave?”

The City Lord’s face suddenly turned black. How on earth did the useless noble end up with the Shield Hero? On the other hand, weren’t they meant for each other? “Do you have any proof? A stamped letter, perhaps?”

Hestia can believe how shameless the City Lord was. What kind of stamp could a hero possibly have? Holding back her anger, she pointed to the words that suddenly appeared above her head’ Member of the Shield Hero’s Party.’

The City Lord couldn’t help but be pissed when she did this, as he had completely forgotten about the Titles. However, he was extremely reluctant to let people in. After all, he would have to support them, who would likely be homeless soon.

“Well, open the gate,” Hestia replied mockingly.

Now it was the City Lord turned for his face to become red. He felt his image had fallen, and his proud heart couldn’t take it. However, he still realized the seriousness of the situation. But, just as he was about to order the gates to be raised, he noticed a group of well-armed individuals heading towards the gate from inside the city.

“Stop! What are you doing?” One of the city guards asked the group.

“Opening the gate.” The lead woman wore a strange armor that completely hid her identity, replied matter-a-factly.

The City Lord couldn’t help but become livid when he overheard this response as he felt his majesty was provoked. “Who the hell you think you are-” the City Lord’s words were suddenly cut short by the cold sensation on his neck.

Hestia, who only barely gathered what was happening, was startled to suddenly see an armored figure appear next to the City Lord. Unlike everyone else present, she could make out the figure, who had only seen a blur, but that speed was quite terrifying.

“What… What do you want?” The City Lord asked the armored woman, desperately trying to hide the quiver in his voice.

The armored woman’s helm tilted to the side ever so slightly. “The Red Dragon Trading Company has come to assist the heroes against the Wave. Now, will you open the gate, or can I consider you a betrayer of your world.”

“O-open the gate.” The City Lord stammered. Much less being a coward, being labeled a traitor to the world, or an ally of the waves, was a stigma he didn’t want any part of.

“Very good.” The woman said as she lowered her sword before looking down at Hestia. “Lady Hestia, I leave these troops in your hand temporarily to help oversee the evacuation into the inner city while I oversee the arrival of our backup.”

“Understood,” Hestia reflexively replied as if she was compelled to agree. It caught her slightly off guard, but she thought nothing of it. Instead, she was wondering about something else. [Strange, why is her voice familiar?]

…

“Mother!”

“Cynthia? Are you here?” Cynthia’s mother asked back.

“I’ve come to request reinforcements.”

“Who is requesting reinforcements? Even under the circumstances of the Wave, we can’t just enter another kingdom.”

“The Shield Hero asked me to come.”

“Very well. After we finish shoring up our border, we will assist.”

“Good, I need to head back now.”

“Stay safe.”

“You too, Mother,” Cynthia shouted over her shoulder as she galloped off.

“My little girl is finally growing up.” Cynthia’s mother muttered under her breath before she began sending more orders.

…

The occasional howls echoed through the forest as the blink hounds dashed through. They were no longer bound to the direct control of those beyond the Wave, so they focused on their baser instincts to feed. Their prey was the most abundant in Goblin Farm Forest, namely goblins. The forest would’ve needed a name change if not for the numerous goblins taking advantage of the smaller cave openings.

Even then, there were too many blink hounds to be satisfied by eating goblins or cannibalizing their fallen, so they desperately searched for more food. Eventually, the shade of the forest gave way to the sunlight of the open plain.

Upon seeing the artificial structures and occasional movement in the distance, the blink hounds became more ferocious and charged. However, the hope of having a full belly would never be fulfilled as his head exploded, followed by a slight popping sound in the distance.

“It works. I got XP.” Angelica said with a smile, giving the prototype Magical Sniper Rifle a pat.

“Of course it does. It had the two of us working on it, after all.” Morgan replied with a puffed-up chest.

Knowing the Wave was imminent, they had put no small effort into completing the sniper rifle as quickly as possible. With normal guns, it would’ve been impossible for the System to award XP for killing because it didn’t register a bullet from a normal gun as part of the user’s attack. This was because the ‘power’ of a normal gun had nothing to do with the user.

Comparing a gun to a bow, the bowstring would have to be pulled back with the strength of its wielder while the bullet was projected through gas expansion. The most straightforward way to bridge the gap between the projectile and the user would be to introduce mana. Simply put, they replaced the percussion trigger with a ‘mana trigger.’

Angelica looked at the Sniper Rifle with elation. “Still, all we did was create a magic circle to ignite the gunpowder. What if we use mana to replace the gunpowder, the bullet, or both? Could our plasma technology be replicated? What if-”

“Yes, yes, we still have a lot to do.” Morgan interrupted, having come to terms with how quickly Angelica got distracted concerning anything science related. “Right now, you should focus on giving everyone else cover fire.”

“On it,” Angelica seriously replied as she got back in position.

“I’ll go to the frontlines. We have a lot to prove now that we are running a kingdom. If we can’t successfully fight off this Wave before they reach the city walls, our citizens won’t be able to trust us in the future... What?” Morgan asked when she noted Angelica’s funny look.

“Nothing. I just would’ve expected those words to come from your sister.”

“Humph, I received pretty much the same education as my sister, so it’s only natural,” Morgan replied before a pair of golden wings appeared on her back before she took off to join the others at the frontline.

…

“Bah, a bunch of weaklings.” Victor spat as he shook the goblin’s blood off his acts.

“Hero Victor, are you here?” One of Victor’s female party members tensely asked as they approached, only sighing in relief when they finally spotted him. His party was fairly battered as they had opted to stick together while Victor rushed ahead impatiently. While sticking together was the more tactical move, the blink hounds’ reinforcements had time to catch up while Victor bypassed them. The party had only caught up to Victor because of the numerous goblin corpses around him.

“You guys are so slow,” Victor complained.

“It can’t be helped. We’re not as strong as you.” Another of his party members said in a flattering way.

“That just means you guys have to work harder,” Victor replied, though it was clear on his face that the flattering worked.

“Victor, you were here.” A new voice said from the side.

Victor’s eyes lit up. “My drinking buddy! You are here too.”

“Where else would I be?” Freed said with a smile before he looked at the side. “It seems we’re not alone.”

“It’s a good thing I was able to find you. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to meet up.” Lance, the spear hero, said with a smile as several other heroes followed him.

Caroline, the princess of Sussex who was following Lance, gave a sigh that bordered between real and fake. “It’s a pity that the Bow, Dagger, and Wand Heroes didn’t come with us. It seems as though the Shield Hero bewitched them.”

“Caroline, you can’t say that,” Lance replied. “I seem to recall there being a city in that direction. Perhaps they wanted to protect people.”

Caroline’s face turned dark for a moment before she covered it up with a look of regret. “Well, that’s fine for the Shield Hero. After all, he’s pretty useless in a fight. It’s just pity about the others.”

Freed chuckled in amusement at the obvious attacks against Martel. Well, that means more XP for us. At any rate, we should hurry to the source of the Wave, where they will be most concentrated, and we can get more XP.”

Just as Freed finished speaking, a strange sound came from the forest. Everyone looked over and saw a humanoid figure slightly taller than the average human but burlier. However, its facial features appearing to be a hybrid between a human and a pig could only bring its race into question.

“It’s an orc,” Caroline said as she recognized the creature. It’s not too surprising for them to appear during the Second Wave.”

Caroline was about to continue, but her words, along with the orc, were cut short by a beam of energy.

Freed sheathed his sword with a look of disdain on his face. “What they are is weak, nothing more.” He said before he strode away towards the giant crack in the sky.

At the source of the Wave, numerous creatures stepped out into the forest. The first that stepped out was the blink hounds, the second were goblins, and currently coming out were orcs. While some goblins were still coming out with them, their appearance only now was due to the nature of the Wave. The spatial passage between the two worlds would only get stronger as time passed, allowing stronger creatures to enter. If a creature was too strong, the space would become unstable, resulting in death. However, that did not mean that there was no way for stronger creatures to make their way through.

Amidst the orcs, another humanoid figure appeared. This figure wasn’t as tall as the orcs nor as burly, but it looked nearly completely human. There was just something off about him. His skin seemed like it didn’t fit him, and his eyes were not humanlike.

“It’s good to be back.” The man said with a chuckle as he glanced around, taking a deep breath. “Well, so long as it isn’t that dying shit hole.” However, his face slowly turned a bit solemn. “Seeing as none of my brothers are here to pick me up, it’s fair to say that the initial parties went from conquering to infiltration in preparation for our King.” He mumbled to himself as he glanced in a certain direction. “It seems to be a large number of humans approaching. Even if my strength was unsealed, it would be problematic to fight so many. I should lay low in case stronger humans are around. I should hide to undo my seal and try to meet the others.” He said as he rubbed his chin and began to walk in the opposite direction. Strangely, it seemed that none of the creatures around could sense him.

“So this is the source of the Wave.” Freed said with interest as he glanced at the two-dimensional crack before him, casually slicing up the orcs that rushed towards them.”

“Indeed,” Caroline added. “Waves typically last between one to three hours, so we will be here a while.”

“It’s bigger than I expected,” Lance added. “Even with all of us combined, we won’t be able to cover half of it.”

“That’s part of why I was so disappointed the other heroes couldn’t join us. It’s all that shield hero’s fault.”

“There seems to be a lot of monsters coming through,” Lance said with a hint of worry as he noticed that the invaders seemed to notice their strength and purposefully avoid them.

“It can’t be helped. Just kill as many as you can.” Caroline replied with a smile. However, those hard to detect, her smile was an attempt to cover her impatience with her hero not obediently following her desires unquestionably.

Lance could only sigh and worry before he went and stabbed an orc. “I hope so.”