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Legend of the Five Heroes Chapter 23
🕑 Added 2023-07-25 19:34:30 +0000 UTCBleach/Shield Hero parody: Patreon Reward
Chapter 23 Soul Eater
Of the heroes summoned to this world, Ichigo was the only one who hadn’t “played a game” similar to this world. While the games varied depending on the hero’s world, one was an online multiplayer, the other was a virtual reality thing, in one it was a phone game of all things. The point was they had some form of knowledge of enemies and bosses.
This seemed to be fine so far except…
“What are you all doing!?” Ichigo shouted.
Bazz-B was attacking the ship from a distance. Uryu was attacking the Skeleton Captain. Cang Du was attacking the Kraken. Askin was tearing through the crew.
Four heroes and their parties and one boss, how was this taking so long?
The ship was taking damage, but it seemed to be repairing itself. The ship was a threat as if it got close to a town it’d start attacking with it’s on ship cannons. Had they not slowed this thing down the bombardment would have been devastating.
“I’ve been slowing the ship down, but my attacks can’t deal a critical blow on their own.” Bazz-B said. “I asked the others for help but they jumped on the ship.” The ship seemed to repair itself. In his game you had to take out the ship to reveal the true boss, but that might not have been the case here.
Bazz-B figured that out, but noticed so long as he attacked the ship, it didn’t advance. “Thanks…” Ichigo said.
“Sorry I wish I could have done more.”
“We got the town evacuated just in case, but demons are spawning as we speak, let’s finish this boss.”
“Sounds good, now let’s see what the others are doing so we can stop this Wave!” The Shield and Bow heroes joined the fray.
It was a mess on deck.
Askin and Bambietta (and the rest of his female party) were taking on the ships crew. They were tougher looking lizardmen and kobolds and had stronger armor and weapons. They wiped them out only for more to spawn from below deck. ‘So the ship replenishes the crew.’
Cang Du was fighting the Kraken chopping off heads and tentacles, the problem was it could feed on the crew and when it did that it regenerated. ‘The crew...or weak opponents feed the kraken, allowing it to heal and regenerate.’
Uryu was fighting the Undead Captain, but as he sliced and diced and did damage it wasn’t backing down. Something Ichigo noticed is that even if the heroes or enemies damaged the ship, it repaired itself. ‘The Captain is repairing the ship!’ Ichigo noticed as every time the ship healed it glowed a strange aura.
“Forget the captain, we need to take out the crew for the Soul Eater to appear!” Askin declared.
“You’ve tried that, it’s clearly the Kraken, we must destroy it to reveal the Soul Eater!” Cang Du argued.
“If you lot would help we’d wipe out all the crew before they can re spawn and the boss will appear.”
“No if you lot would help me! We could slay the kraken before it could regenerate and the boss will appear.”
You are both wrong, we have to slay the Captain, once he’s dead the crew will stop spawning and the kraken will stop attacking then the Soul Eater will appear.” Uryu snapped.
“How dare you argue with Askin-sama!” Bambietta was being a pain in the ass again.
‘These idiots...they all treating this like a game...it’s not!’ Bazz-B was the only one who took this world’s lives into consideration. Each of the others were stuck in their own game logic.
Ichigo face palmed. ‘In their games, one of the four is the true key to unlocking the true boss. In this world the synergy between the four seem spot on...wait...between the four…’
“I think I got it!” The ship replenishes the crew, the kraken feeds on the crew, and the captain protects the ship. “Now, one could assume that the crew or the kraken protect the captain except they aren’t.”
“So what’s protecting the Captain?” They got their answer when Uryu managed to cut the Skeleton Down, there was a flicker from its shadow and it raised back up. This had Askin and Cang Du mocking Uryu claiming he was wrong.
“The ship, the kraken, the crew, and the kraken, they are all pawns for the Soul Eater.” All the Soul Eater had to protect was the captain, the others were self sustaining.
Ichigo filled his party in on the plan. “Got it!”
“Let’s go!” Toshiro cheered.
“You know what to do?” Ichigo asked Bazz-B.
The pinkette nodded. “I’ll be ready.”
Truth was they were all right, they needed to attack everything at once. Which they were more than capable of doing, given they had their parties with them.
“Root Attack!” Rose’s roots thrust into the deck of the ship and began attacking the floating vessel. “Acid Rain!” He cast on the back of the ship, pelting the stern with a shower of acid.
With the ship under attack it seemed to piss off the others and Rose became a target, but the Kraken’s tentacles couldn’t reach Rose with Ichigo standing guard.
“Shadow Double!” Sajin made a copy of Toshiro.
“Ice Dragon Roar!” Toshiro released a chilling blast of snow and ice, which was very effective on the Kraken, freezing its limbs. With two ice dragons, they managed to freeze all eight tentacles.
“Shadow Bullet!” Komamura blasted the tentacles and shattered them.
As for the crew Renji and Grimmjow dealt with them. “Squall!”
“All First Blaze!” The ship and the crew took damage. With the ship taking so much damage it couldn’t re spawn the crew.
“Star Shower Arrow!” Bazz-B added to the damage.
“Gator Wheel!” Ichigo attacked the Skeleton Captain, thanks to his Undead Hunter it did even more damage. Uryu didn’t know the plan but he helped.
“Divine Slash!” Ishida slashed the thing down and the Captain was down.
The shadow flicked. “Now Sajin!”
“Fast Light!” The spell caused the shadow to expand, revealing the creature lurking inside.
“Shining Arrow!” Bazz-B fired and struck the shadow.
“Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” The Soul Eater appeared.
“There it is!” Askin and Cang Du gasped.
“We’ve drawn it out, now finish it off!” Ichigo snapped.
“Where does he get off ordering us around.” Bambietta huffed.
“Lightning Spear!”
“Cyclone Axe-Swing!”
“Tsunami Sword!”
“Twilight Arrow!”
The four heroes unleashed their attacks upon the Soul Eater. They did some damage, but it was still standing.
It lunged and attacked the party members, draining their mana to heal. “Crap!”
“Saaaaaa!” It was using a breath attack, it drained mana from the heroes to charge an attack. Boom! They got blasted away.
“Such power!” Ichigo gasped.
“Bastard...it drained our mana!” Askin was leaning on his spear.
With their mana stolen they could hardly move. ‘The heroes of this world don’t seem to be worth anything.’ A woman observed.
“Saaa!” It was charging another breath attack, using it’s own mana this time.
‘It’s gonna kill them…’ Ichigo’s hand balled into a fist. ‘Damn it!’
“Air Strike Shield, First Barrier, Light Screen!”
“Ichigo-sama!” His party cried out as the blast came and struck.
‘This isn’t a normal boss...this is the type of high-class boss, that hardcore gamers take on for hours.’ These so called gamers wasted so much time and energy just trying to get to the boss.
The shield hero’s barriers held up and managed to reduce the damage and Ichigo blocked the attack. “Thanks Ichigo!” Bazz-B said.
“Tch...we didn’t need your protection.” Askin grumbled.
“We’d have been fine on our own!” Cang Du got up.
Ichigo felt his rage building. “We don’t need you the lowly shield!” Bambietta hissed.
‘Why...why am I risking my life for these people...even Bazz-B he wants us to work together but I just can’t…’ He’s been cleaning up their messes, having to deal with their attitude, and Bambietta...just fucking Bambietta…everything she’s done to ruin his life. ‘Why am I doing this?’
Renji and Grimmjow were wanting to kick their asses, but they had Soul Eater problem. “Why are they so mean to Ichigo-sama?” Rose asked.
“Later, let’s crush this thing!” Komamura said.
The Soul Eater charged at Ichigo. “No you don’t, Ropes of Light!” Sajin hooked the Soul Eater like a fish and snatched him.
“Frost Claw!” Toshiro kicked him. It knocked him back and a bit further into the air.
“Air Cannon!” “Blossom Blizzard!” “Red Flame Cannon!” Grimmjow, Rose, and Renji blasted the boss.
The Soul Eater cried out in pain and thrashed, but Sajin was using his bulk to hang onto the Soul Eater. He was keeping him from sweeping through the downed people, draining their mana and healing. “Ichigo-sama!”
Ichigo saw them, his party, his loves, the only thing he cared about in this world. ‘For them...fight for them…’ He glared at Askin, Cang Du, and Bambietta. ‘These fools can go to hell, they can say what they want, no matter what happens…’
“Renji...Grimmjow...Sajin...Toshiro...Rose...Bazz-B…” Yes even Bazz-B. Ichigo in his heart thought about the people that have made this world bearable. “I will protect you. So lend me your strength!” He manifested the Rage Shield.
‘If I give into my rage...they’ll die...even if I don’t have faith in those idiot heroes...it’s my job to protect them…’
‘Do you have to protect them?’Ichigo’s eyes widened.
‘Who said that?’
‘You can let them suffer and die...they can’t defeat the Soul Eater, leave the fools to their fate!’ A phantom apparition swirled around Ichigo. The zombie dragon’s core empowered the Rage Shield causing it to evolve.
Shield of Rage II – It unlocked and enhanced the rage shield’s abilities.
The humiliation of being defeated by humans...the anger of his dying grudge being snuffed out...the destructive impulse rage at the world and destroy everything...it fed the flames of Ichigo’s anger.
White and Red armor formed over Ichigo’s arm, it looked like he had a dragon’s claw. His aura flared with a malevolent aura. ‘Hate them...burn them...destroy them…’
“Grrrrr!” Ichigo’s eyes turned yellow, the whites of his eyes turning black.
A woman above watched from above, she opened a fan. “This one might be promising!”
-x-
Ichigo felt he was sinking into the darkness. “Destroy!”He raged.
“Ichigo...control yourself!” Sajin called out.
The Soul Eater let out a cry, his energy poured into the ship. The Kraken was revived and the crew was revived. The crew and Kraken attacked the heroes and their parties.
The other heroes busted out some mana potions and recovered. They began to fight back.
“What’s wrong with him?” Bazz-B asked. He protected Ichigo from being attacked.
“It’s the Rage Shield, but it’s evolved it’s even stronger now.”
The aura was making the monsters go nuts, turning their focus on him.
Aura of Rage: A skill that draws the attention of monsters and enemies, to target you.
“Let them come!” Ichigo pushed Bazz-B out of the way and took some attacks from the crew. He smirked. “Doom Blast!” The charge attack was charged faster in this new state.
Ichigo fired a red beam out, it obliterated those that attacked him, punched a hole in the ship and killed the kraken with one shot. ‘Rage is my only weapon...it’s the only weapon I need…’
The Soul Eater broke free from the ropes of light and fired another attack at Ichigo. He took the hit as his other arm became encased in similar white armor. “Pfft, is that it, come on hit me!”
‘The other heroes are useless, rage is all you need...it’s the only thing you can rely on…’ The figure slowly took form, looking more and more like Ichigo. ‘Imagine how much fun you can have if you let your rage flow...don’t hold back let it all out!’
‘Are these my thoughts...I...I have to focus...my enemy...I know who my enemy is…’
Renji was calling out to him. “Renji...Bazz-B…”He pushed past them. “I’m sorry...It’s fine...I’ll finish it...right now!”
“Shield Prison!” In an instant he caused the Soul Eater to be trapped. Then he used the Change Shield (Attack) using his needle shields to pierce the boss. “Death Sphere!” Since he had Shield of Rage II he could use the Change Shield Attack again, this time using the Gator Shield. Buzz saws appeared in the sphere, they buzzed and the shield prison spun around and around, creating a death roll. The Soul Eater was blended up and dead.
From the shadow of one of the Kraken tentacles another Soul Eater burst out and charged at Ichigo. “Spike Shield Prison!” He cast the spell to trap the Soul Eater and skewer him. “Foolish sinner, I grant you punishment…”
“Syaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” The Soul Eater cried out in pain.
“Piercing your whole body with a virgin’s embrace!”The sky grew dark and the shield prison was lifted toward the sky.“Suffer in pain...your cries muffled! Know my wrath and a maiden’s tears. Iron Maiden!”
An Iron Maiden descended from the sky chains connecting it to the void from whence it came. The torture device opened revealing long spikes. The prison was drawn into the maiden and it closed. Ichigo grasped his hand closed and the Soul Eater was impaled.
His hand released and the Soul Eater was let go and it fell to the ship dead. This was terrifying, as the second Soul Eater hadn’t taken any damage and Ichigo just one shot it!
The technique had burned all of Ichigo’s mana. The Rage Shield 2 faded away. ‘That was fun...don’t hesitate to call on me again...Ichigo…’
“That was impressive!” Bazz-B praised. “Are you okay?”
Renji and Grimmjow helped him up. The strange armor had vanished along with the shield, and his eyes had returned to normal.
“How did he fight so well, I can’t believe it!” Askin said.
“I’ll say this is my defeat this time.” Uryu said sheathing his sword.
“All that power...smells like a cheat skill to me!” Cang Du grumbled.
“Master didn’t cheat!” Rose huffed. “I was gonna give you these, but if you wanna be jerks.” He had conjured some Goodberries.
“We don’t need those, we have plenty of potions!” Bambietta said, but they were being stubborn. Good Berries could fully replenish their health and mana as if they had taken a long rest. It’d take three mana potions to recover from the fight, each.
“Rose let those sore losers stew in their own defeat. They are just mad they couldn’t do a thing against the Soul Eater!” Grimmjow mocked.
“That’s not true!” Askin flipped his hair. “I could have easily beaten it, but I just used up too much energy.”
Toshiro wondered if that was really true.
“Well if you don’t want them? We’ll just take em!”
“We’ll take em!” Askin and Cang Du snapped.
“Wonderful, that’ll be 10 gold each.” He charged them big time since they were being jerks. For Uryu he only charged 2 gold.
Ichigo was still reeling over the effects of the rage shield. ‘I’m exhausted...I can’t even fight anymore…’ He looked up and looked to Bazz-B. “The wave...is it over now?”
The distortion hadn’t ended.
A sudden chill washed over the ship. ‘This feeling, it’s like I’m being pulled deep under water!’
A dark skinned woman with striking blonde hair appeared, she was wearing an aqua blue kimono with black sharks on it. On her sleeves she had four sharks circling each other. “Honestly, you lot had such trouble with those small fry, I’m amazed.”
Her aura was immense.
To everyone’s shock two more Soul Eaters sprang up, the shadow of the crew converged into one of them, and one burst from the deck of the ship. “There were two more of them!?”
“Were…” She busted out fans and with a spin attack she killed both eaters with one blow. “Now let us begin...the true fight for the wave begins now!”
To be continued...
