Naofumi, Raphtalia, Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy, our party of five adventurers, were back in the forest to help Naofumi farm for levels. The canopy of trees provided the best cover from their potential assailants. After what felt like hours of fighting mobs to level up, Naofumi looked toward his companions and questioned the trio.

  “Can any of you see the H.U.D.?” He assumed that Raphtalia had seen it, as she was from this world.

  “H.U.D.?” Sora asked, befuddled, his eyes darting back and forth as he tried to recall the location that Naofumi had pointed to. Donald was also experiencing difficulty with the idea of his sight being apprehended by a wall of numbers and text. Goofy, however, was the first to grasp the concept entirely.

  “Gawrsh, Naofumi, so you’re telling me that yer powers, and ours, are attached to this here whatchamacallit??” Goofy questioned, his eyes lit up on cue, almost as a bioluminescent parallel to the bright blue stat blocks he was seeing before him.

  Naofumi was feeling a little shaken and betrayed by Goofy’s wonderment at the world. He knew all too well the darkness of it— the darkness that devoured any little bit of its light.

  Raphtalia was the first to notice Naofumi’s eyes become guarded from the outside world, but a glimmer of sadness glistened through that showed more defense than offense. She saw that there was a contradiction in Naofumi’s demeanor. One that wasn’t like the Shield Hero Raphtalia had been told about. No, this Shield Hero felt far more human than the stories that she grew up with. She was starting to see the man behind the legends. One who was wounded and broken, one who carried himself as a personification of a shield that was more weathered and beaten than the weapon he had strapped to his arm. She didn’t know what had happened to him, but she wanted to comfort him. To reassure him that everything would be okay. But she didn’t know how.

  Tick, Tick, Tick. All of their eyes became fixated on a single point in front of them— a timer that was counting down to the wave of calamity.

  “Are you all ready?” Naofumi asked, caught between hatred for this world, yet still having the heart to care for the few who mattered.

  After the clock ticked away the last few seconds, the party was transported to a village. Sora, who is accustomed to the sky being as vividly bright blue as an ocean, now saw that it matched the sea in the darkness of its depths. The sun shone red; its fiery silhouette eclipsed the soon-to-be battlefield with its rays. A vortex encircled the sky, and little shadowlike creatures started to fall, and behind them were what appeared to be white husks falling like hail with the anatomy of a being.

  “Heartless!” Donald and Goofy cried in unison, their weapons at the ready.

  As the Heartless and the Nobodies descended further down onto the turf, they started to charge off in every direction. Naofumi saw that people were losing their hearts left and right. On one hand, he thought that it served them right, but on the other, the more human side of him saw them as people, too, whether or not the people around him saw him for the hero that he was, rather than the villain they made him out to be.

  He charged headfirst into the fray, Raphtalia following right behind him, acting as the sword to his shield. The heart trio was astounded by what they saw, as not only was Naofumi the first to charge in to protect others, but he also didn’t seem reluctant to do so.

  “Gawrsh, do ya think he had one of them there change of hearts?” Goofy, who was holding back the heartless from flanking the rear, questioned, his strength holding back the darkness.

  “Sure do, Goofy,” Donald answered, his beak almost forming a ‘U’ shape.

  Sora decided to follow Naofumi into battle.

  “If you’re willing to protect after all you’ve been through, then we’ll be the blades that help you push forward,” Sora said, bouncing from heartless to heartless and taking down seven with one blow.

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  Naofumi let out a slight smirk; his eyes went from cold, sad, and lifeless to warm, happy, and alive. He finally found people who believed in him, and while they were a small group, they were a group worth having, keeping, and protecting.

  The battle was almost done when the party heard a giant roaring sound. It sounded like it was coming from the same vortex that the heartless came from. But this time, it wasn’t a heartless, but rather, a chimera. And as the Chimera came falling from the sky, like a living apocalypse waiting to happen, the three other ‘legendary’ heroes came running in to try and steal the spotlight. Motoyasu was the first to try to land an attack. He jumped up and shouted,

  “Chaos Spear!” With this attack, multiple spears flew toward the Chimera, who was unaffected by them.

  Ren followed.

  “Hundred Sword!” Ren had a bunch of clones of his sword all flying toward the Chimera, but again, nothing happened.

  Finally, it was Itsuki’s turn.

  “Arrow Rain!” He used his bow to shoot an arrow up into the sky and brought down a bunch of arrows in a volley to defeat his beastly opponent.

  Naofumi was getting annoyed at the three stooges always trying to one-up one another, but just before he could say anything.

  Twing!

  A volley of arrows was fired at Naofumi and his allies, but Donald was aware of the impending attack. He cast Aeroga, creating a vortex of wind that surrounded the heroes and reflected the arrows to the individuals who fired at them. The people who fired the arrow were being led by a leader who had heard of Naofumi’s past “transgressions.”

  Naofumi looked back and saw the squad duck for cover from the flying arrows that were about to hit them. Raphtalia herself was livid, her eyes looking at the leader and his squad with murderous intent.

  “Blizzaga!” Donald had had enough of this current standoff. There was an issue that needed to be addressed, but these soldiers needed to be stopped so the heroes could get their work done. After the soldiers were frozen, the chimera finished its battle with the other three heroes. Its three heads: one of a lion, one of a goat, and one, which, whilst being its tail, is a snake, all had a hero in their jaws by this point. The heroes were thrashing around; Motoyasu was being held hostage by the head of the lion. He proceeded to try to stab it with his spear, but to no avail. The head of the goat grasped Ren. He sat there with his arms folded, unamused at his current situation. Itsuki was trying to moralize with the head of the snake, but being an animal, it didn’t listen, nor did it care. Naofumi thought it was hilarious to watch, but Raphtalia and Sora both had pouts on their faces that made him realize that he was the only one who thought it was funny. He decided that it was time to aggro the Chimera. He saw a torch nearby, picked it up, and threw it at the beast. It didn’t do damage, but it did get its attention, and now saw the party as its enemy. It started charging at the heroes, specifically targeting Naofumi. Naofumi knew this, however, and raised his shield to try to combat the menacing creature.

  “We’re right behind you!” Raphtalia reassured, jumping forward and slashing at the snake head at the rear of the chimera, knocking the now unconscious Itsuki from its fangs. Sora went right for the head of the lion, freeing Motoyasu, and Donald and Goofy attacked the head of the goat, which led to it letting go of Ren. Three of the four holy heroes were unconscious. Meanwhile, while this was happening, Naofumi had an idea.

  “Donald, cast that fire spell that you know!” Donald was wondering what Naofumi had planned, but knowing what Naofumi was like, he knew that it was probably a good one.

  “Firaga!” Donald shouted, and a missile made of fire flew toward the Chimera. Just as it was about to reach it…

  “Shield Prison!” A giant dome of shields encircled the beast just as the Firaga spell hit it. The party sat there as the growls turned into howls, which themselves turned to silence. Naofumi felt disgusted as the shields dissipated, and he saw what remained. The beast lay still where the shield had imprisoned it, the fear still in its eyes.

  “Well, what do you know. The shield hero isn’t completely useless after all.” The lead soldier chuckled.

  Naofumi was enraged at the taunt, but decided to hold it back. Instead, he walked up to the leader, noticing that half of his body was covered in ice. The squad leader noticed the Shield Hero’s stern gaze and asked him what he was doing.

  “What I should’ve done a long time ago!” Naofumi shouted at the leader, his shield in a stance that signified that Naofumi meant business and was going to run this guy straight through, knocking his torso from his lower body.

  “What!? D-don’t!”

  Naofumi stood there for a moment, and a crooked smile flashed on his face.

  “Why shouldn’t I? You said that I’m useless, right? Very much unnecessary, I assume? Well, from where I’m standing, you’re worse than useless, worse than unnecessary, you’re detrimental! Besides, if I’ve already done the worst thing in this world, what’s to stop me from ending you here!?”

  Naofumi’s eyes were filled with the intent to kill his enemy. But he held back. If he were to kill this man, what would that make him? Would it make him right? No. Would it create a void in the hearts of his loved ones that could never be replaced by anything again? He lined his shield up with the man’s rib cage and charged, only to stop and lower it in a show of restraint.

  “We’re done here,” Naofumi said to the party. He looked over to the squad leader and said.

  “Should you ever try to bring harm, or worse, to me and my comrades ever again, I will not hesitate to end you.”

  The Squad Leader, hearing Naofumi’s words for what they really were, sank. Defeated, but thankful for the second chance at life. He would go home to tell his loved ones about the resilience, the strength, and the compassion of the shield hero.