I am not the shield hero

"They're late." Dante said, looking through his car window.

"They'll be here." The tanned man sitting next to him said.

"They should have been here 15 minutes ago." Dante checked over his shoulder, looking out the back.

"Would you relax?" The tanned man shook his head. "They'll be here. It was a good tip."

"Bullshit it was." Dante pointed at him. "You heard this from Gloria."

"Yeah, it's a good tip!"

"Eddy, you're a smart guy. You shouldn't be thinking with your dick. That's what you always tell me not to do."

"Hey!" Eddy turned to look him in the eye. "First of all, Gloria knows what she's talking about. I got a lot of tips from her before, and most of them turned out good. Second—"

"Eddy."

"Second! I don't think with my dick."

"Eddy!"

"What?"

Dante pointed out the front window. The alley they were parked in just got blocked off by a car on the street. They looked behind them and saw another car blocking that exit too.

"You were saying?" Dante pulled a .45 from his holster and started the car.

Eddy pulled out his 9mm. "Tell me you were right when we get out of this."

Tires squealed as the car shot forward.

~The Wrong Hero~

Another dream of days long past, Dante awoke in a similar way he did a few nights before. In addition to the three sleeping companions from then, Keel and JoJo joined him. It was more that JoJo wanted to sleep near Dante and Keel was fine with being that close, though that didn't stop the dog boy from ending up over Dante's legs. JoJo, of course, was on top of Keel again. Rifana, Sadeena, and Dio were in basically the same positions as they were the last time, with Sadeena being slightly more over him this morning.

When people fantasize about having a harem, they probably image being surrounded by women and fucking them as much as they want. What they don't think about is waking up with multiple bodies attached to them. This is probably what that would feel like. Sure, we pretty much slept together when we traveled earlier, but we all slept on Dio and JoJo's feathers. This time, I'm the filolial.

Thankfully, he was able to rouse everyone with little fuss, and avoid being pulled on top of Sadeena again. He recooked some of the gator from the day before and they all had a quick breakfast. Raphtalia gave him a look when he sat down to eat it.

"What's up?" He asked her.

"Oh, nothing." She said, continuing to smile at him. "You seem to be popular with everyone."

"Yeah, I'm irresistible." Dante rolled his eyes.

He wasn't really bothered by it, though being furniture wasn't something he aspired to. Still, it was nice being that cared for.

Sadeena took the opportunity to wrap her arms around him from behind, squeezing his head against her chest. "Oh, you very much are, my love~."

"Yeah, yeah." Dante took another bite of his gator.

"No need to get all embarrassed." Raphtalia said.

"Who said I was?"

"Your red face did." Raphtalia chuckled as Dante turned his head to the side.

"He's not embarrassed." Sadeena said, sliding her hand across his face. "He just wanted to hear how fast my heart beats when I'm near him~."

"I-It's too early for this!" Dante yelled. Sadeena just laughed as she released him.

"Now, now, Dante. No need to act like that." Raphtalia just kept on smiling. She rest her chin on her hands as she closed her eyes. "It must be nice to be young and in love."

"Yeah, well, it is." Dante replied as nonchalantly as he could. "What's with that, anyway? You're acting like you're past that part in your life."

"Aren't I?"

Dante gave her a raised eyebrow, then a second one. He realized what she was saying then. "Did you get taller?"

"I did!" She said happily. "And I'm not the only one."

Dante looked around him. Sure enough, Rifana was taller by a few inches from what he remembered. She looked like she'd reach just above his chin now. Keel…looked about the same. Rifana was, supposedly, part of some sort of special weasel race, after all.

"When did that happen?" Dante asked. "No, dumb question. How did that happen? I thought you three were finished growing."

"I was surprised too." Sadeena said as she sat next to him. "Those monster from yesterday gave them another couple of levels. Maybe that was all they needed."

The gators did provide a good amount, plus the hunting they did as they traveled helped. Dante was going to lower their levels after meeting with Gaelion, but he got distracted. Alligator attacks would do that. And, of course, he got a few more scars from that little adventure. It turned out his higher HP regeneration didn't prevent scarring. Healing magic and potions would, however, according to Sadeena. He supposed he would just add them to his collection.

"Isn't this great?" Raphtalia asked as Keel sat next to her. "You can call me 'big sister' if you want."

"Yeah, you can rely on us, l-little Dante." He looked up at Rifana, who had her mouth covered with her hand and a slight blush on her face. Dante couldn't tell if she was embarrassed or amused by it.

"I am both taller and older than all of you. You know that, right?" Dante sighed. If they didn't hear it at the mines, he definitely told them during his stories from yesterday. "Come on. Let's eat up and head out."

"Of course, little Dante." Rifana said with a smile.

Yeah, definitely amused.

Dante chalked their aging to meeting some sort of threshold of levels. Sadeena had once mentioned that Raphtalia might grow a little more once she gained a few more levels. Apparently, the same was true for Rifana. 

After their meal, they set out again. At the rate they traveled, they'd reach the capital before nightfall. Dio pulled the carriages while Keel went hunting with JoJo. It was a little difficult for her starting out, as Dante lowered her level, along with Raphtalia and Rifana's. With Dante's level and abilities, plus Sadeena and Eclair at a relatively high level, they were confident they could handle anyone they'd likely come across until the hunting duo raised everyone's levels again.

During their travels, Raphtalia and Eclair were in the second carriage, continuing their swordplay discussions. Dante was learning from the fire tome with Rifana in the first carriage. Sadeena, however…

"It might be more beneficial for you to help Eclair with instructing Raphtalia." Dante said from his seat.

"Hm? But it's more comfortable here~." Sadeena replied, arms wrapped around his sides.

During Dante's training, Sadeena made it a point to stay close to him. It made it a little distracting to learn, but he wasn't going to make more than a half-hearted effort to stop her.

I suppose if the situation was reversed, and Sadeena had just gotten mauled the day before, I'd be where she is now.

They continued on for a couple hours, JoJo and Keel returning to refresh Dante's spell on them every so often, until they broke for a meal. At that time, Dante was quite excited. After all the time he spent reading over the tome with Rifana, he finally had something to show for it.

"As the source of your power, I command you! Let the true way be revealed once more! Ignite my foe with deadly flames! Faust Fire Shot!"

The ball of fire shot from Dante's extended hand and struck the downed log nearby. It was quickly set ablaze.

"Good job, Mister Dante!" Rifana clapped as she watched the display.

"Yeah…" Dante looked at his hand.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, walking over to him.

"Maybe…" Dante looked over his shoulder. "JoJo, would you bring me a monster? Something stronger than a balloon, please."

"Okay!" He said, running off into the nearby forest. It wasn't long before he came back, carrying a rather angry looking usapil. Dante had him prepare to throw it up.

"Faust Fire Shot!" Dante cast his spell again. The usapil was launched into the air. When the spell struck it, it burst into flames. By the time it landed on the ground again, Dante had already gained XP.

"Very strange." Dante looked over his status. "I didn't think I'd be able to damage it."

"Is that bad?" Rifana asked, standing next to him.

"No. It just changes my view on my abilities."

When he thought about it, things started to make more sense. His attack stat was abysmally low, but his magic was fairly good, even without being boosted with the Axe's power up. His defense was, of course, the highest stat he had, but it wasn't unsurmountable. When he trained with Raphtalia or Keel, there were times he'd take some damage, even if he blocked the attack with his Reinforced Iron Shield. He originally believed that was due to their increased stats, but now he thought differently.

Yesterday's indigo gators was another thing. Even with his high defense, they did some serious damage to him. Even if he was using a weaker shield, half the points from the Axe power up were funneled into his defense. Not only that, but Sadeena was able to take them all out with a single casting of her Zweite Chain Lightning spell. It was by no means a weak spell and they were all under the water, but he thought it should have taken more to kill things that wounded him like that.

Finally, his thoughts turned to some of the later books in the Shield Hero series. He recalled the Shield Hero of the past had some attack potential, even if it wasn't massive. Something else he remembered from somewhere was the reasoning for Naofumi's incredible defense and lack of attack.

Didn't the Shield Hero die early on many of the other times he was summoned? I think I remember that being a reason he got such a high defense. The Shield was protecting its hero from an early death. So, maybe that didn't happen as much here?

He definitely recalled there being an offensive healing spell that Naofumi wasn't allowed to cast. He complained about it during the fight with Takt, and actually used it then. But here Dante stood, not only able to cast an offensive spell, but for it to deal real damage. He could boost the spell further with the Staff's power up, and keep casting it to improve it with the Claw's power up. The MP cost was lower than the cost for Faust Guard, even with the proficiency from the Claw power up maxed out for Faust Guard.

As an aside, he noticed the Claw power up not only reduced the MP for the spell, as well as help him cast it a little faster, but it increased its power and duration. Of course, the power granted by the Staff was still more than what the Claw provided. He saw the difference between 0% proficiency and 100% with Faust Guard, and the difference between a base Faust Guard and level VI. The Claw definitely provided more versatility, while the Staff was raw power.

Of course, in the end, it changed little.

Even with an offensive spell, I'm still best suited for defending everyone. Assuming I've already cast Faust Guard on everyone, the most I would do is cast an All Faust Fire Shot at the start of combat. After that, any time I spend trying to cast offensive spells is time wasted not defending my party. I can cast offensively as an opener, and maybe as a final attack to finish off an already weakened opponent. Or if were only fighting opponents out of melee reach. Unless we're fighting mindless enemies, doing otherwise would put my…family at risk.

Dante would, however, get to join in on the hunting. That was something JoJo and Dio enjoyed immensely.

They continued on, Dante figuring out the All variant in the spell after a bit more studying with Rifana. He went out with a modestly leveled Dio, adjusted the points on his spells, and was able to lay waste to the monsters they encountered. Or, at the very least, weaken them enough for Dio to get the last hit and most XP. His stat allocation ability combined with his HP regeneration afforded him a healthy supply of MP for his spells. It was some nice father/daughter bonding, something he'd repeat with his son.

By the time they reached the capital, Dio and JoJo had switched multiple times and were extremely happy about the whole experience.

"Papa was so cool!" Dio had said.

"It was so much fun!" JoJo agreed.

"I'm glad you think so, but let's not talk about that so much." If any church shadows got word of his spellcasting—or, more worrying, his amplification—that might be an annoyance to deal with later. Not that they had any church shadows following them, according to Sadeena. There might have been one once, but that's undetermined. It was bad enough that Dante slipped and said Sadeena would be his first wife yesterday, but she'd assured him it was fine. The Q'ten Lo shadows shouldn't act unless the marriage actually occurred.

They donned their usual disguises as they entered the capital. Everyone in Dante's party was in agreement about staying at an inn that night. While his food had become better than what a restaurant would serve, it was still only monster meat. Food was an extremely rare item drop, and everyone wanted a little more variety once in a while.

They opted for the demi-human inn again.

"Ah, Lord Shield. It's good to see you again." Tahrin and his two associates were at the inn when they arrived.

"Hey. You're here early." Dante said, requesting a few rooms for his party.

"We were staying the night here so we could meet you at any time tomorrow." Tahrin informed him as he approached. "We also wanted to be here in case you arrived early."

"Well, you're certainly thorough in your job." Dante said.

They discussed Dante's progress on finding the villagers. Or, rather, the lack of progress. No one there was happy about that. Dante would visit Beloukas in the morning, but he didn't have high hopes.

They also talked a little about what he'd been up to since their last meeting. Dante didn't give too many details, mostly because saying anything more about Lord Seaetto's territory being attacked wouldn't end well. Knights allowing mercenaries to hold his main town like that might actually lead to war, no matter what Dante did. He was thankful that everyone who knew were either dead, indebted to him, in his party, or had an interest in keeping their activities secret.

Incidentally, Dante had asked Eclair why her father had a town of demi-humans as the seat of his power. He was under the impression it was only small villages with demi-humans, and the main area was populated with more humans. That could have been another difference from the books, or Dante just didn't remember correctly. Regardless, Eclair told him her father moved his main residence there to show more support for demi-humans in this country.

After that, the emissaries retired to their room, but not before again asking Dante to take better care of himself. Apparently, his eyes continued to look horrible. The party had their supper and went to their rooms. Dante got three rooms for them, considering how full their party had become. However he thought they'd be divided was thrown out the window, as Sadeena dragged Dante into one of the rooms. Dio and JoJo quickly followed suit, leaving everyone else to decide the remaining setup.

Before Dante could say anything, Sadeena pulled him into a fierce hug.

"What's wrong?" Dante asked, trying to wrap his arm around her, but finding it somewhat pinned against himself.

"You could have died yesterday." She said, not loosening her grip.

"That's what this is about?" Dante tried to get a view of her face. "Sadeena, it's been a whole day."

"That doesn't mean I stopped worrying."

"We were next to each other for most of the day."

"It wasn't enough."

"What about when I went out hunting?"

Sadeena pulled at his chainmail. "It terrified me."

"It's true, Papa." Dio chimed in. "Whenever I was pulling the carriages, Sadie would sit up front and watch with me for when you got back."

"Yeah, Dad." JoJo added. "We kept looking at our status. It was scary whenever you or Dio lost HP."

The filolials clung to his pants as they said this.

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asked. If they were worried, they should have said something.

"You were having fun." Sadeena said. The filolial kids nodded. "With everything that's been going wrong, I thought you could use this."

"I thought you were being optimistic about things."

"Not when the people I care about get hurt. What would you do if I had nearly died?"

Dante sighed. "I'd hold you tight and never let go." He wrestled his arm from her hug and brought it around her. "Okay. I've been a bit overconfident about my defensive abilities. I'll be more careful in the future. Just promise you'll tell me when something like this is bothering you, okay? I don't like causing you to worry."

"Mm."

Dante tried to move them to the bed, but Dio and JoJo just transformed. Dante and Sadeena sunk into their feathers to sleep, barely letting Dante take off his chainmail beforehand.

~The Wrong Hero~

The first stop in the morning was Erhard's. Dante wanted to pick up his commissions and see how they turned out.

"I knew this was going to happen, but I came to you anyway." He said to the blacksmith.

"What do you mean?" Erhard asked as he showed off the armor.

Looking at it, Dante almost preferred the Barbarian Armor Erhard had made for Naofumi. The center breastplate was made of glistening silver, which was partially obscured near the top with the red leathery skin of the cacodemon. That skin came over the upper chest and shoulders, flowing down over the back like a short, demonic cloak or cape. Each shoulder was covered in a trio of small spikes from the imps, as well as one large one from the cacodemon. The right arm was covered by red cacodemon leather and a few spellcobalt plates. The hips were surrounded by what he thought were bones from some of the shark monsters Sadeena hunted, as well as steel banding. The legs were covered in hide looking to be made from the hell knight's legs. The boots, fortunately, were a rather plain brown, but they seemed to have the hell knight's hooves made into part of the bottoms.

Dante was confident this was strong armor, but the only reason he would actually wear it was because he technically was a teenager at the moment.

He changed into it and showed it off to his party.

"You look so cool, Papa!"

"Yeah, when can I get armor that cool, Dante?"

"Oh my. You look very strong now~."

"You look like a true hero now, Mister Dante."

I just don't understand the aesthetics of this world.

"Oh, and there's one more piece to this." Erhard said. He brought over a helm made of spellcobalt ore. His eyes and the middle of his face would be visible through the opening…and it had the hell knight's curled horns on the sides.

"…" Dante was at a loss for words. He really didn't want to put that on, but he knew he'd have to.

With him fully armored up, he got another round of approval from everyone. Even Eclair admired Erhard's work.

"So, how is it?" The blacksmith asked.

"…It's very powerful armor. Good job." Dante said blandly.

"Geez. When you say it like that…"

Style differences aside, the armor was very nice. Dante was impressed Erhard was able to create it so quickly. The stats were far above what nearly everyone else had on, let alone his old chainmail. He wasn't crazy about the name Erhard gave it, but it fit with all the different monsters that it was made from.

Chimera Armor

defense up (medium), fire resistance (immunity), slash resistance (small), impact resistance (medium), magic resistance (medium), MP recovery (small), magic up (small), automatic self-repair.

"This is indeed good armor. The stats are good and the effects are as well. It's worth every bronze coin I paid for it." Dante told the blacksmith. If he'd thought about it earlier, he would have asked for lightning resistance too.

"Well, I'm not done yet." Erhard scratched the back of his head and pulled two more items from behind his counter.

The first was a rod made from spellcobalt ore with lines of silver going up and down its length. It was about two feet in length and had enough weight to function as a mace if needed.

Spell-Strafe Rod

quality: good

special effects: magic up (medium), counter-spell up (medium)

Dante took the rod and handed it to Rifana. The woman looked up at him, slightly confused.

"You didn't get anything new when we came here last." Dante told her. "This certainly beats the wand you have now."

"Thank you, Mister Dante!" She said, hugging him with the rod in her hand.

"Save your hug for the end." Dante laughed. "There's something else you might like."

The final item in Erhard's hands was a shield. It too was made out of spellcobalt. It was a round shield slightly bigger than his forearm and had a glossy blue shine to it. Dante made a copy of it before letting Erhard hand it over to Rifana. Seeing the difference in the copied shield versus the shield itself was strange.

Spellcobalt Shield

(abilities locked) equip bonus: magic resistance bonus (small)

equip effect: magic redirection

Round Spellcobalt Shield

quality: good

special effects: magic resistance up (small), partial spell deflection

 It seemed like his shield could redirect all magic, while the crafted shield was only for spells. The stats were similar for both, but the attack stat on his was almost nothing. His defense with the shield was decent, and the magic resistance was even higher than the Spellcobalt Ore Shield. It felt almost pointless since it said it could redirect magic, but he supposed he couldn't defend from all sides at once. It wasn't as if the Spellcobalt Ore Shield fully absorbed magical attacks either, and he was certain he only got a fraction of the MP they would have cost to use.

"Thank you so much." She said happily, holding both items to her chest.

"It really isn't that big of a deal…but, you're welcome." Dante rubbed the back of his head.

After that, Dante and Sadeena went to Beloukas's tent to check on his progress. Of course, he had nothing more for them. They made sure he was offering good rates for the villagers and was asking the right questions. It was troubling, but they may have been sold outside of Melromarc already. As unlikely as that was, if that was the case, they'd have a harder time locating them.

Like everyone else they seemed to meet, Beloukas commented on Dante's worsening appearance.

"Maybe I should just buy a pair of sunglasses or something. That should…" That statement caused Dante to remember another bit of information. He told Beloukas to keep an eye out for anyone selling a group of mole people, or lemo. He couldn't remember when, but he was pretty sure slavers would find Imiya and her people somewhere in Melromarc before the wave with Glass. Of course, that slaver group may very well be the same one responsible for Lurolona, and three of them are already dead. Who knew if they'd do anything?

With another possible future event being looked into, the pair went on to the magic shop. They went with the pretense of needing more magic thread for some of the kids. It was technically true, too, as they'd need it eventually for Keel. And Rifana, if memory served.

Agatha told them the crystal she had was cracked, and using it any further would break it. Luckily, she knew about a place she could collect a new one instead of buying it, just like Dante assumed. He offered to take her there and collect the crystal, in exchange for making more magic thread. She heartily agreed.

~The Wrong Hero~

The cave was farther away than Dante realized. While Mirso village was a little over a day away, the alchemist's temple—and Lerno village—took almost two days to reach. They were basically there at the end of the second day, but decided to camp out for the night and waited until morning to enter, when everyone was fresh.

The temple the alchemist had used was easy enough to spot, but the cave took a little searching. Once they found it, they decided who was going to go in.

"I don't think we'll have any problems here, but it's better to be safe than sorry." Dante said. "Still, some of the monsters here can be difficult to deal with. Agatha, do you know about them?"

"Yes, Shield Hero." Agatha said, stepping forward. "The monsters here are known to use illusions on people. They'll obscure your vision and make you hear terrible things from the people you want to hear them from the least. If you can see past the illusion, the monsters themselves aren't very dangerous."

Dante nodded at her explanation. "If any of you think you might be susceptible to this, please stay out here."

With that, they decided on who was entering. It was Dante, Sadeena, Agatha, and Rifana. The rest would stay with the carriages. Dante was rather impressed with how many decided to stay outside. Or, more accurately, he was impressed with their self-reflection.

Dante and Sadeena had talked to Keel a bit about his outbursts before, so he knew something like this would affect him. Raphtalia, while no longer suffering from night terrors, still thought better than to test the cave. JoJo and Dio seemed to understand what kind of things they might hear, especially in Dante's voice. Eclair wisely chose not take on her own demons yet, likely the mercenaries from Ronota.

Dante led the way, Torch Shield equipped and ready. He learned his lesson from the gators and upgraded it to +3 smelting level. The ores required were easy enough to come by, so it was no issue. He'd cast Faust Guard V on everyone, just to be safe.

They traveled through the cave for a short while before they came across a passage that was made of paved stones and climbed upwards. Dante figured this was the route to the alchemist's temple, so they made a slight detour there.

"I thought the temple and the caves were connected, and it looks like I was right." Dante told Agatha. "It might be worth looking into this place."

"We should be careful." Agatha warned. "An alchemist's lair is nowhere to be lax."

"Trust me, I'm fully aware." Dante sighed.

The temple seemed to be a type of labyrinth. There weren't any enemies to speak of, but they kept running into dead ends. Dante had started marking the ground with the correct way to get back to the original tunnels.

After about 10 minutes of walking around, and a healthy application of the right-hand rule, they were able to find the room. An ornate chest sat at the opposite end from where they entered. They made their way over to it.

Agatha read the inscription on the pillar next to the chest. "To whomever would break the seal on this seed, I pray it never again sees the light of day. It will grant the people's desire to be free of starvation, twisting it in the worst possible way."

"No need to worry about that." Dante let a lock pick fall from his shield and began his work. "I know of a way to alter the seed and make it—oh." The lock on the chest clicked seconds after Dante started. He reabsorbed the pick. "Huh. I thought that'd be more difficult."

Agatha hummed as she looked over the inscription. "It said there's a seal on the chest to prevent it from being opened. I didn't realize you were a master locksmith."

"I don't think there was a seal." Sadeena added. "I didn't sense any magic from the chest."

"What the…" Dante opened the chest. Inside…was nothing.

"It was taken?" Rifana asked. "Did some adventurers take it?"

"I have a good idea who it was." Dante lamented. He thought he had more time, but he guessed wrong. Still, all that meant was they'd need to keep tabs on Lerno so the Bioplant didn't get too crazy. With nothing left to do there, they left the room.

Midway to leaving, however, rocks fell from the ceiling. Before anyone could do anything, the rocks quickly clumped together. In the room stood a 10 foot tall golem. It seemed to growl at them as it brought up its fist.

Dante shifted to his Reinforced Iron Shield and met the attack. Upgraded or not, he had no reason to take a physical hit with his Torch Shield. Besides, Rifana carried a torch in her shield hand, so they wouldn't be blind.

"Bring it down, quick!" Dante called. The three women in the group cast their spells.

"Faust Fire Shot!"

"Zweite Thunderbolt!"

"Zweite Fire Blast!"

The spells collided with the golem. Though he couldn't see the monster's HP, he could tell it wasn't faring well. It tried to swipe at him again, but its strike was much weaker. Dante didn't take any damage this time, not that he took much before. With another round of spells, the golem fell to the ground.

"That was unexpected." Dante said as he looked over the golem. A stone embedded in one of the larger rocks glowed, so he let his shield absorb it, gaining a nice shield.

"You didn't know?" Sadeena asked.

"I feel like I might have read about that, but I can't say for certain." Dante rubbed his chin. Was there a golem in that side story? It's been too long, and I don't think it was really relevant, so maybe I just forgot.

"Well, this has been exciting." Agatha laughed softly. "Perhaps we should return to the cave?"

"Yeah. Sorry about all that." Dante said in agreement.

A rumbling in the room put that idea on hold. The floor began to quiver before opening up, dropping everyone into it. They tumbled against the carved stones, separating as they went down what seemed to be stone slides.

"Dante!" Sadeena tried to reach out, but they were already too far apart.

"Everyone be careful and—" Dante tried to give his last bit of advice while they could still hear him, but he was certain the falling rocks drowned him out.

After sliding down for a bit, Dante landed roughly on the ground. The area around him was pitch black. He changed to his Torch Shield and looked around. There was only one path out, so that's what he took.

Dante moved quickly through the tunnels. He didn't want to stay separated from the others for too long. Even weak monsters can whittle them down over time.

"You were the worst friend I ever made."

Dante paused at the voice. Smirking, he shook his head and continued on.

Yeah, sure I was, 'Eddy'.

"I never should have reached out to you as a kid."

Dante laughed at the poor attempt. He could still see down the path, so he continued on. He couldn't see where the monsters were, though.

"You're the reason we're dead." Next was the voice from his dreams. Dante didn't even slow his pace. If he'd come here a few weeks ago, it would have been quite effective.

As he rounded a corner, he caught a glimpse of a rat-like creature before his vision began to darken.

"Fat lot of good that'll do you." Dante raised his hand. "I know magic too—"

"Why did you replace me?"

Dante's voice hitched. That quiet voice…he didn't want to hear that. He shook his head and tried to focus.

"…As the source of your power, I—"

"Didn't you love me?"

"…I…I command you. Let the true way—"

"Why didn't you protect me?"

"Let the…true way…"

"Why did you let me die?"

"Shut up!" Dante yelled down the tunnels. With only one hand, he couldn't block out the voice.

"I hate you."

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Without a second thought, Dante ran through the caves. He had to get away. He couldn't hear that voice anymore.

"Are we replacements, Papa?"

"I thought we were your kids, Dad."

"Who could love a failure like you?"

In his panic, he slammed into a wall. He fell back on his ass, trying to get his bearings. The passage went off to the right from where he was.

"You should just die."

Having had enough, he leveled his hand in the direction he came from. "As the source of you power, the Shield Hero commands you! Let the true way be revealed once more! Ignite my foes with deadly flames! All Faust Fire Shot V!"

Eight orbs of fire shot out from his extended hand. They spread through the cave like a shotgun, impacting all around.

"All Faust Fire Shot V! All Faust Fire Shot V!"

He cast his spell again and again, trying to hit what he couldn't see. Eventually, the voices stopped and his vision cleared. The light from his Torch Shield spread throughout the cave. The lightly glowing remains of the charred rats and bats came into view.

Dante gasped for air, falling back on the ground. He stared blankly at the ceiling.

"That…was terrible."

Knowing what was going to happen and experiencing it were two very different things, a concept that proved itself time and again. Still, the immediate threat was dealt with. Now, Dante had to find the others. He looked at his status.

"Sadeena!" He quickly got to his feet. Her HP was still very high, but it kept flashing. She must have taken damage from the fall, because he couldn't even see the difference when it flashed.

He hurried along the path to find her. Rifana had all her HP and Agatha had most of hers, so he wasn't too worried.

Dante rounded another corner, when—

"I don't want to marry you at all. I just want you to protect my friends."

"Shooting Star Shield V!" He brought up his barrier. What he thought would happen did. The darkness that threatened to consume his vision was kept outside the field, and no more voices entered his head.

If I hadn't panicked before, I could have just done this.

He began to walk down the passage, only able to see a few feet in front of himself. As he walked, rats and bats began to bounce against his barrier. Some were repelled backwards while others got to the sides and passed through the openings between his barrier and the walls. If he didn't need to find Sadeena, he'd take the time to burn them.

As if in answer to that thought, he found her. She quickly came into view, her harpoon thrusting towards him.

"Shit!" Dante adjusted this shield to intercept the hit, taking damage from its lower stats. "Sadeena!"

"Dante?!" She took a step back, her harpoon still at the ready. She looked around the inside of his Shooting Star Shield. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it's me." He extended his hand towards her. "What happ—"

In an instant, he was held in her arms. Her harpoon hit the floor with a clang.

"Dante…" He could hear the tears in her voice.

Dante held his hand against her back, rubbing it up and down. "You're okay. You're fine." He said soothingly.

Sadeena shuddered against him. He couldn't imagine what those things said to her to get her like this.

"We need to find the others." Dante said, giving her a quick squeeze. "Rifana and Agatha are still lost down here."

"…Alright." She said hesitantly. She removed herself from him, but kept a hand on him. "I'm sorry."

"Please. That wasn't even close to the worst hit I've taken."

"No." Sadeena lightly shook her head. "I mean, yes, I'm sorry about that too. But…I need to keep holding you right now."

"Oh." Dante looked around. The bats and rats still surrounded them. They looked as if they might be trying to use their magic, but it wasn't even close to strong enough to pierce his skill. Dante willed his shield to move a little on his forearm and grasped Sadeena's hand. "Okay."

"Thank you." She picked up her harpoon with her free hand.

"Of course. Also, don't apologize for needing this." Dante gestured with their hands. "I was ready to flood this whole place with fire."

Sadeena shook her head. "If I hadn't panicked, I might have interfered with their magic."

"If I hadn't panicked, I would have used this skill from the start." Dante started leading them through the cave. "We…should probably talk about what we heard after we've finished here."

If a few words could hurt the both of them so much, they really needed to work themselves out.

They walked on, hand in hand, watching as the monsters harmlessly bounced off the barrier. Dante checked his status as they walked. Agatha now had her HP full again. Dante hadn't thought to hand her a healing potion, so she must have cast healing on herself.

But, wait, she was down after my outburst. Wouldn't she have cast it right away?

He heard a muffled voice in the darkness. It almost sounded like an incantation.

"Faust Revealing Light!" He heard the last words spoken. The darkness around them vanished. Past a small group of the monsters stood Rifana and Agatha.

"Mister Dante!" Rifana called out.

"Rifana! I'm glad you're safe." Dante returned. They continued walking, Sadeena letting go of him and moving to the edge of the barrier to kill the few rats that stood in their way. Once they were next to each other, Dante noticed it was Rifana's rod that was glowing. "Did you cast that spell?"

"Yep!" She beamed at him. "You were always worried about being followed by hidden people, so I wanted to learn this spell next."

"When did you find the time?" Most of it was spent instructing him on how to cast his spell.

"I learned it during the carriage ride here." She said.

"That's really impressive." Dante said. "Your second spell, and a different affinity too. That is really good, right Agatha?"

"Third…" Rifana mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what?" Dante wanted to make sure he heard her right.

"It's my third spell." She said. "I learned another fire spell the other day. Faust Resist Fire."

"You did? Why didn't you say anything?"

"It was the day you told Erhard how you wanted your armor. I had already started learning it after fighting Rolf and was close, but it still felt like a waste of time." Rifana said, dejected.

"Don't be ridiculous." Dante grabbed her attention. "You learned three spells in such a short time? Agatha, please tell her how amazing that is."

"I didn't think she'd learn one so fast, let alone three." Agatha smiled. "That is incredibly fast. You might have found a prodigy, Shield Hero."

Rifana blushed at her comment.

"More than that, she taught me a spell." Dante piled on. "She's incredibly gifted."

She blushed even further. "P-Please, that's enough." She stammered. "Don't we need to find the crystal?"

"Hah! Yes, we do." Dante led them through the cave, his barrier staying strong.

After a few more minutes of walking, they found themselves in an area Agatha recognized. She took the lead after that and showed them to the cavern that was filled with crystals.

Dante noticed right away that there was no monster there. He was certain that something was there in the books, but perhaps it came later. Or, maybe it never would. Regardless, Dante used the pickaxe he brought with him to break off some of the crystals from the walls. He let his shield absorb some and had Agatha pick out one that would work for her, plus a few extras.

Once finished collecting, they left the cavern. Before they even made it outside, Dio and JoJo ran up to Dante the moment they came into view. They had been waiting at the entrance the moment they noticed everyone's HP go down, and had thought about running in if it continued. Dio nearly bolted when Sadeena's HP bar kept flashing.

Dante gave Rifana another couple potions, as she used one for herself and another for Agatha, and they set out. First thing they wanted to do was to check on Lerno. Agatha was fine with the detour, saying that a cursed seed shouldn't be left alone.

As they traveled on, Dante thought of the voices he heard in his head.

I'll fix what I broke.

~The Wrong Hero~

Dante trailed his hand along the railing as he climbed the stairs. He reached the second floor of the apartment building, finding the door he was looking for and knocking twice. After a few moments of waiting, he saw a shadow move over the peephole. The lock on the door was released and it opened.

Standing before Dante was a woman with long, blonde hair. Her eyes had a playfulness in them that was always nice to see. It was a treat to him when he visited, and he tried to do so often.

"Hey, Gloria." Dante said.

"Dante." She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, a smirk on her face. "Has it already been a month? I wasn't expecting you here."

"That's part of the problem. Where's Eddy?" He asked.

Gloria rolled her eyes. "Well, my husband—"

"Uh oh."

"—left yesterday without telling me where he was going, only saying he would be back in a few days."

"Typical." Dante shook his head. "The smartest guy I know, and he can't even remember to pick me up at the airport. I can't guard his body during his escapades if he does stuff like this."

"You're telling me. I'm his wife." Gloria nodded her head inside. "Well, you're here. You better pay her a visit."

"Like you need to tell me." Dante stepped in around her. "Besides, I knew him since grade school. I think I know him a little better than you."

"Yeah, keep falling back on that." Gloria laughed. Before she could say anything else, quick footsteps could be heard down the hall. "Looks like she heard you."

A moment later, a little girl came out of the hall. She looked up at them, a bright smile on her face. "Dante!"

"Huh?" Dante looked down at her. "Who're you?"

The girl seemed confused, but undeterred. "I'm Mary!"

"What~?" Dante put his hands on his hips as Gloria closed the door behind him. "That can't be. Mary is a little shorter than you, and she's always wearing a hat. You can't fool me."

A look of realization appeared on Mary's face. She ran down the hall again.

"No one would think you're good with kids." Gloria said, nudging his side as she passed him.

"Please, I'm a real people person." Dante laughed.

"Biggest lie I ever heard. Coffee?"

"Please."

Mary could be heard running back down the hall. When she came around again, she had a green knitted hat on her head. One side was taller than the other, and it had a face stitched on it. Red eyes with yellow eyebrows, nose, and mouth, and a smile on its face.

"Mary!" Dante exclaimed, opening his arms as she ran up to him. "There you are! There was a little girl who was pretending to be you, but she didn't fool me!" He tickled her side, eliciting a squeal from her.

"Dante, that was me!" She cried out, trying to squirm away.

"It was?" Dante asked, easing off. "It's just been so long, I didn't recognize you. You have to tell me all about what you've been doing since last time."

"Okay!" She said. Dante carried her over to the kitchen, Mary talking all the while.