With my companion disguised, we managed to eat at the tavern with minimal difficulty, while eating I begin to hear rumors. Apparently, the King and his royal mages have successfully summoned the Four Cardinal Heroes to the Kingdom of Melromarc to combat the Waves of Catastrophe.

'Good, now I'll have some help in the Next Wave'

No-One Pov

Having finished eating Balthasar and his Demi-Human companion returned to the blacksmith to acquire us weapons and armor. Looking at the weapons Balthasar chose a weapon that the Demi-Human knew how to wield. The Cardinal Hero of Magic chose a steel short sword for the boy, as for armor he chose a light and strong chainmail to go under his clothing and a pair of wrist guards, stepping into the changing room the door to the shop opens revealing a red-headed woman and a black-haired man wearing black jeans and a white & green hoodie wielding a silver shield with a green jewel in the center, the Magic Hero immediately recognized the clothing from his earth

'Earth clothing, silver shield with green gem, Just a hunch but he must be the Shield Hero in the book' thought the Magic Hero

However, the Magic Hero didn't say anything as he felt something wrong in his gut when he saw the woman. The woman asked the Shield Hero to buy a full set of women's armor, which he did as she waited for Gray to finish changing. Unfortunately, The Wolf Demi-Human came out with his hood down causing the red-haired women to look at him in disgust which didn't go unnoticed by the Magic Hero when the woman enters the room Balthasar confronts the Shield Hero by grabbing his shoulder

"Ditch the girl while you can," Balthasar said catching The Shield Heroes attention

"W-What?"

"Something isn't Kosher about her" warned the Magic Hero

"What are you talking about?" questioned the Shield Hero

"Be Wary, The prettiest of faces usually hides the most hideous of all Evils, Believe me, I speak from experience. I've got a feeling about her and I pray I'm wrong, cause I'm never wrong" Balthasar says moving away from the hero as the redhead comes out wearing her armor

As they begin to leave the redhead purposefully bumps into the Wolf Demi-Human causing the Magic Hero to grab her arm stopping her to glare daggers at her

"Do...That...again..and I will make you suffer...Understand me...Bitch" Balthasar says as she rips her arm from his grip and leaves the store

'Bitch'

Kneeling down Balthasar helps Gray Morningstar back to his feet

"Are you okay Gray?" Asked the Magic Hero

"Yeah I'm fine," Gray said dusting himself off

Having made sure his companion was okay, The Magic Hero Balthasar then proceeded to purchase a Cuirass, a pair of grieves and a pair of gauntlets, and combined with Gray's weapon and armor came up to 179 silver pieces, reaching into his money pouch he pulls out a gold coin and 79 silver before handing them to the blacksmith.

Balthasar's Pov

Decked out in our new equipment Me and Gray head out to fight the monster to grind some Levels, Leaving the capital we head to the field but stopped when we saw the Shield Hero fighting what looked like orange balls, moving closer to forest line to find stronger monsters. Once the sun began to set Gray and myself head back to the inn, today was productive, Gray managed to gain 7 levels while I gained 5, stepping in front of our room I notice the Shield entering his but I notice the Redhead was downstairs when we entered.

"Gray..go ahead and head inside, I'll be right back," I say letting Gray inside while I Head downstairs

Around the corner, I see the redhead heading out of the inn with someone wearing a black robe

'Please God let me be wrong about her'

'Hide Mirage'

A magic aura surrounds me before I become unseen to the human eye and follow the Shield's companion outside

"Are you sure this plan of yours will work my princess? We have too much riding on this for it to fail." said the robbed figure that sounded male

'Princess?'

Silencing stepping closer I begin hearing the full conversation between "The Princess" and the robed one

"Yes, I'm positive it'll work. In fact, I can guarantee he won't see it coming until it's too late. After all, he's already gone to bed, and by the time he wakes up in the morning guards will have his room surrounded." The Princess said proudly to a Man donned in a black cloak with a black hood over his head. Although I didn't have Tons of experience in this world, it looked to me like something a nun from a Church would wear.

"Princess Malty. The Church of the Three Heroes has many resources at its disposal. Why not use some of them as a means of eliminating the Shield Hero from this world?" The man asked, his question posed directly to the woman.

"Because then Father would get suspicious," Princess Malty said with an eye roll. "Sure he doesn't have much of a like for the Shield Hero because of previous. But even he would suspect something if the Shield Hero was killed outright. And that suspicion could lead to both me and your Church being exposed, and then I'd never become Queen. No, we have to dispose of him properly. While my mother is away." Malty said haughtily.

"And how will your plan accomplish that?" The man opposite her asked skeptically.

Malty laughed into her hand, And I was seeing the actual bitch side of her for the first time. "Oh, because accusations of this kind against a poor innocent princess cannot be ignored. My Father will be absolutely furious when I tell him about what the Shield Hero did to me. His precious daughter. And because of his status as a hero my Father wouldn't dare kill him in fear of angering the other kingdoms. So instead, he'd spread the news of what happened throughout all the land, ruining the Shield Hero's reputation before he even stepped foot out of the castle doors!" She said with an evil sort of crazy happiness in her face that came from her envisioning what torture she could put other people through.

The man in the black robes pondered it to himself for a few seconds, and then a smile spread across his face. "Oh, I see now why the Church decided to send agents out to spread rumors of this sort then. A hero accused of something like this..." He started.

"Would have no one except the worst riffraff who'd rather stab him in the back vouching to work for him. Meaning he'd be unable to kill monsters by himself because of his low attack stat, and he'd trust no one who would support him to help him out. By the time the next wave hits Melromarc, he'll be so weak that he won't stand a chance of survival." Malty continued.

"Meaning his death at the hands of monsters with no one the wiser about his innocence." The man's smile grew bigger, but then he frowned. "But my lady, what about those adventurers who had signed up to work for the Shield Hero? Surely some of them might want to help him even after the news of his deeds travels throughout the land. And what about the other Heroes?" He asked.

The Princess waved her hand in dismissal. "It was only a few demi-humans and some knight from Seatte that wanted to help him."

It was this that made my eyes grow wide, cause if he had other companions why weren't they with him today

"The knight has already been arrested and jailed in the castle dungeons for crimes she didn't do, and the demi-humans were executed because of how desperate they were to serve such an idiot. All without my Father noticing of course. Not that he'll care either about I tell him about how the Shield Hero tried to rape me with their help." She said.

Hearing this I gasped loudly alerting them both of them, I see both of their gazes shift to the ground, following their gaze I notice its full moon cause I'm casting a shadow. Without hesitation, I pull a 180 and take off grabbing my staff from my back

"Stop him," Princess Malty said to the man who I assume was chasing me

'As a source of thy power I order thee, decipher the laws of nature and rain down on upon my enemy with holy light'

Dispelling my concealment spell upon Hearing the incantation I open my weapon tree and equip a magic staff made from a reflective metal with a double-sided mirror on top

'Holy Downpour'

Turning on my heel I swing my staff sending the magic spell back at the caster giving me a moment to run to the shadows and try to find a place to hide from the man when without warning I'm blown through the doors of the blacksmith's shop, my weapon falling from hand

"Whoa kid you okay," the blacksmith said looking over the counter

I never said a word as I see a hulking man with short brown hair walking to the shop. Not missing a beat I summon a Hound only to see the man snapping my monsters jaw open, jumping to my feet I grab one of the swords only to have it shock me and fall to the floor as a warning pops up

The man grabbed my jacket and proceeded to punch me across my face

"You know that spell really hurt" the man said head-butting me breaking my nose

I didn't say anything and took the beating as my hand reached for a weapon, the moment I touched it I was dropped causing the blade to fall into my hand. Looking up I see the blacksmith with his hammer in hand facing the robed man, despite the shocking pain I grip the weapon and run it through the man forcing him to the ground for the blacksmith to slam his hammer into his chin, letting go the man collapses to the ground

"Hey Kid, mind filling me in on something?" asked the blacksmith

"I heard something I should have, any Idea who this schmuck is?" I ask

"He looks like a member of the Three Heroes Church" The Blacksmith says as we hear laughter

The two us look down to see the man laughing like no tomorrow

"You may have saved yourself, but you can't save the Demi-Human" the man says forcing my pupils to shrink

Grabbing my weapon I rush outside and run to the inn praying, Hoping that the dying man was wrong

No-One's Pov

Balthasar Black stood in front of a broken door with an upturned room before him, The Cardinal Hero sworn Marianna Morningstar to protect her son and now he broke it. Balthasar stood there grinding his teeth, gripping his weapon causing his knuckles to turn white. As his anger grew so did his magical aura which caused the floorboard to splintered the more his aura grew

'I summon the unholy beast of flesh and bone, slain by magic might to do my bidding'

HOUND PACK

Using his summoning skill Balthasar called forth 12 Hound monsters

"Find Gray...NOW" Yelled the Magic Hero as the Hounds begin sniffing around the room

Soon all twelve summoned monsters find a droplet of blood and began tracking the scent. The Hero of Magic followed his monsters to The Three Heroes Church, all monsters surrounded a young nun standing in front of a burning fire barking and trying to snap at her

"Stop" ordered the Hero

"What are you doing here, this is a sacred place" asked the Nun

"Where..Is...He?" asked Balthasar through clenched teeth

"I..Don't.." began the nun until the Magic Hero grabbed her arm revealing bloodied bandages and a gray fabric in her hand

"The Demi-Human that was at the inn with me, Where is he?"

Immediately her face turned serious as she looks at the Magic Hero with Disgust

"You'll never find him," the nun said as Balthasar pulled the gray fabric out of her hand

Upon seeing the opposite side of the fabric Balthasar's anger grew, on the fabric was a curved scaled line and one point of a five-pointed star

"We'll see about that" Balthasar said summoning 2 Hellhounds 2 Orthus and 2 Sunset Wolves

The Magic Hero orders 10 of his hounds to smell the torn fabric, while he ordered the others to keep the women from moving

"I'm going to find him" The Magic Hero said turning his back to the woman

"I'd love to see you try" the woman laugh making Balthasar chuckle

"And you think you're going to live...to see that" Balthasar say as the monsters surrounding the woman began to snarl and growl

Balthasar began walking away with ten hounds following while the nun began pleading to give her mercy and spare her

"If you want mercy then ask your god for mercy" The Magic Hero said before giving an order to his remaining monsters

"Make it slow and painful Boys" Balthasar said not noticing the countdown that appears in his field of vision

Balthasar Black left the Church hearing the woman's agonizing screams. Once outside of the Church the Hero of Magic summons his Cerberus, mounts the monster and follow the hounds tracking Gray Morningstar

Now may God have mercy on the unfortunate soul whoever harms that Boy

~Weeks Later~

I stood in front of a burning nobleman's mansion as the owner and inhabitants stood behind me bound with massive thorned vines

"Are you ready to talk cause if you don't then your home is as good as gone" I say looking at the Noble

"Go to hell" the Nobleman said

'Very well, Looks like I have to take something irreplaceable" I say as I summon a purple cobra to wrap around the Nobleman's daughters neck with its fangs bared

"NO!" yelled the noble

"The Arbocian Cobra, so extremely venomous that a single drop of its venom can kill a full-grown Orthrus, Image what all of its venom can do to human flesh...Do you want to know cause I certainly want to" I say as the Snake gets closer to the girl's neck

"OKAY...He's right under you"

With a way of my staff, a massive gust of wind followed by heavy rain extinguishes the flames. Tapping my staff I turn the ground into sand with my Quicksand skill revealing a passageway.

'Hidden beneath the stone floor, quite clever for slave owners'

Stepping down my nose is bombarded with the smell of blood and death, looking through the cells I stop at the one I was looking for. Inside the last cell on the right were two Demi-Humans, one had blonde hair, round ears, and a yellow & black spotted tail, while the other had white hair with pointed ears and a matted whitetail. Both Demi-Humans had numerous cuts, scars, and bruises on their bodies

No-One's Pov

"Tell me...Who is the son of the Dragon?" asked the Magic Hero causing the white-haired Demi-Human to jump slightly recognizing the voice

"The...Son...of the...Dragon is me...Morningstar, Son of Tai" the Wolf Demi-Human said looking up

Without a moment of Hesitation, Balthasar used one of his skills to unlock not only the boy's cell but all the others

"Hello Gray" The Magic Hero said smiling

Not missing a beat the Demi-Human rushes forward and embraces the Cardinal Hero

"Balthasar!"

"Don't worry you're safe, you all are safe, there's a village in the Seaetto district, Van Reichnott will help you all" The Magic Hero says bringing them all to the surface

"Now then one last question" Balthasar says addressing the bound people

"Who harmed Gray Morningstar," The Magic Hero says showing them, Gray

"It...It was me" the nobleman says sweating profusely

Gray, however, informed Balthasar that it was the women on the men left

"Well looks like I get to find out, after all, Children close your eyes and cover your ears" warning the children Balthasar orders the Arbocian Cobra to more from the Nobleman's daughter to his wife much to the man's pleas

Bathasar's Pov