Rising of the Shield Hero Re-Rise

We all fell to the ground and waited for the wind to die down.

A moment later the wind faded. Everything was quiet.

"What was that?!"

"Hey, look at that."

Keel was pointing to the sky.

I looked to where he was pointing and was stunned to silence.

The sky looked like it had been ripped open with a knife. It was coved in

a deep red crack, like a tortoise shell. It was eerie.

"What should we do?"

"My parents said to come back to the village if anything happened."

"If we don't check it out now, we might not ever have a chance again."

"No! Keel!"

The other kids and I all held Keel back, and we went back to the village

together.

"Raphtalia!"

"Daddy!"

My father returned from the neighboring town. I rushed over to him.

"Are you okay? I was so worried!"

"I'm okay. You said to come back if anything happened, so I rushed

back here."

"Good girl."

He rubbed my head.

Hee hee hee…

My dad started talking to all the other adults.

"Everyone listen up. I've just gone to see the lord of these lands. He

says that those cracks in the sky lead to the ground and that huge crowds of

monsters are swarming out of them."

"Does that mean that we have to fight them?"

"I think it does."

There was a terrifying howl coming from the cracks in sky.

My tail started swishing aggressively at the sound of the howl. It was so

scary.

"Will we be okay?"

"Hm…."

"H…Hey! We're in trouble! The monsters have already flooded the

town! It's like hell out there!"

An old man from the village ran in and announced the news. His face

was pale.

"But… How? How could they have gotten here so fast?!"

"The lord has commanded us to evacuate as quickly as possible! He has

already called for support from the castle!"

"What had happened to the lord?"

"I don't know, but he has left instructions for everyone to evacuate as

soon as possible!"

"Ugh…"

The adults looked very upset as they talked.

"And Sadeena is away, and all the hunters are out fishing…"

"There's a big storm out at sea too. Who knows if they will be able to

return safely?"

The sky was looking worse and worse.

Just then there was a large, strange sound. Everyone turned to see what

it was.

"What… is that?!"

There was something there, like… like person made of bones. It was

stumbling and dragging its feet as it walked in our direction.

It was carrying something like a weapon in its bony hands, and it was

shining with a dull light.

I was scared. I was scared down to my bones.It was a monster.

That was the only word that fit, and it described it perfectly.

"Uh… aaaaaahhhhhh!"

The adults all screamed and started to run away.

The rest of the villagers all started to scream too.

My father jumped in front of the monster to head them off.

"I command the very root of power. Light! Slay the beast before me!"

"First Holy!"

A ball of magical, sparkling light flew from my father's outstretched

hands, and the bone monster collapsed.

"Everyone please calm down and listen to me. We need to evacuate here

as soon as possible. While our tribe commands great power, we have no hope

of standing up to such numbers."

"You're right."

My mother threw a hatchet at a skeleton as she agreed with my father.

But there were still large numbers of skeletons heading for the village.

"We will stay here and buy time. The rest of you…"

"Uh… okay."

"Y…Yes."

"All right. If you are sure…"

Everyone caught their breath for a moment before beginning the

evacuation.

They decided to head for a town on the harbor. Even in a storm, they

still might be able to escape on boats, out into the sea.

"AAAHHHHHH!"

But things didn't go as planned.

"Damn these monsters!"

A large beast with three heads was running for the village.

My parents were fighting with all their might, but it wasn't enough. The beast was too fast; it kept dodging my father's magic and my mother's

hatchet.

"Gaahhhh!"

The beast violently swung its clawed paw, and my father and another

villager went flying through the air. They both fell to the ground, their joints

twisted.

Huh? What?

I couldn't believe it…

"Wh… WHAAAAAAAAA!!"

"AAAAAHHH!"

The villagers started panicking and running as fast as they could.

They ignored my father's shouts for order and ran for the ocean.

The panicking villagers pushed by me, and I fell to the ground.

"Everyone, wait just a second!"

"Are you okay?"

My mother was there, hugging me.

But her face was pale.

A three-headed dog was chasing down the villagers, attacking them with

its fangs and claws.

"I'm… scared…"

My mother ran her fingers through my hair.

"It's okay. We'll be just fine, don't you worry."

"Um…Um…"

If my mother said we would be okay… we would be… right?

"We're going."

My father started running off after the other fleeing villagers. My

mother and I followed close behind.

The villagers arrived at a cliff by the sea and started jumping into the

ocean.

The dog was chasing after them. And then, I couldn't believe it! The dog

jumped into the ocean after them and started eating the swimming villagers.

The ocean turned red.

"Wahhhhhhh!"

"Dammit, we were too late!"

My father was screaming. He and my mother ran off to attack the dog

and defend the remaining villagers. I hid behind them.

"Aaaaah!"

The huge, three-headed dog leapt out of the ocean and turned to face us.

It howled. It cornered us against the cliff, so that we had nowhere to run.

"Grrr…"