Rising Of The Shield Hero Web Novel ver

Wave of Calamity

We arrived right on time as the demons overflowing from the wave started to wreak havoc within the village.
The adventurers and soldiers stationed there were barely able to defend against the horde's onslaught. They were greatly outnumbered...
... and the line of defense was about to break.

"Raphtalia, please evacuate the villagers."
"Huh? What about Naofumi-sama..?"
"I will aggro the enemy!"

I flung myself into the frontline and bashed my shield against a group of locust-looking monsters.
Obviously, the sound of metal colliding was there but the damage wasn't.
However, I was able to grab their attention.
It was the same as what I had always done with Raphtalia.

"Gugi!"

The herd of tiny locust-like monsters charged at my direction. Moving on, I immediately decided on my next targets: the ghouls and the swarm of wasps.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Was it thanks to the barbarian's armor, or was it the shield? Either way I received zero damage as usual.

"Yu-yuusha-sama?"
"Ah, right... You guys go and reorganize yourselves while I hold them back!"

I saw a lot of familiar faces within the Riyuto village bunch.
"Y-yes sir!"

Fortunately, even though I was the only one on the frontline, no one was fatally wounded among the survivors.

"What the..."

What was that thought just now? How unpleasant.
While I was dazed, the monsters attempted to knock me out of commission with their claw, fang, and needle attacks.
Even though there were the sweet sounds of impact, I didn't feel any pain, only a bit of an itch. However, the feeling of them crawling all over my body was beyond disgusting.
Hence I beat the crap out of the mobs.
WAMP!
Damn it, didn't any of the inhabitants of this world know how to leave people alone?
But I guess it couldn't be helped since the wave of great calamity was happening and all that.

"He-help m―!"

Behind me, the innkeeper whom I was indebted to was being attacked by a monster.
Right before the innkeeper got decapitated by the monster's claw, I shouted:

"Air Strike Shield!"

I casted the skill, and a life-saving shield was immediately summoned and saved the innkeeper.
The innkeeper was surprised at the sudden appearance of the shield then looked towards my direction.

"Run for it!"
"... Ooh, thank you."
After he bowed from his waist and voiced his gratitude, the innkeeper left the scene along with his family.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

A stereotypical, ear-deafening shriek.
It was the sight of a damsel in distress fleeing away with a gang of pursuing monsters.
I approached the vicinity.

"Shield Prison!"

I called forth a box of shields to surround and protect the damsel.
With the sudden appearance of the shields, the monsters switched their target to me.
That's good. Come over here. I'm very delicious.
I lured the monsters away before the duration time of the Shield Prison expired and returned to the frontline.
WAM! BAM!

Haah haah...
My body steadily became heavier with the increasing number of monsters.
Then, a rain of fire poured down.
Behind the horde of monsters, I could spot the knight squadron's arrival. The magic users among their ranks were shooting our their magic; this was the cause of the rain of fire.

"DUDES! There are allies over here!"

Although there was only me.
The monsters quickly ignited and turned into cinders.
Since there were a lot of insects they burned nicely.
Apparently, not only was my physical defense high but also my magical defense too.
The front line was burning brightly with a crimson red as anger swelled up from within me, questioning the motive behind this friendly fire; I glared and approached the knight squadron from the middle of the mayhem while my cloak fluttered, scattering the flames.