Y/n's pov

We all stood in front of the entrance to the underground slave chambers. Raphtalia and Rifana both stood in front of the whole group, staring down into the tunnel. Raphtalia spoke up after a moment "Idol imprisoned his demi-human slaves underground, and tortured them." Reichnott looked over at her "how do you know that?" Rifana spoke up "we were both one of them..." Reichnott and Melty let out a small noise of shock before Naofumi spoke "It's not too late to turn back, you know" Raphtalia shook her head "no, we have to do this." We all descended down the stair slowly after the 2 girls in front. We stopped after reaching the metal gate at the bottom of the stairs. Raphtalia slowly opened the gate, while Rifana gripped onto her free hand tightly. We walked silently down the halls until we came across the many locked cells.

Raphtalia stopped and looked into one of the cell rooms, there was nothing inside besides chains hanging from the ceiling and beating weapons along the wall. It was clearly a torture room, and judging by the way she is reacting to it, she has been in there. Rifana held onto Raphtalia's arm, both shaking slightly. I looked over at another cell, frowning as my radar skill was picking up life in cells ahead. I looked at the 2 shaking girls before speaking "We have no time to be moping, there are still living people down here" Everyone looked at me before Rifana spoke up shakily "a-are you sure?" "I'm detecting multiple living creatures in the cells ahead, no doubt about it" Rifana stood up quickly, rushing ahead to the cells, looking in each one until she saw one with someone inside it, pulling on the door trying to get it open. I went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, she stepped back as I put a hand against the lock and activated one of my skills to unlock the door. Rifana quickly opened the door and rushed into the room. I felt a slight pain in my hand and I looked down at it, frowning as I noticed why. [Cursed One's Ring] covered in cracks, the jewel at the top of it had been reduced to shards. as the shards fell out of the indent made for the jewel, the rest of the ring crumbled, turning to dust before it hit the ground.

I put my hand down, hoping that I would be able to keep the curse negative affects from activating. I looked ahead and saw Rifana taking care of the demi-humans from the cell, giving them small healing potions that she carried around in a hip pouch I had bought her during one of the times we looked for equipment. I looked ahead as the others passed by, going to other cells and releasing the demi-humans trapped inside. Reichnott was helping the freed children as Naofumi and Rifana went and unlocked the doors to cells. Rifana finished helping the demi-humans in the cell we unlocked and then left to join Raphtalia. I went ahead of them, going to the cell that I had freed Rifana from long ago. I unlocked the door and stepped in, looking down at the fake body that I had created. despite being decayed to the skeleton, it still looked like it was Rifana. I looked around to make sure no one was watching and activated [Gluttony], the shadow creature went out and devoured the fake corpse. A new skill appeared in my menu [Dead Double] It allows me to create fake corpses of party members in order to create a diversion. I sighed and left the cell, looking around as everyone had finished getting all the demi-humans out of cells. Suddenly I heard a voice in my head "Hungry . . . So Hungry" I stopped where I stood, feeling a headache for a few moments before it went away. I sighed and began walking to join the rest of the group.

We had walked up to the surface in time to see Idol, who was supposed to be dead, standing in front of the obelisk in the center of the courtyard. He was holding his pendant of the three heroes church up and saying something that I couldn't hear. The obelisk began glowing as lightning struck it. Reichnott stared at the glowing object and spoke "no... dont tell me... " Naofumi looked back at him "What's wrong?" Reichnott spoke again "the heroes of the past built that stone monument to seal a monster away. Is he trying to release that seal?" The ground around the obelisk began cracking as Idol yelled out "Go on and destroy everything! You are free from your confines now, beast! Bring divine judgement down upon the Devil of the Shield!" behind him, a large Tyrannosaurus Rex looking monster sprung out of the ground, letting out a roar. Idol let out another shout, a smirk on his face "No one can stop me now! If I kill the devil of the shield I will be eternally blessed by God!" His yelling was immediately silenced by the monster stepping on him, a crunch and splatter verifying the fat nobles fate. The monster let out a loud roar and looked over at us, beginning to slowly walk in our direction.

I stared up at the monster as I could see it's name and health bar in my view, [Tyrant Dragon Rex] it had 3 layers of health bar meaning it was stronger than a normal boss monster. Our group immediately ran out of the courtyard, heading to the outside of the walls. Naofumi looked over at Reichnott who was panting heavily "you okay?" Reichnott looked up slowly "yes, somehow." Melty was looking agitated "I can't believe that rotten noble released that monster just to take out Naofumi!" Naofumi was trying to figure out what to do while Rifana and Raphtalia were holding onto one of the people they had rescued from the cells underground. Suddenly, The dragon monster had smashed it's head through the wall and looked over at us. After a momentary stare down, Filo charged at it while yelling "You stupid!" Filo jumped and kicked the dragon's head. Melty and Naofumi called out Filo's name, Naofumi changing his shield to his double snake shield. Melty looked at him "Are you really going to fight here? We are in the middle of a town!" Naofumi responded without looking back "I know! We'll lure it out of town first!" Melty frowned "but how"

Filo landed on top of the building and began running along the roof, the dragon focusing it's attention on her. I frowned and looked at Naofumi "The dragon will focus on Filo for the moment since she attacked it. The problem will be getting Filo to lure it away since filolial naturally hate dragons." Naofumi nodded "We can use her to lure it out of the town but..." Reichnott spoke up "Don't worry, I'll take the kids and run." Naofumi nodded "please do." Naofumi looked over at Raphtalia "Raphtalia" Raphtalia looked down until the child in her hands spoke "Say, Raphtalia. You're in the Shield Hero's party, aren't you?" Raphtalia smiled at them "yeah" "then you should go. I'll be fine. go on" Raphtalia frowned and held their hand. Reichnott spoke up again. "Rest assured. I'll go meet up with my people. " Raphtalia looked down at the child before looking back at him "I understand. Please take care of Keel" Reichnott smiled "Certainly" Naofumi called out to Filo and she jumped down to us. Raphtalia took off her gold bracelet that Naofumi gave her and put it on Keel after handing her to Reichnott "I'm sure we'll meet again" Naofumi jumped onto Filo, followed by me, Raphtalia, Rifana, and Melty. We all held on and Naofumi shouted out "Let's go!"

Filo nodded and began running off through the town, being chased by the Monster. Naofumi directed Filo as People in the city began panicking. Melty looked back and frowned "It really is following Filo..." Naofumi nodded and Raphtalia spoke up after in a soft voice "I'm sorry for giving away that bracelet Naofumi-sama" Naofumi looked back at her with a half smile "IT's yours now, You're free to do whatever you want with it." Raphtalia smiled at him while he turned to look ahead. Filo continued to run towards the outside of the town, the monster rampaging after us. After filo jumped over the city wall and began running into the forest she voiced a question "How far are we going?" Naofumi responded quickly "As far as possible" I looked back to see the monster destroy the wall and run after us. All the things in it's way were simply smashed aside as it kept chasing. 'so much power, I want to devour it all' I frowned as I heard the voice of gluttony once more. I didn't get a headache this time, but I still didn't like the feeling of something else talking in my head. I continued to watch the monster as Melty shouted out "We are almost passed the forest." Rifana shouted out afterwards "I can see a lake?" Naofumi spoke up after "This will do" After those words from Naofumi, Filo slowed to a stop and turned towards the oncoming monster. We all hopped off Filo's back and stood ready.

Naofumi spoke up as he raised his shield "Everyone ready?" Raphtalia spoke first "I'm set to fight" Filo spoke next "I'll do my best" After that Melty simply nodded, then Rifana spoke "I'm ready" I changed my chains into a stronger metal and added spike to the chain, having the end as a kunai knife. "Ready to take it down" 'and eat it'. The dragon charged through the tree line and straight for us. Naofumi used his Airstrike shield to halt it's advance. It's head slowly broke the skill and Filo charged in, kicking it's head aside. the assault had began. Filo continued charging in to kick, Melty used her water magic to send ranged attacks, Raphtalia used her sword to slash at it, Rifana used her daggers to hack and slash at it's legs, and Naofumi used his airstrike shield to assist, but nothing seemed to be working against it. The dragon kicked up a bunch of dust and swung it's tail, at Naofumi, knocking him a distance away. I looked over the dragon, trying to find a weakness on it, then a notification appeared in my vision [Emperor dragon core fragment detected.] I frowned as I remembered the purple dragon core from the dragon before.

After the zombie dragon was eaten by gluttony, only the core remained. I later had it put in my inventory and it was identified as a emperor dragon fragment. That meant that this dragon was as strong as, or stronger than the zombie dragon. I stared at the dragon in front of us and clenched my teeth. I would have to let gluttony out if we were going to have a chance. I was prepared to hand over control to gluttony, however before I did, a mist covered the area around us. A notification appeared on my screen [Superior being. Filolial Queen, detected. Allowing control of cursed abilities is not recommended] I frowned as Suddenly, footsteps began approaching. I turned to the forest and watched as many filolials ran out and circled the dragon. The dragon flailed around angrily as we all regrouped around Naofumi. After a moment Naofumi shouted out "Who's there!?" a great gust of wind picked up as the water behind us began rippling, followed by a giant Filolial jumped out of the lake. I stared at her many fluffy feathers, imagining how soft such a creature must be.

Melty gasped out "It cant be. The Filolial Queen?!" The Filolial Queen stuck out one wing and spoke "Fall back" She turned to the dragon and spoke again "your body reacted badly to the Dragon Emperor's fragment and grew beyond control. If you hand over that fragment now, I shall spare your life, but begone at once." the dragon roared and charged at her Melty yelled out "Watch out!" The filolial queen stared at the dragon and spoke "As you wish" Before the dragon could reach her, she simply kicked it back, launching it a distance away. the dragon stood up straight and roared angrily, launching a fire breath at her, which was easily blocked by a shielding spell. Naofumi used an airstrike shield to keep the group from being launched back from the shock waves. "I shall end this at once" The filolial queen pulled a shonen manga move, suddenly disappearing from where she stood and reappearing behind the dragon. Cuts began to appear all over the dragons body and it fell over, landing in the water. The Filolial queen walked over to the corpse and pulled the Dragon Emperor's fragment from the body and looked over at us. "The Shield Hero, I take it?" Naofumi could only stare up at her and respond "yeah" "I wish to discuss many things with you, but I know this form isn't suitable. One moment." She wrapped herself in her wings and began to glow a light blue as her form changed into a small girl with silver hair, purple eyes, and wearing a dress that matched the color of her feathers. She looked up at Naofumi and spoke "I will introduce myself. I am the queen of all filolials the world over, Fitoria.

Melty was the first to speak "Fitoria? You're her?" Naofumi looked down at her "you've heard of her?" Melty nodded "of course, Centuries ago, a hero of the time is said to have raised a filolial. Her name is legendary." "Centuries ago? So she inherited the name?" Fitoria spoke up "no, I have always been Fitoria." Filo spoke up "Will I also be as big as her one day?" Naofumi spoke "I couldn't feed you if you grew that big, so you'd be on your own." Filo grred and Fitoria spoke up "that would take dozens of times longer than a normal filolial's lifespan, so don't worry yourself over it." Naofumi stared at her thinking about something until she spoke up again "It is your turn to introduce yourselves, Shield Hero's party." Naofumi spoke "Iwatani Naofumi" Fitoria nodded. Raphtalia spoke next "I'm Raphtalia. Nice to meet you" "Likewise" Rifana spoke "I'm Rifana." Fitoria nodded again. Filo spoke, bouncing around a bit "My name is Filo" Fitoria nodded and looked at Melty "We've met before haven't we. THank you for your help that time." Melty smiled "No problem. I'm Melty Melromarc. It's a peasure to meet you again." "Mel-tan then." Melty blinked in suprise "Mel.. tan?" Naofumi spoke "You've met her before?" "yes. I ran into her on the way back to the capital after a diplomatic visit." "So you have a habit of that huh." Fitoria looked at me and stared at me for a bit. "introduce yourself." I Shook my head "I'm technically not a part of Naofumi's party anymore, so there is not any real reason for you to care about me right?" Fitoria shook her head again "Introduce yourself" I sighed "Y/n L/n" Fitoria nodded and looked back at Naofumi.

Naofumi spoke after a bit "anyways, I'm glad you took care of that monster, but what do you want with us? " "it's a long story, and this isn't a great place for a chat. let me take you somewhere more suitable." She motions her arm to the side and a bunch of filolial move out of the way, revealing a carriage. Melty and Filo both looked at it in amazement but Naofumi turned to the dragon corpse "wait, before that.." Naofumi began walking toward the corpse and Fitoria spoke up "I don't like a Cardinal Hero using dragon material in his equipment." Naofumi stopped and looked at her "It serves as precious fodder to develop my shield." "And I already sense an ominous aura in your shield. Curse powers are certainly immense, but so are their consequences. You mustn't use them" i felt personally attacked. Naofumi spoke up again "It's not a problem. I have it under control" "Not for long." "Regardless, I need dragon material and the Rage Shield in order to survive." Fitoria sighed and shut her eyes "Fine. Do as you wish." Naofumi went over to the corpse and fed his shield materials from it. I would have done so as well but I already had enough dragon material from my previous world. After a brief conversation with Fitoria, he got in the carriage with the rest of us.

Fitoria used a magic spell to teleport the carriage to another location and we all stepped out of it. Rifana, Raphtalia, and Melty looked around in confusion as the stepped out while Naofumi looked at the ruins in some amazement. Melty called the place a dump and Fitoria explained what the ruins was. "I hear it's considered the remains of the civilization the original heroes defended." Naofumi spoke up "you don't sound very sure" "It existed before i was born. for what it's worth, I'm watching over it." Melty spoke up "is this a filolial sanctuary?" "yes. I'm not supposed to bring humans here." Naofumi looked around "then i guess we'll be safe here for the time being." Filo's stomach growled and Fitoria looked over at her "I think you should get some rest." Noafumi nodded "let's take a break, then." Filo cheered while Melty complained. Raphtalia was conserned about her friend Keel that we left with Reichnott, but Naofumi reassured her they were fine. After deciding to eat, We set up a camp and Everyone began preparing things for Naofumi to cook the dragon that was recently killed. After the food was cooked we were all sat in front of the pot of stew with a bowl each. Melty was first to speak "uh.. you know... I feel too guilty to eat.." Ahead of us, a large crowd of filolial were standing there, staring at the pot of food. Fitoria and Filo ate their food and the Filolial begged and whined at Naofumi until he caved in and made a lot of pots of the food. Fitoria and Naofumi walked off to talk to each.

I was going to go off to bed with the rest of the group, but instead I headed off to look at the ruins a bit more. I walked around a bit until I ended up staring at what looked to be housing. Despite the fact that they were all destroyed, what remained was hauntingly like the buildings from my previous world. a voice spoke out in my head once again 'look at them all, this is probably what the last world looks like. devoured till there is only ruins left' I frowned and shook my head "shut up" ' it's eat or be eaten now. If you do not let me take control then the seed of calamity will devour this world as well. Then we will be sent to another. and then another. Unless I eat it' "I wont let you have control" 'Then I will take control by eating you' "you wont be able to do that" 'you don't know what I'm able to do. I've eaten many sinners before you. All stronger than you.' "Someone is going through an edge lord phase." 'Silence. I will show you the true power of Gluttonly'

................................................................................................................................................................

a/n:

Alright, another chapter is out. I might take longer to do any more work on either of my active books because my laptop charger is broken. I will try to make more, but I might not be able to.