Fallen Heroes Arc

The Fallen Heroes Arc is the fourteenth arc of the Light Novel and the fifteenth arc of the Web Novel of The Rising of the Shield Hero.

Synopsis
In the aftermath of being defeated the Spirit Tortoise catastrophe Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu struggle with what it means to be a hero. How will they struggle with this new-found responsibility?

Summary
After having Fohl's level reset, Naofumi start their efforts to capture Motoyasu by first going to his old companion Elena. Arriving at Elena's location, he finds Motoyasu there trying to convince Elena to come back to work with him which she rudely refuses. Naofumi attempts to capture Motoyasu but the Spear Hero uses his teleportation skill to get away. Apparently, it seems that during the Spirit Tortoise catastrophe, Motoyasu's companions have abandoned him. With everything he valued as a hero gone, Motoyasu's mental state is declining.

After the failed attempt to get Motoyasu, Naofumi accidentally runs into Ren and the two decide to talk. It turns out that Ren's companions had died during the Spirit Tortoise catastrophe and now the public doesn't trust him. While Ren is still treating being a hero like a game, he is sincerely devastated by their death - blaming it on not being strong enough. Unfortunately, before Naofumi is able to fully counsel Ren, he spots Motoyasu and attempts to chase after him. Naofumi finds the Spear Hero tailing Malty and Lesty who have gone to talk to Ren. Just as she had done with Naofumi, she now frames both Naofumi and Motoyasu of doing evil deeds. In his grief, Ren decides to believe them and runs away with them before Naofumi can stop them.

Motoyasu, realized he has been fully betrayed by his old companions, breaks mentally and falls into a deep depression. Filo tries her best to console him and Motoyasu becomes obsessed with her. Annoyed by Motoyasu's new condition, Naofumi runs away. Later on, Naofumi is ambushed by an otherworld invader and is saved by Murder Pierrot. She finally introduces herself as S'yne and Naofumi allows her to stay in his village. Worried that the other heroes are going to be ambushed like he was, Naofumi and his group train and level up.

Hearing rumours of bandits, Naofumi goes to investigate. He is ambushed by Ren who had unlocked two curse series weapons and had become a bandit leader. With his first assassination attempt failing, Ren runs away. The otherworld invaders who were tracking Ren run into Naofumi and his party instead. The two groups fight and Naofumi's team are barely able to repel the otherworld invaders. Nearby, Naofumi finds Motoyasu (who had unlocked his own curse series weapons) who is also trying to capture Ren for Filo's sake. Eventually, Eclair duels Ren and defeats him. The otherworld invaders attack all three heroes but are quickly defeated since Motoyasu had used all of the power-up methods like Naofumi had mentioned long ago. However, when the fight ends, Motoyasu runs away with Filo's carriage.

With Ren defeated, he was taken to Naofumi's village. When he wakes up, he realizes his mistakes and apologies to Naofumi for all of the wrong he had done. Ren explains how Malty had manipulated and then abandoned him after he was no longer usefull and how now he is under powerful curses for using the curse series weapons. However, he realizes his mistakes and now wants to work with Naofumi.

Volume 11

 * Chapter 6: The Fruits of Training
 * Chapter 7: The Plan to Capture the Spear Hero
 * Chapter 8: The Day the Game Ended
 * Chapter 9: I Dub Thee Witch
 * Chapter 10: New Awakening
 * Chapter 11: Loincloth Pup
 * Chapter 12: The Decision
 * Chapter 13: Oodles of Ambuses
 * Chapter 14: Official Request
 * Chapter 15: The Masked Man
 * Chapter 16: The Merits of Invading Other Worlds
 * Chapter 17: Temptation
 * Chapter 18: Flash
 * Epilogue: Making Peace with the Sword Hero

Web Novel

 * Chapter 190: Official Request
 * Chapter 191: Late Bloomer
 * Chapter 192: Masked Man
 * Chapter 193: The 7 Deadly Sins
 * Chapter 194: Dragon Sanctuary
 * Chapter 195: Greed
 * Chapter 196: Reality Versus Ideal
 * Chapter 197: Flash
 * Chapter 198: Purpose
 * Chapter 199: The Morning of Shield Hero
 * Chapter 200: Repent
 * Chapter 201: Trash and Atlas
 * Chapter 202: Amnesty
 * Chapter 203: Flow of Magic Power
 * Chapter 204: Dragon Pulse
 * Chapter 205: Season of Love
 * Chapter 206: Fitoria's Request
 * Chapter 207: Race
 * Chapter 208: Shortcut
 * Chapter 209: Lust
 * Chapter 210: Jealousy
 * Chapter 211: Infighting
 * Chapter 212: Love Hunter
 * Chapter 213: Nap
 * Chapter 214: The Revolutionary Faction
 * Chapter 215: Barbarian Armor +2
 * Chapter 216: Joint Ownership
 * Chapter 217: The Hero of the Shield’s Capture Walkthrough
 * Chapter 218: Loincloth-Wearing Loyal Dog
 * Chapter 219: Peerless Activity
 * Chapter 220: Trap
 * Chapter 221: Release Time
 * Chapter 222: Game Knowledge
 * Chapter 223: Desire of Devotion

Character Introductions

 * Crimmy
 * Marine
 * Green