Houou Arc

The Houou Arc is the twentieth arc of the Light Novel and the nineteenth arc of the Web Novel in The Rising of the Shield Hero.

Synopsis
At long last the second Guardian Beast is about to awaken. Can Naofumi and the others stop this one in time to prevent another Spirit Tortoise catastrophe?

Summary
After returning back to his village from the events in Q'ten Lo, Naofumi decides to upgrade his village and equipment. He takes care of illegal merchants by creating the Chivalrous Thief Guild, he gives the village monsters a class-up which ends up creating the Raph species and finally, he learns about his new territory reform abilities.

At Queen Mirellia and Fitoria's request, Naofumi attempts to capture Motoyasu who has been in a filolial-obsessed rampage across the country. Motoyasu challenges Naofumi to a "street race" with Filo as his prize. Forced to accept, Naofumi ends up beating Motoyasu and learns how to cast Liberation-class magic in the process. With Filo's help, Naofumi is able to control the deranged Motoyasu who then joins Naofumi's village. With all four heroes working together for the first time since their summoning, they join forces and share what information they have. The group then prepare for the oncoming fight against the Guardian Beast called the Phoenix.

After preparations were complete, the heroes, their forces and a defence force made of various allied countries unite at the location of the still-sealed beast. However, upon checking the seal, they find that someone had interfered with the beast so that the fight would be in "hard mode". Regardless, they prepare to fight. While the fight is difficult, the forces work together at it seemed like they would be able to defeat the guardian beast without many casualties. However, a powerful attack from the distance killed one of the two Phoenix birds at the wrong time which initiated a devastating self-destruct and resurrection cycle. Naofumi is unable to defend against the attack and Atla ends up sacrificing herself to defend Naofumi and everyone else. Thanks to her sacrifice, Naofumi is able to unlocked the Shield of Compassion which lifts his curse from the Shield of Wrath and the defence force is able to defeat the Phoenix.

Volume 15

 * Prologue: A Problem with Bandits
 * Chapter 1: Birth of the Raph Species
 * Chapter 2: Territory Reform
 * Chapter 3: Spirit Tortoise Shell
 * Chapter 4: Fitoria’s Request
 * Chapter 5: The Street Racer
 * Chapter 6: The Love Hunter
 * Chapter 7: Filolial Terror
 * Chapter 8: The Third Hero Conference
 * Chapter 9: Siblings’ Squabble
 * Chapter 10: Home of the Phoenix
 * Chapter 11: The Lost Hero’s Diary
 * Chapter 12: The Final Seven Star Weapon
 * Chapter 13: The Night Before the Phoenix Battle
 * Chapter 14: Fighting the Phoenix
 * Chapter 15: A Forbidden Flicker
 * Epilogue: The Girl Who Became a Shield

Web Novel

 * Chapter 291: Dragon Faith
 * Chapter 292: A New Type of Carriage
 * Chapter 293: The Raph Species of the Raph
 * Chapter 294: Collect・Wall・Ball
 * Chapter 295: Sibling Fight
 * Chapter 296: Tigers Clash
 * Chapter 297: The Land of Houou
 * Chapter 298: Hero Diary
 * Chapter 299: The Last Seven-Star Weapons
 * Chapter 300: Seven-Star Weapon
 * Chapter 301: Eve of Houou War
 * Chapter 302: VS Houou
 * Chapter 303: An Unforgivable Flash
 * Chapter 304: A Price Too Great
 * Chapter 305: The Girl Who Became a Shield
 * Chapter 306: Versus Houou, Finale

Character Introductions
No characters are introduced in this arc.