Light Novel Volume 22/Synopsis

Prologue: The Reticent Blacksmith
After the battle with the self-proclaimed gods, Naofumi and his allies prepare for the future. Ren Amaki has been making good progress in his blacksmithing while Naofumi and Imiya created accessories. All three work on their own projects however Ren is not happy with his products - comparing himself to his instructor.

Chapter One: The Progenitor
After working on making accessories, Naofumi travels to the Siltran castle in order to debrief with the Shield Hero of the ancient past Mamoru and queen on the modern era, Melty, who has been helping him. With Siltran's recent victory against Piensa, the surrounding nations have started to be wary of them. However, the country is still recovering from the Guardian Beast named Suzaku. Finally, Mamoru reveals that Filolia, his girlfriend and the Vassal Claw hero has recently regained consciousness after the resurrection process. Hearing this, Naofumi and Melty go down to meet her. On the way they meet Holn, the alchemist helping with the revival process, and Cian, a young girl in the care of Mamoru.

Releasing Filolia form her revival chamber, she gives herself a bold introduction. Naofumi is initially put off by Filolia's attitude but Mamoru asks him to just be patient.

Chapter Two: Claws and Hammer Power-Up Methods
Realizing that they now have access to the Vassal Claw hero, Naofumi asks Mamoru and Filolia about its power-up method. It is revealed to be "Skill Mastery" which improves a skill the more it is used. Naofumi then asks about the Vassal Hammer power-up method and determines that it is "Weapon Form Synthesis" which copies signature abilities from one shield onto another. They group then head out of the lab. In a rare serious moment, Filolia reprimands the children under Mamoru's care for letting Mamoru stray so far. She is then met by her sister R'yne. After an awkward meeting, Filolia is then introduced to S'yne and is asked to teach her how to deploy the signature ability of the skywings - optical wings.

Chapter Three: Holn's Research Weapon
Returning to the village, Naofumi finds the Pacifier of the ancient past Natalia training with Raph-chan II. Natalis is suspicious of the revived Filolia but lets her pass. After a quick discussion, Naofumi and Natalia decide to track down the Vassal Hammer. However, before they leave, Holn guides them to her lab where she had been working on an experiment. She presents to them a hammer which Naofumi recognizes as one Shildina had used in Q'ten Lo. Holn reveals that the hammer has the ability to copy the soul of a person. Natalia is initially furious but is eventually convinced to have her own soul copied for the sake of the world. Slightly disturbed by the process, Natalia and the Water Dragon leave to search by themselves for the Vassal Hammer.

Chapter Four: Quality Check of Heroes
The next day, the accessories that Ren, Imiya and Naofumi were working on were complete. Realizing that Ren is being held back by his past of trying to be cool, Naofumi encourages him. Upon Filolia's encouragement, Mamoru then shows Naofumi some of his experimental shields - a gun shield and a sword shield. After experimenting with the bizarre weapons, the group begins to discuss the possibility of exclusive equipment which can only be worn by a single person. With that, Naofumi begins to design an exclusive accessory for Raphtalia.

Chapter Five: Gathering the Power of the Raph Species
The next day, Naofumi decides to practice magic with Raphtalia. They decide to try to improve Raphtalia's use of magic by training in Demon Dragon magic. Using the Raph species as a source of power, the experiment is an incredible success. Raphtalia is able to cast incredibly powerful illusory spells with very little casting time. However, this type of magic can only be used a small number of time since it consumes a large amount of the Raph's power.

Chapter Six: Selecting the Hammer Hero
A few days later, the heroes hear back from Natalia that she had found the Vassal Hammer. They try to find a worthy wielder among their allies but the hammer rejects all of them. As the heroes prepare to leave, Natalia accidentally brushes against the Vassal Hammer which suddenly leaps into her hands. Frustrated, Natalia tries to reject the hammer but still she remains the new Vassal Hammer wielder.

Chapter Seven: Origin of the Past Heavenly Emperor
After Natalia is selected as the new hammer hero, the heroes then return to Lurolona Village. Natalia is upset that she has been chosen but realizes that she no longer has a choice in the matter. That night, Raph-chan and Raph-chan II meet Naofumi at his house. Raph-chan II then turns into her human form to discuss past events with Naofumi. She reveals that she is a copy of Natalia's soul which was formed within Holn's experimental hammer however she wants to change as little as possible in the ancient past. She also reveals that the ruins in Sanctuary were originally used to control time. She also mentioned that the Vassal Carriage might be able to help. However, she runs out of time and is forced into her Raph form before discussing more info. With this information, Naofumi decides to head to Sanctuary.

Chapter Eight: 0 Territory
The next day Naofumi wakes up with terrible new: Piensa has attacked all nations which were considering an alliance with Siltran. Even the Queen's Shadow was severely injured from their attack. Even worse, it seems like the wounds inflicted by Piensa's forces cannot be healed by traditional magic. Any attempts to heal these wounds only made them worse. As Naofumi realizes the terrible danger and thinks that he will do anything to save his allies, he suddenly hears a voice in his head. Confirming that he will do anything to save them, the voice responds and his 0 Series status gets upgraded. Trying this new skill on the shadow, he nearly passes out but is successful in healing the wound.

Later on, Naofumi and the other heroes have a meeting. They agree that the self-proclaimed gods are behind this new kind of attack. They also mention that Piensa had sent an elite force to Sanctuary to obtain powerful relics. Ren and Naofumi go to intercept the elite force while the village protects the Siltran area.

Chapter Nine: Heroic Presence
Arriving in the Santuary area, Naofumi and his group head to the village maintaining the ruins. Talking to the village elder, he gives them permission to enter the ruins. As they walk towards it, Naofumi discusses with his party how he apparently has a very strong, calming aura which identifies his as the Shield Hero. Reaching the ruins, they are guided to the hidden Vassal Carriage. Naofumi reveals that in the modern era, Fitoria wields the Vassal Carriage. Holn reveals that she created Fitoria from the Vassal Carriage's demands for a monster to pull itself. It seems that Fitoria is not currently fit to wield the carriage because she does not have a soul yet. Now that they've learned the secret within Sanctuary, Naofumi and the others return to their village.

Chapter Ten: Exclusive Equipment
Information to be added later on.

Chapter Eleven: Dinosaur Hunting
Information to be added later on.

Chapter Twelve: Unexpected Visitors from Piensa
Information to be added later on.

Chapter Thirteen: Beast Transformation of Rage
Information to be added later on.

Chapter Fourteen: Known Vassal Weapon Heroes
Information to be added later on.

Chapter Fifteen: In the Sanctuary
Information to be added later on.

Epilogue: Dragon Slayer
Information to be added later on.