LV999 Villager - Volume 3 - Chapter 11.25

Chapter 11, Part 25

An Endless Journey

It was hard to see the man’s face under the hood he was wearing, however, his body silhouette was definitely the same as Kagami’s.

However, Alice’s thoughts were soon interrupted. At that moment, the man struck the fragment of the bridge that he was holding against one of the stone pillars that supported the bridge.

「Wait…… it was him, isn’t it?」

Palna murmured with sweat on her forehead as she tried to recover from that unexpected event.

The members of  Resistance and the Beast’s Fangs•Kemono Kiba-zoku• who were on the other side of the bridge were a dozen meters away from each other. However, despite the distance that separated them, the Beast’s Fangs•Kemono Kiba-zoku• had no problem attacking the members of Resistance throwing huge blocks of stone, much heavier than an iron ball, at them. Even in Earth Clear, that kind of feat could only be accomplished by some first class Monsters, like the Giant Cyclops among others. However, the Beast’s Fangs•Kemono Kiba-zoku•, who were nowhere near as big as they were, had no trouble replicating such actions. Because of that, the situation only became more complicated for everyone.

At the same time, the Hooded Man, who seems to have disposed of the bridge fragment to regain some freedom of movement, began swinging his arms in what appeared to be an attempt to relax his body.

「We cannot afford to compromise our field of vision now that the Ace is here! Totally avoid using any type of fire magic! Don’t be confused! Now shoot! Shoooooooot! 」

 The members of Resistance, who had entered a state of confusion after the arrival of the Ace, quickly regained their calm after hearing Balmung’s orders, then, immediately afterward, they aimed at the Hooded Man and began to launch bursts of magic bullets and ice magic at him.

At the same time, the Hooded Man carried the girl on his back and started running towards the members of Resistance. The Hooded Man moved swiftly from left to right and advanced as he evaded Resistance’s attacks without even bothering to slow down.

「Now!」

At the moment when everyone started to panic after seeing the ineffectiveness of their attacks, Balmung shouted that with a smile on his face.

Then, the ground on which the Hooded Man was standing began to shake, and immediately thereafter, a pile of earth fell on the Hooded Man from both sides, leaving him completely immobilized.

「Don’t relax! We must kill him in one strike! 」

The moment Balmung said those words, the rearguard members used their magic to wrap the Hooded Man’s legs with another layer of earth. The rearguard members continued repeating that process until the Hooded Man’s legs were completely enveloped by a thick layer of earth and rocks, which they proceeded to harden as much as they could with their magic in an attempt and increase its durability.

「Now is our chance! Hit him with everything you have! 」

The Hooded Man tried to struggle to release his legs, however, the rearguard members didn’t stop strengthening his restraints. However, the rearguard members were also desperately trying not to lessen the strength of the Hooded Man’s restraints, some of them even starting to show aching looks due to the pain caused by using much more magic power than they could.

But, the effort of the rear units in charge of retaining the Hooded Man allowed the others to attack him with everything they had. Numerous magic bullets were fired directly at the Hooded Man.

Immediately afterward, the Hooded Man, seeming to have given up on his attempt to break free, looked ahead as his hand was enveloped by a pale light. The next instant, the Hooded Man closed his hand into a fist and began hitting the magic bullets that fired at him with unimaginable speed.

「That is-……!」

Takako could only watch as the Hooded Man used that power that was so familiar to her with a puzzled look on her face.

Every time the magic bullets hit the wall created by the remnant images of the Hooded Man’s dimly lit fist, they changed trajectory, completely avoiding him, and hitting behind him.

The Hooded Man deflected each of the magic bullets that were fired at him. The members of Resistance could only scream, 「Hit him…… Hit him!」, with impatience and terror, in an attempt to preserve what little fighting spirit they had left after overcoming every obstacle they had encountered to reach that point.

「Don’t give up…… Burn him with magic! Now he’s completely immobilized…… So it doesn’t matter if we can see him or not anymore!」

However, Balmung, who was unwilling to surrender, ordered the rearguard members to cast fire magic on the Hooded Man. At that moment, all the flames thrown at the Hooded Man came together, turning into a great swirl of flames that rushed at the Hooded Man.

However, even that failed to reach the Hooded Man. The Hooded Man, who took that opportunity to break free, quickly jumped into the sky before the swirling flame caught up with him. He probably took advantage of the moment when the rearguard mages, who were now kneeling on the ground completely exhausted, weakened, ceasing to restore the resistance of his restraints, to break free as he repelled the magic bullets.

「Now Mary! Don’t miss!」

At that moment, Balmung, as if he had been waiting for that moment, shouted that.

「I won’t…… I definitely won’t miss. This is your end…… Ace! 」

The Beast’s Fangs•Kemono Kiba-zoku• had no way of changing their trajectory in midair. Their rise and fall were linked to inertia. If there had been something else in the air near him, then he could have used it to propel himself aside, but the only thing encircled by him was the Young Beast’s Fangs•Kemono Kiba-zoku• Girl that was stuck to his back, so there was no way the Hooded Man could evade Mary’s attack.

At that moment, Mary raised her magic gun, the Magical Enhanced Dragunov•Rifle•, and aimed directly at the Hooded Man with it. Firmly gripping her rifle with both arms, she readied her body to withstand the large recoil produced by the powerful firing of her gun and concentrated on sharpening each of her senses to target the Hooded Man.

「…… It’s your end!」

The moment the Hooded Man attempted to rotate his body to prepare for his landing, Mary opened her eyes wide and screamed that while firing her magic gun. Immediately afterward, the magic bullet fired by her gun flew directly at the Hooded Man at a speed unmatched by the magic bullets fired by the other members of Resistance.

Mary, with incredible precision, shot directly at the Hooded Man’s blind spot while he was also in a position from which it would be impossible for him to use his hand wrapped in dim light to repel his attack.

However, immediately afterward, all members of Resistance, including Balmung and Mary, were speechless.

The Hooded Man avoided the shot like nothing.