Data.198 – Old Bowman, Strategic Retreat

While I had just used Warp Arrow, Buckler’s original speed was already much slower than me.

And so it should not be too difficult to escape him by just running through the town..

“Still, I didn’t even realize that I would be able to move around in that space by just rolling! After all, it’s not every day that you get hit by a friend’s skill! I wasn’t able to test it out!”

Crusher’s Miracle Effect wouldn’t usually work on his allies.

Because friendly-fire was only enabled during certain events, like the Charin boss fight and this tournament. So it was true that testing it would be difficult.

Had he known that he could just roll..the outcome would have been very different.

“Well, Armadillo was in cooldown, anyway! Until a moment ago..!”

Buckler had transformed into a sphere with a platinum aura!

So this rolling ability wasn’t a skill, but a charge attack..!

However, he was able to activate other charge attacks while using Invisible Armor.. That was impressive!

“Big Web Cloud Arrow!”

I unleashed a giant, sticky web onto Buckler.

As he had been affected by his own team mate’s Miracle Effect, invincibility shouldn’t protect him from stickiness either..!

Besides, since it was fused with Big Arrow, it would be as strong as a charge attack..

“It doesn’t work!”

Buckler rotated swiftly and tore the web to shreds with his power!

He was too heavy to be stopped by webs..!

“Seal Demon Bind!”

And so I used a magic triangle to stop Buckler’s movements!

However, the time that he was stopped was so short that it was barely noticeable!

“Right now, I am invincible! Literally!”

“Tsk..!”

Should I use I’m Arrow and escape..?

No, it will be even easier for Buckler to move if I used it.

The enemy was very afraid of Stardust Arrow, which was the result of fusing I’m Arrow and Indra’s Arrow.

I had used it during the Charin fight, where I had held onto her while rising high into the sky before slamming her down to the ground. Not only was it powerful in itself, but there was fall damage added to it.

Even someone like Buckler would likely die under those circumstances.

If I wanted to defeat Buckler myself, then that was the only way to do it.

And so I wanted to make sure that I was ready to use it at any time.

I would have to find a different way to escape!

“Whirlwind! Windcloud Blast!”

I made my body lighter and allowed the wind to carry me up into the air sideways!

It was more difficult than going straight upwards, but by doing this, I could reach higher ground in an instant!

My attempt paid off, and I rolled onto the roof of a house.

“You are certainly light on your feet.. However!”

My relief did not last for long. Buckler began to destroy the house itself!

As the walls and pillars fell, the roof began to collapse loudly..!

I needed to jump onto the next roof quickly!

Thankfully, the buildings on this map were close together.

And so I didn’t need to be too athletic to be able to jump from one building to the next.

I kept moving, at a similar speed to when on the ground.

As for Buckler, he continued to destroy the buildings..!

But this was fine.

This state of invincibility was not going to last forever.

It would end once its time was up..!

However, it wasn’t as if Buckler was not aware of this.

“Damn it..! I was led here..!”

By choosing which buildings to destroy, Buckler had been controlling my path!

I was bringing Buckler with me to where my friends were fighting.

No, it was the other way around..!

Buckler was rounding us up, and had brought me here with him!

And he was still invincible..!

◆　◆　◆

Going back a little, during the time when Crusher’s Forbidden Ground of Pain was deactivated..

The others had become free again, and returned to fighting the enemy..

“Ah, the bald man’s sucking has stopped! Now we are free!”

Sweeper, the glasses witch, got to her feet and held up her broom.

As the effect of Gunship Broom had worn off, it had returned to looking like an ordinary broom.

“Raijin Zekku!”

“Ahh!”

While Sweeper had her guard down, Necoco’s claws had slashed her neck.

She had disappeared as soon as the effect was deactivated, and then unleashed the charge attack..

Necoco had known that it was the best moment to launch an ambush, and had been preparing for it.

“Now that’s two down..! We need to find the next..”

“Big Broom Homerun!”

“Ah!”

But Sweeper was not dead, and she now swung a gigantic broom.

Necoco ducked reflexively and managed to dodge a full on hit, but the wind pressure still knocked her off of her feet, and she slammed into the wall of a house.

“Gah! Tsk.. Ah! You’re quite tough for a rear guard..!”

“Not tough enough! But that’s why I was able to survive!”

“I see. So it’s some Spirit-related effect then.”

“What!? I didn’t say anything about that!”

Necoco was talking about an effect that allowed you to have 1 HP left if you took damage that would have killed you, providing that your HP was full before getting hit.

This effect didn’t work if you were tough. You had to be weak enough for all of your HP to be taken away.

“But that’s strange. You were slammed down to the ground while riding a broom, so you should have taken fall damage as well. And I didn’t see you use any healing items.. But if your HP isn’t full, then the effect shouldn’t have been activated. What is going on?”

“Haha! In the first place, who even said that it wouldn’t activate if your HP isn’t full? Perhaps it’s an effect that activates if you have a certain amount of HP left!”

While she had just revealed the existence of her skill, Sweeper was still right.

There were a lot of games with this effect, and it made sense that the conditions would vary between them.

“Indeed. In any case, the results will not change.”

Necoco gripped her hands, which were now clawless, into tight fists.

In the next instant, the ground around Sweeper exploded!

“GYYAAAAA!! Why is it exploding!?”

“It’s not like I was just standing around after defeating you. I was making preparations to smoke out the other enemy that was on this battlefield!”

It wasn’t just Sweeper who was blown away by the explosion from the Claw Missiles that were placed on the ground like land mines.

Chameleon, who had white skin and a red cross pattern had also been blown away too!

“Chameleon.. So that is your Unison!”

The fifth member of the Straight Knights, who had not shown itself once in the fights up until now, was finally revealed!