Underdog, Part 3
My instincts pointed sharply toward defeat. Yet, it was also true that one could never know the outcome without trying. Besides, this was a feeling I had grown all too familiar with.
There's still some distance left.
Although running away was out of the question, a decent gap still remained between us. I nocked an arrow to my bowstring and fired at the spearman once more. Why bother shooting again when I had just confirmed he had a magic shield? Simple. With escape impossible, there was nothing else I could do until they closed the distance. Furthermore, Sung Yu-rang's knowledge gave me a sliver of certainty.
Thwip! Imbued with the Wind Authority, the arrow flew swift and true, burying itself deep into the spearman. Overload boosted the strike's power, allowing the shaft to pierce straight through his leather armor. Throughout the entire process, there was no interference from any magic shield.
Just as I thought.
It was true that barrier magic was an advanced discipline, far beyond what a typical cadet should be able to wield. But by that same token, maintaining a barrier demanded immense concentration and a massive amount of mana. I had wagered that he wouldn't be able to cast a magic shield while simultaneously keeping the barrier active. Fortunately, my gamble paid off.
With an arrow protruding from his chest, the spearman dissolved into light particles and vanished.
Now, only three swordsmen left.
Reducing my opponents from four to three was an encouraging achievement. Even so, the despair of my situation remained unchanged. In the brief moments it took to down the spearman, the three swordsmen had already closed the gap.
Monsters, the lot of them.
Every single one of them was incredibly fast. While they were slower than Elsie, who specialized in speed, the problem was that there were three of them. To make matters worse, I couldn't use my sword right now.
Wind Authority.
I wrapped the Wind Authority around my body. Waiting to accelerate later would be too late; I had to start building momentum immediately.
Though it might already be a bit too late.
My Wind Authority only became truly effective once I had built up enough acceleration. In my current state, I couldn't be sure I would reach the necessary speed in time—especially when facing three opponents charging at me simultaneously instead of just one.
Desperate to thin their numbers by even one, I drew my bow again. They were already so close that I didn't need to use the Wind Authority to correct my aim. Reading the movements of the nearest swordsman, I released an arrow enhanced solely by Overload.
It wasn't point-blank range, but it was close enough that reacting to the shot should have been nearly impossible. Yet, in a split second, the swordsman's forearm flashed. A translucent, circular shield materialized from his wrist. With a heavy, dull thud, the arrow collided with the shield and was deflected.
Relying on gear, are we?
I had no idea how much they had invested just to take me down. Still, the shot hadn't been entirely useless. The impact of the Overload-infused arrow was powerful enough to force him back quite a distance. With that, the number of enemies I had to face simultaneously was temporarily reduced to two.
Two left...
Can I handle them at my current speed? The moment that doubt crossed my mind, the tip of the sword raised by the opponent charging directly at me suddenly elongated.
So this is the caliber of Class 1-A.
His attack range had expanded drastically, leaving me with even less room to breathe. But in moments like this, it was crucial to reassess my surroundings.
Where is the other one?
I snapped my head to the side to locate the second swordsman. Even with an attack bearing down on me from the front, I needed to grasp the full picture before attempting to evade.
Of course.
The other swordsman's blade was also radiating an ominous glow. They had absolutely no intention of giving me a moment's respite.
They're trying to overwhelm me all at once.
It was a desperate, suffocating situation. Yet, the one who managed to carve out a tiny sliver of breathing room for me was the most unexpected person.
Belle?
She didn't even have a proper weapon. Yet, she threw her body directly at the opponent behind me. The swordsman cut her down with effortless brutality, but that single action created a momentary distraction.
This is my chance...
A tiny crack had formed in the three enemies' coordination. It lasted only a fraction of a second, but it was more than enough to open a path of possibility. I raised my bow and aimed at the swordsman with the elongated blade.
I have enough acceleration.
At the very least, it was enough to track a moving target. The next step was to predict his trajectory using my S- rank swordsmanship sense. Once I anticipated his blade's path, his physical movement would naturally follow. This was a point-blank shot where a single miss meant death. I had to read his movements perfectly and pierce a vital spot.
I narrowed my eyes, focusing every ounce of my concentration on his movements. Then, it happened.
His center of gravity shifted!
He shifted his weight onto his left leg. It looked like a preparatory motion to pivot on his left foot and swing his sword... but it was a feint designed to make me think exactly that.
Thorough.
He wasn't underestimating me just because I held a bow. He knew I was an archer capable of point-blank combat, meaning he didn't view me as a conventional ranged fighter. They were fighting me as if I were a fellow swordsman. If my swordsmanship rank hadn't been S-, I might have fallen for it and met my end right then and there.
But I saw right through the feint.
It's a thrust.
He had masked his intent with his center of gravity and footwork, but the dead giveaway was his grip on the hilt. It was undeniably a stance meant for a thrust.
If he transitions into a thrust from here...
The swordsman spun his body, pretending to execute a ferocious slash, only to abruptly twist his frame. But having already anticipated the maneuver, I calmly adjusted my bow. The moment he committed to the thrust—
From this point on, his attack is a straight line.
Due to the nature of a thrust, his upper body was leaning forward, throwing off his balance. From this angle, targeting his neck or heart was too difficult. Therefore, from the very moment I anticipated the thrust, I had only one target in mind: the space right between his eyes. I had been aiming at that exact spot from the beginning to the end of his movement. Realizing this, the swordsman's face contorted in sheer terror.
Crack! Before his thrusting blade could reach me, an arrow blackened by Overload pierced straight through his skull. I didn't have the luxury of waiting for his death confirmation.
Two more left.
There was no time to rest. I spun around immediately, only to see the swordsman behind me already swinging his blade.
Dangerous.
A brilliant light flared along his blade. I recognized that glow from spectating a previous match. While not as potent as Yoo Seora's, it was a reinforcement ability that packed a serious punch. Blocking it head-on was out of the question, and it was already too late to dodge. That left me with only one option.
Deflect it.
I raised the arrow in my hand. The shafts used by heroes were made of metal rather than wood, meaning that despite their thinness, they wouldn't snap easily. Since deflecting his attack would already place a massive burden on the weapon, I refrained from using Overload, which would only deplete its durability further.
"Ugh!" A screeching sound, like steel tearing through steel, rang out. The jarring shockwave traveled straight up my arm, but the fact that I felt it meant the metal shaft was still holding together. As the vibration subsided, I quickly glanced down to check the arrow's condition.
This should do...
The shaft was battered and warped from the swordsman's strike, but the arrowhead remained perfectly intact. I had no time to waste. The other swordsman, whom I had pushed back with my previous arrow, was already closing in on me again.
Instead of backing away from the swordsman who had just attacked, I pressed forward. My right arm throbbed with pain—since I hadn't used Libero's Swordsmanship, I hadn't been able to deflect the impact entirely. I transferred the arrow to my left hand and lunged into his blind spot in an instant.
Clearly not expecting me to successfully parry his blow, the swordsman froze in sheer bewilderment. He was sorely lacking in real combat experience.
Overload.
I drove the reinforced arrowhead straight into his throat. Now, only one remained.
The final swordsman closed the distance in the blink of an eye, his blade slicing toward me. Having just thrown my entire weight into the previous kill, I was in no position to dodge. In the end, the only shield I had left was the bow in my hands.
*Clang!* I gripped the bow with both hands and blocked his sword. But because I blocked from an unstable stance, my inferior physical strength caused me to be violently thrown backward.
"Gah...!" I tumbled across the dirt, rolling once before scrambling to look up. The swordsman was already charging at me again. I couldn't nock another arrow; the bow's limbs had snapped from the force of the previous block. This was exactly why bow-type Holy Relics, despite their general sturdiness, should never be used as blunt instruments. Though, of course, the rules were slightly different in this simulated space.
It'll be restored once I return to reality anyway.
Pushing myself up from the ground, I used the broken bow to clumsily ward off his relentless strikes. The momentum of my Wind Authority had been completely reset by the impact of my fall. In my current state, I was outmatched in every conceivable metric.
I can't beat this last one.
The gap in our strength and speed was simply too wide. The outcome of this duel was already decided. Even so, I held my ground until the very end. I wouldn't draw a sword. I wouldn't use Libero's Swordsmanship either. The moment I resorted to those, my entire purpose for coming here under a hidden identity would be ruined. So, I chose to endure, letting myself be battered and bruised. Yet, I felt no regret. After all...
I might have lost this individual fight, but we've won the mock battle.
The moment I had been blown back by his attack, I noticed that the barrier, which should have been holding firm, was gone. At that exact moment, a voice finally crackled through the communication channel.
"This is Elsie. I found and eliminated the enemy's support mage on my way. Yoo Seora is heading straight to your location, so please hold out just a little longer."
My role from the beginning was never to defeat all of them myself. It was simply to buy time until Yoo Seora arrived. And now, my job was done.
"Did you seriously take down three of them by yourself?"
I didn't "take them down." I was just trying to survive, and killing three of them happened to be a necessary byproduct of that survival.
"Go, Yoo Seora."
I bit back the urge to add "mon" to the end of her name. Yoo Seora dashed past my battered, pathetic form. I watched as she swung her blade—a sword stained pitch-black by Overload. Perhaps because she was the true pioneer of the technique, her version radiated an ominous, terrifying light that put my own to shame. Taking a massive stride forward, she swung her sword in a sweeping diagonal arc.
I'll have to correct her posture when we get the chance later.
Her form was still far from perfect, but the sheer destructive power behind the strike was undeniable. The remaining swordsman conjured his translucent shield once more to block her blow, but against her might, it was nothing more than wet tissue paper.
After all, she operates in a realm where the very concept of 'blocking' is meaningless.
Nothing remained in the wake of Yoo Seora's devastating strike. Soon after, a succession of announcements echoed through the system.
The hidden offensive mage has been eliminated!
The final remaining members of Class 1-A have declared their surrender.
Like I said, you never know until you try.