Volume 6 Chapter 5 Part 3
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Translator: Kell
“Damn it. Can you stay put?!”
Ten minutes had passed since our fight commenced. About seventy percent of the floor was already covered with Sticky Bombs, and I was starting to see the enemy struggle in his movements.
But I can’t let my guard down yet. There was still life in his eyes. He still had a plan that I didn’t know of. Seeing as he hadn’t executed it yet means they’re waiting for more Sticky Bombs first before using his trump card.
Even when the floor was covered in Sticky Bombs, Rian still managed to nimbly dodge my spells. But this will be the last.
“Magic Wing!”
I flew to one corner of the tower—a spot mostly filled with Sticky Bombs. I focused the spell on it, planning to use the spot from the beginning to end this fight once and for all. Now the preparations are done.
Whether the enemy knew it or not, I had no idea. Rian charged straight at me like before. But he had very limited room to move, and there’s really no reason to leave a spot unfilled.
“Sticky Bomb.”
Now he had no spot to step on. With a small risk of a counterattack, I can use even AoE spells that reduce visibility. There’s a saying that attack is the greatest defense, but defense can also be the greatest attack.
“Flame Circle!”
I cast an AoE offensive spell to block any escape route. If he tried to desperately escape, he’d lose his footing for sure. That’s where my spell comes in.
The enemy stepped forward. Sticky Bomb glued Rian the Viper’s right leg to the floor. He then stepped forward once more. Now both his feet were bound. Even after all the effort, he still couldn’t reach me.
Oh how I want to just fire a spell now. There’s no way he can avoid it. But him going this far to get close to me means he has a plan, and I can’t really cast a different spell to counter whatever he does while a spell is still active.
It is possible that the enemy stepped into the Sticky Bomb in order to bait me to attack. If that’s the case, using magic here is just what they want.
Since both of his feet were bound anyway, he would not be able to get out easily. Even while in the air with Magic Wing, I can hit him with certainty.
All I have to do is shut down whatever ace he got up his sleeve, and slowly, but surely, fire spells at him. If they knew that and closed in to negate my aviation magic, I can just attack now instead. Now then, what’s your next move?
I watched my opponent’s movements closely while deciding on my next move. Then, despite the distance, he swung his hammer. A clanking sound came from the hammer and its handle cracked.
A fine chain emerged from the grip. Upon closer inspection, it was wet with brightly-colored liquid.
“A poisonous chain. So that’s where the name Viper comes from, huh?”
Poisonous chains are difficult to handle. Chains aren’t meant to cut, so the poison most likely takes effect just by coming into contact with it. If it needed to enter wounds, the chain would be designed with more thorns and such. Even normal chains can tear through skin, but having sharp protrusions would be far more efficient. In that case, there’s an eighty percent chance that he’s using contact poison. Even more so if his target uses Magic Veil.
It’s probably an extremely dangerous poison that doesn’t even have an antidote. You can’t really call something an ace up your sleeve if it can be neutralized.
If you put that kind of poison on the chain, you could get poisoned just by holding the weapon in your hand, and there is a risk of the poison dripping off the chains and onto your person. It’s a powerful weapon if you consider the damage it can do to your enemy, but it’s more likely to kill yourself, if anything.
That’s probably why he incorporate the poison on a chain since it’s disposable. It sounds like a gamble with awful odds, but he probably earned his title because he’s a master of it. The chains do look like snakes as well.
It’s difficult to evade, but it’s possible. Rian hurled the chain from a distance, giving me some wiggle room. If he took one more step, I wouldn’t have the space to evade, and I’d be completely surrounded by chains, but with his left foot caught in a Sticky Bomb, he couldn’t take any more steps.
Realizing this, Rian made his next move. He tried to lift his leg to get out of the Sticky Bomb. On his hand was a different hammer, probably a spare. He was going to attack me to completely limit my movement.
But there is no need to dodge this attack. Same for the chains as well, I think.
“Wh-Why aren’t you dodging?!”
“I was going to. If you didn’t try to hit me, that is.”
With my Magic Veil active, there’s no point in him launching a physical attack. It would be a different story if his hammer was also laced with poison, but that was highly unlikely. If it was, it would be easier to hit me by throwing it than by swinging it while his legs were glued to the floor.
Considering all this, Rian’s attack is basically pointless. But this guy’s not an amateur. I doubt an expert fighter like him would do something meaningless in front of an enemy.
If that’s the case, there’s one possibility to consider. He’s bluffing. Even while under the protection of a powerful defensive magic, if the enemy attacks you, it’s human instinct to think “there might be something,” and try to avoid it.
And in fact, that instinct is correct in most situations. Reading an enemy’s intentions completely is almost impossible. Using that human instinct, Rian tried to make me dodge. That was the point of his attack right now.
“I see, so this is what you wanted to do.”
Behind me, a single thin needle flew through the gap in the chain. If I tried to avoid the chain or the hammer, I would have been hit. But the needle struck at nothing, and the chain wrapped around me.
“I knew it was nothing.”
The liquid on the chains soaked my body, but nothing happened. It was probably just colored water or something. The reason why he went to the trouble of introducing himself as Rian the Viper was probably to make people think that the liquid was poison. His tactic starts from the introduction itself.
It’s a well-thought-out trap. He’s a true assassin. If I had someone like him on our side, the operation to rescue the king would have proceeded a lot easier.
“I can see now why Georgis lost,” Rian said. “There’s monsters, and then there’s you.”
That was Rian the Viper’s last words.
“Fire Arrow.”
The magic I unleashed pierced his chest. After confirming that the enemy was dead, I cast this battle’s very last spell.
“Steam Explosion!”
The spell activated right outside the tower. It hit nothing. It wasn’t an attack, after all, but a fireworks display to announce our victory.
We have won.
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Comment (0)