The group is tossed about by an enemy firing lightning arrows.
When moving, I’m forced to grab onto branches with one hand, holding my bow with the other. My only opening is now, while I’m in motion.
“Sharin, he can’t draw his bow right now. If you attack as soon as he raises it again, you might succeed.”
“Mhmm, let’s try it.”
The problem is that he moves between trees at an incredible speed. Moreover, he never comes down from a certain height. He may seem like an idiot, but he’s quite thorough. He’s probably getting his bow ready before we can climb up.
The cat-boy hung from a branch like a monkey. Huh, where did his bow go?
“Take cover!”
Sharin shoved me into the shadow of a tree. Glancing sideways, I saw the enemy holding his bow with his feet and drawing it. He can do such skillful things?
“So, you’re planning to ask the elves for help? You think you can escape from I (cat-like speech)?”
The enemy then spun around, climbed onto a branch, and came around towards us. He was drawing his bow while clinging to the trunk with only his feet. Bad, this is too fast. If I get shot here, I won’t be able to escape the blast radius.
But it wasn’t us who exploded. I saw a fireball fly towards the cat-boy. The opponent sensed it immediately and leaped to another tree. The point of impact blew off bark and turned black.
“Hoo, that was close.”
From behind the tree he’d newly leaped to, Nina swiftly subdued the enemy. Elana had coordinated with Nina, anticipating that he might evade.
However, the enemy rotated in the same direction as Nina’s tail and broke free from her grasp. Nina grabbed his leg, not wanting him to escape.
“Hey, wait a minute!”
“Let go!”
The tip of the arrow grazed Nina’s hand. Nina involuntarily pulled her hand back. He’d created distance again. He bounced onto another branch. But his body stiffened halfway through, and he fell to the ground.
“Higi! Oww, what?! Something’s attached to my leg.”
Nina jumped down from the tree and pinned the boy’s shoulders. She then held him from behind in a bear hug. We finally caught him. It was reckless for one person to challenge this many of us. Or so I thought, but he twisted his body so skillfully that he escaped from Nina’s grasp again.
This guy’s body is unnaturally flexible. And his jumping power is incredible. Even Elana, who has the body of a real cat, can’t keep up. After escaping capture, he fled onto the trees as if stuck.
“Phew, that was close, that was close. I was surprised.”
He dangled upside down with a flick of his wrist and drew his bow. The released arrow pierced the ground at my feet.
“Get away, quick!”
Lightning and flames clashed before my eyes. I raised my shield to block the blast. Intense light and heat destroyed the surroundings. I lowered myself and closed my eyes. Elana had just managed to neutralize the enemy’s attack at the last moment. Damn, after we had him cornered, he escaped again.
But this might be our chance to gather everyone, giving us an advantage. No, wait, was this a strategy to escape?
Rustle, I thought I heard something faintly mixing with the blast behind me. It was just the plants swaying in the wind. But my intuition told me to move. I couldn’t even open my eyes fully. Still, I drew my dagger and slashed towards the bushes behind me.
Clink, a hard sensation. In my blurry vision, I saw the enemy holding an arrow. Sparks flew between the bow and my dagger. Then a powerful electric shock repelled. It seemed the electricity flowing through our weapons had collided.
“Ugh…”
My body was pushed away by the impact. Bad, I need to move away before the opponent regains his stance. If I get shot now, I won’t be able to dodge. My other hand slowly started to lift. But what he was holding wasn’t a bow, but an arrow.
His spring-like body quickly righted itself and swung the arrow down towards me as I was falling. He was probably going to use his weight to stab me through the heart. Should I block with my shield? If we wrestle in the grass, I have no chance.
The upper body which pulls a hard bow, a supple lower body, his small stature is also an advantage for him. To strike back, I have no choice but to sacrifice myself. I grabbed the hand that was swinging down.
“Aaaargh!!”
The stored current ran through both my arms. The boy’s smug eyes narrowed. Using the opponent’s momentum, I knocked him sideways. Then, I thrust the arrow into the opponent’s shoulder.
“Inyahaaaa!! Foo, you this!!”
I was kicked away and rolled on the ground. My arms were spasming, making it impossible to get up. I could hear the enemy’s ragged breathing.
“You’re being paralyzed by your own electricity, aren’t you?”
“Hoo, you’re quite something. You’re good at struggling, even though you’re just a damn weakling.”
Unfortunately, that’s all I have, so. The boy’s eyes glowed as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair.
“I wondered what kind of person would bother the High-ranking Mage, Auroa, but well, I (cat-like speech) doesn’t go easy on others, unlike some.”
As he said that, he drew his bow right in front of me.
