KANA
My arrow emitted a clamorous explosion at the location of the female member of the Dark Order. This commotion diverted the attention of the male cult member away from the shocked Tanshiro.
While being distracted, I took it as an opportunity to grab Tanshiro away from the man, and by the time he returned his eyes in our direction, we were already a few meters away from him.
"Hey! Give back that boy! I was supposed to kill him!"
Running away and escaping was never a problem for me. It was something that I was good at. But my current case was different. I was slower than usual because of Tanshiro. Him being in a trance and not in his usual self, it felt like I was dragging a dummy and not a real human.
"Tanshiro! Now's not the time to be emotional, unless you wanna die!" I warned him, but he was unresponsive. "Damn it! A little help here!"
Following my cry for backup, three successive explosions echoed behind us as if someone had thrown bombs. But those were no bombs. It was Shino's fireballs.
"I'm here, Kana," said Shino while approaching us. I stopped running when we reached each other. "It's too dangerous for Tanshiro to remain here."
Out of annoyance and shortage of patience, I faced Tanshiro and slapped his face as hard as I could. The catastrophe made itself known by its hue of red.
Tanshiro snapped out of the trance brought by my sudden, painful gesture. He looked at me both confused and shocked while touching his swollen cheek.
"Sorry, but I really had to do it. You have to hide! Go somewhere safe!" I instructed.
"B—But how about you?"
"Just go!" I yelled, and for a moment, fear briefly took over him. He then started running away while still looking at us until he dashed at full speed.
"Do you really think a few cheap fire tricks could kill me?" a male voice said arrogantly.
Shino and I quickly returned our eyes to the last location of our enemy, which was still screened with smoke caused by the explosion. After some time, the smoke dispersed, revealing the deformed figure behind it.
Déjà vu hit me when I saw his transformation. It brought back the dark memories I had from my village. His dripping saliva suggested that he had swallowed something huge, similar to what the man who attacked the village did.
"Be careful, Shino, he's already consumed the Dark Orb," I warned.
"I can clearly see it, Kana, but still, I appreciate the warning," Shino replied.
"Isn't this a bit unfair?" Wilmer—his name—complained. "Not because there are two of you and only one of me. It's because I'm up against women. This is not going to be fun."
"Overconfidence kills, as well as underestimating your enemy," Shino provoked, but the man just smiled as if amused by my friend's words.
"Same goes for you, lady. How about we start this already? And I don't mind doing the honor of attacking first."
The man pointed his left hand at me and connected his thumb and middle finger as if planning to flick something. We thought something would appear in front of it, like an energy orb of some sort or something similar, but there was nothing.
"Mages and marksmen are good at dodging, but I believe it's because they can see what's coming. Now, let's see if you can still dodge something invisible."
Right after he uttered the final word, the man flicked his finger. At first, I thought nothing was happening, but suddenly I felt a strong sense of danger coming right at us.
"Kana, watch out!" Shino shouted, and I was thrown to the side opposite hers when she suddenly pushed me.
At the same time, I felt a stinging sensation on my right cheek and the feeling of my flesh being ripped. A liquid dripped from the spot where the sensation was, which I then realized was blood.
"Impressive! You were able to dodge it! Although just barely—but still, it's impressive. The rumors are indeed true: mages and marksmen are really good at dodging!"
I hated that the man sounded impressed by what he'd just proven by doing it on us. His ecstatic face irritated me more than Tanshiro when I found out he scammed us.
"What just happened, Shino?" I asked, and noticed her healing herself. Looked like she got scraped as well, like me. Lucky for her, it was on her thigh.
"It was wind magic under the influence of the Evil Remnant. That's why we couldn't see it. We're lucky that I managed to detect it earlier, or else a hole would be present through my thigh—or your head," Shino explained. Hearing it made my hairs stand in goosebumps. "Remember the mana search that I taught you? That's how you're going to detect the incoming magic so you can avoid it."
"Got it."
I recalled the steps Shino had instructed on how to use the said technique. Thank the gods I had already grasped the basics behind its principle, making it easy to activate now. I never thought the lessons we had along the way to this city would become handy in this fight.
"Time for the second batch," the man announced, and started preparing to send another attack. "This will be a little bit harder than the last time."
The man skillfully waved his hands, using his entire body's momentum, releasing several invisible lethal wind blows.
Even with the technique at work, the offensives remained invisible—it was because the technique was never meant to make the invisible visible, but allowed the caster to heighten their intuition and awareness of mana in their surroundings.
"Can you sense them, Kana?" Shino asked while I stared intensely ahead of me, where the attacks were supposed to be coming from. And yes, I could sense them.
"Like a breeze," I replied, and evaded the attacks completely. However, the timing was still a little bit delayed. A few grazes joined the first one, which gladdened the enemy.
"More! More! More!" the enemy hysterically shouted with such overjoy. He was enjoying the fight, and we didn't like it.
The game of tag persisted for a while, and the longer it took, the better we became at dodging his attacks. Unlike before, we were able to fully evade them without receiving even a tiny wound. Our proficiency in sensing them improved so much that we could do it subconsciously, as if it was already part of our system.
This great improvement in us was bad news for the enemy.
"You are getting annoyingly good at dodging," the enemy commented after we cleanly dodged his recent offensive without struggling much.
"It's all thanks to your lesson, mister," I teased. "Now, time for a pop quiz!"
Shino sent a barrage of magical attacks at the enemy's location, while I released several ordinary arrows. Since we couldn't deliver a single powerful attack, overpowering him with less powerful offensives—such as Shino's magic—would do the trick. My arrows were simple diversions to divide his attention.
But as we'd expected from a Dark Orb Wielder, these petty tricks were nothing but child's play to him. He could even counterattack whenever he found an opportunity. A prowess befitting a member granted the opportunity to wield a Dark Orb.
However, in a duel like this, there should be a victor.
Shino's multitude of attacks were meant to make the enemy think that it would continue in such a way. This would trick his mind into learning the pattern and overcoming it.
But when an outlier came into the picture, the outcome of the fight could shift drastically.
Shino secretly prepared a binding spell underneath the man, and because he was too busy intercepting and deflecting our attacks, he failed to notice it.
He was caught off guard when thick roots slithered up his legs to his torso until he could no longer move. He tried his best to escape from the grasp of Shino's magic, but the roots were too thick and dense that even his body, enhanced by the Evil Remnant, failed to overpower them.
"Kana!" Shino signaled to me, holding a piercing arrow in hand.
The man laughed. "Do you think a simple piercing arrow could kill me?"
Following his provocation, I released the arrow, which dashed straight at him. The man screamed at the top of his lungs and managed to free himself from the spell that was keeping him in place. When the arrow was a foot away from his chest, he placed both of his hands in front of him, creating a small barrier made of wind, stopping the arrow from piercing through his body.
The arrow persisted in drilling its way through, while the man focused on stopping it. I knew he planned on defending himself until the arrow drained of its power.
We didn't waste any more time and started preparing for our next attack while our enemy was preoccupied.
Shino stomped her staff in front of her while holding it with both hands. She then closed her eyes and started chanting the spell.
Cold to touch yet burning and smoking,
Gentle and conforming, yet rebelling,
A large light blue magic circle appeared in front of Shino, reeking of intense power and cold breeze.
As sun and fire as your foe,
Strike the enemy with your freezing cold!
Shino opened both of her eyes following the release of the magic. Three serpentine-like ice streaks dashed toward the enemy.
When he saw the incoming danger, he instinctively let out a burst of power, successfully deflecting the piercing arrow I had sent earlier. He then repositioned himself and started moving skillfully.
He intercepted Shino's magic using his fists and kicks covered in wind magic. Each contact with Shino's magic released a destructive wind force that destroyed the ice. But every fallen ice spell was the birth of a new one.
The two continued flaunting their magic spells, and it would only be a matter of time before either of us ran out of mana. And it was obvious that Shino would go first.
And just as we expected, Shino ran out of mana and her magic ceased to manifest.
"Let's end this already!" the man screamed, and launched at Shino, who was now supporting herself with the help of her staff. Her deep and audible breathing signified her exhaustion and fatigue.
"As you wish," Shino teased.
Upon reaching a meter away from us, Shino lowered her body to make way for my attack. I had decided to make him taste his own medicine.
"Arrow of gust, both gentle and harsh,
With unseen breeze and whistling hush,
A white magic circle appeared before my pointing arrow, slowly imbuing it with magic. Upon seeing this, the man's eyes widened in shock, worry, and fear.
Clear the path and pierce your way,
Shear my enemy without dismay!"
I wasted no time letting go of the arrow, which passed through the magic circle, transforming into a destructive projectile brimming with wind magic.
With the enemy's proximity, he failed to evade the attack and received it with his whole body. However, he managed to block it like the piercing arrow earlier. But unlike earlier, both of his hands were stretched in front of him as a symbol of his resistance.
"Hope this helps," Shino mumbled, and shot a ball of fire and a ball of frost toward my magic. "With the two opposing forces of heat and cold, it'll enhance the wind's destructive power."
And she was right, because the moment the heat of the fire and the chilling cold of the frost converged within my wind magic, it increased in size and power. This sudden rise in damage widened the gap between the strength of my magic and the enemy's.
The man screamed one last time before he was shredded into tiny pieces. His blood splattered all over the place along with the parts of his body. After confirming his death, Shino and I heaved a sigh of both relief and exhaustion.
For the first time, I managed to defeat one of the Dark Order's Dark Orb Wielders.