TENKEN 485 (1309 words)

Invisible Sniper
見えない狙撃手

We escaped from the troublesome magic beast and retreated to the Forest of Exhaustion; we were discussing countermeasures as we moved.

『As expected, that Ghast won't follow us to this Forest of Exhaustion』

「Nn」

Apparently, due to its smoke body structure that uses magic power to move, it cannot live in the forest of exhaustion. The being who sniped us with the crystal scales didn't attack us in the forest of exhaustion either. No, it might just be that it can't aim at us because it can't use its magic to search for us in here.

「What should we do?」

『We can bypass the area where the ghast live, and go through it all at once』

The more we go to the center of the Plains of the Demon Wolf, the weaker the enemies become. The reason for this was not clarified even in the archives of the Adventurer's Guild yet.

There was also a theory stated that Fenrir's magical power was affecting it, but that seems to be just a speculation without any basis.

The important thing to remember is that this phenomenon does exist. After all, I've experienced it first-hand.

『In other words, if we go through them all at once, the higher level magic beast won't follow us』

In fact, I gradually conquered the Plains of the Demon Wolf by running back to the center of it when I was in trouble.

But it was also a strategy that only I could do because I was a sword. I was an inorganic material that is highly concealable and does not stimulate the appetite of magic beast. To put it bluntly, I was not worth for the magic beast to chase after.

But what about Fran and Urushi? she has soft flesh with high magical power. Wouldn't they seem like easy prey for a magic beast? There was even a possibility that they would come after her beyond my expected habitat area.

Nevertheless, there is a danger in daring to defeat a powerful magical beast. After fighting with the ghast for that small amount of time, it has exhausted us a little.

If we want to be on the safe side, we should start by gather information on the magic beast camped around the periphery of the plain, and either kill the ones we think are the easiest to deal with, or dodge them and force to enter to the center of the plain.

『What should we do huh?』

「....For now, the first priority is to get to the center of the Plains of the Demon Wolf. Training comes after that」

『In other words?』

「Take the safest way and hurry up」

『Ooh? You think so?』

「Nn」

I was a little impressed. I mean, it's Fran, you know? Fran is a girl who love fighting isn't she? But in the face of a strong enemy, she would avoid fighting to achieve her goal.

I'm loved, aren't I? Well, I guess that's not all, Fran is also growing up. Come to think of it, she didn't even doze off in the library. Well, she did get bored and zoned out. But, there's a big difference between dozing off and almost dozing off.

「Let’s confirm its identity first」

『Understood』

What Fran is referring to are the crystal scales. No, I used the word "crystal" because of its transparent appearance, but the hardness of the scales is far greater than that of a crystal, so much so that Fran need to give more effort to break them.

『I agree with you. If it's a magic beast that's good at long-range attacks, it might not be so good at close combat』

It's the kind of magic beast that would fire a series of high-precision sniper shots from over a kilometer away. Its threat level must be high, but how strong would it be in close quarters combat?

We were moving to northwest, observing the Plains of the Demon Wolf from within the Forest of Exhaustion. And at a certain place, Urushi reacts to something.

「Grrrr!」

「Did you found something?」

「Woof!」

Urushi's nose twitched as he turned his sharp gaze to the plains of the demon wolf. As a wolf, he has a keen sense of smell, even if it cannot be enhanced by magic. It seemed that his nose had caught a target.

『Hmm....where?』

「Muh? I don't know」

To be honest, Fran and I had no idea where that magic beast was. However, Urushi is very confident.

「Urushi, take the lead」

「Woof!」

『Fran, be careful』

「Nn!」

It was just after we had set foot on the plains of the Demon Wolf, with Urushi as the lead.

Shudder!

「Kyain!」

「Urushi!」

Urushi shrieked and stopped on his tracks. It was definitely the sniper. But the way Urushi was looking right now, he could totally see the attack, right? And yet, he took a decent damage and.......No, if Urushi had ducked like that, there was a possibility that his huge body would have blindsided Fran and delayed his reaction. That's why he dared to use his body as a shield.

『Urushi! Good job! Aah, it broke your bones huh...』

「woof....」 

While she casting a recovery spell on Urushi, whose torso was bleeding profusely, I gave her instructions.

『Fran, it will be dangerous if we hide right behind Urushi!』

「Nn!」

So, Fran dared to move diagonally behind Urushi, keeping her distance. This way, Urushi could avoid the attack without any problem, and Fran could react.

After that, the attacks became fiercer, but Fran and the Urushi did not get hit. Fran had no problem without my help, and Urushi can dodged it skilfully.

As a result, although our progress was slowed down, we were pushing forward across the plain without taking any damage. However, no matter how far we advanced, we still could not capture the enemy. But, Urushi seems to be concerned of something......

『Where it is.....』

「Nn.....」

And then Urushi stopped in his tracks. It seemed that there was a magic beast in his line of sight, but Fran and I had no idea what it was. The other side has also stopped attacking to prevent its whereabouts from being discovered.

However, the dark magic that Urushi had unleashed brought his opponent into view. As the veil of dark magic that Urushi used covered the entire area, an anomaly occurred about 20 meters away.

What to say about it, A heat haze? No, a mirror with a strange refractive index? Anyway, the scenery behind it started to distort, as if the space was distorted.

『I see, optical camouflage huh』

It seems that it had been refracting the light to assimilate its figure into its surroundings. However, the light was suddenly blocked by dark magic, and it must have been unable to adjust in time.

「A weird lizard?」

『A dinosaur clad in crystal?』

What I saw there was a 10-meter-long, four-legged magic beast. It resembled an Ankylosaurus, a dinosaur that I had seen in dinosaur picture books before I reincarnated. However, its scales were all translucent crystal.

Its stealth ability was incredible. After all, even at this distance, I can't clearly detect its magic power or its presence. On top of that, it can even use optical camouflage.

But I can clearly see it now, so I can appraise it!

『Invisible Death! It's a magic beast with threat level of B』

I guess the overall strength of magic beast is really on the rise huh!

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