Episode 32: Sharka the Silencer
Alright, I thought, returning my gaze forward.
Just a few dozen seconds ago, I had finally caught sight of the two figures clad in black.
I found the fact that there were two of them suspicious and activated Detection Magic again, but as before, there was only one Magical Power reaction.
“A Stella-Class and Dust combination, how rare. Just what kind of guys are they?”
In my sights were two individuals urging their horses onward while using Maten.
Dolly-chan was clocking in at around 200 kilometers per hour, so at this rate, we’d catch up in a matter of minutes.
“For now, running away means they’re enemies, right?”
I identified the two figures in black as enemies.
Things started to happen when the distance between us closed to a few hundred meters.
Of the two, the Dust suddenly veered off, changing direction towards the northeast.
From my perspective, it looked like they were slightly drifting to the right, heading in our direction.
“What are they planning? Is it a decoy?”
If it were two Stella-Class, that would be one thing, but the one who broke away was Dust.
“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll just take them out with Intimidation.”
At this distance, an Intimidation Orb wouldn’t be necessary.
The horse might die from the fall if it fainted, but the Dust wasn’t a high priority.
I unleashed Intimidation, and a powerful Magical Power Wave spread out from me, directly hitting the horse ridden by the Dust.
However, I was stunned by what happened next.
“Hnn…”
“Eh!? Intimidation!?”
The horse fainted, but the being who I thought was Dust, unbelievably, remained conscious and unfazed by my Intimidation.
With a light movement, they leapt off the fainted horse and landed silently on the ground.
“Huh?”
Unable to believe what I was seeing, I unleashed Intimidation again, but it didn’t seem to have any effect.
That meant I hadn’t failed with Intimidation.
The figure in black, heading straight towards Ortenatris, began to run at a speed that made me wonder, “Did they even need the horse?”
(What’s with that speed… Stella-Class level, or even faster?)
It would be bad to let someone who knew my abilities get away.
I wanted to secure them as a prisoner, but at this point, I didn’t care anymore.
‘An unknown Dust who can nullify my Intimidation and possesses outrageous physical abilities’ was something I’d rather erase for my own peace of mind… and that’s when something occurred to me.
“…Ah, damn it, I see, a Hero!”
Now that I thought about it, there were Heroes whose race didn’t have Stella-Class Magical Power, but whose raw physical abilities were ridiculously enhanced.
I grimaced, realizing it had been a complete blind spot.
“Then, I’ll have to use a reasonably strong magic (one).”
I refined my Magical Power and created a ball of fire in my right hand.
Shrinking it down to the size of a marble, I created a miniature, pure white sun.
Long-range bombardment magic.
It could only travel about one or two kilometers, but its area-of-effect firepower was unmatched.
It was an orthodox siege warfare magic used by nobles since ancient times.
“Sorry, but I’ve been told not to hold back when encountering a Hero.”
If nobles had a natural enemy, it was said to be Demon Beasts and Heroes.
Both had killed countless nobles, so the former was treated like a cockroach, and the latter was to be killed on sight.
I took aim and released this small but immense ball of energy.
Since I couldn’t use Detection Magic, I couldn’t precisely target it, but sweeping the entire area would do the trick.
“N-No way! Wait, wait! I don’t intend to oppose you, nya…!”
The marble-sized sun drew an arc and landed on the ground.
Just before it did, I thought I heard something from the Hero in black running in the distance, but I didn’t care.
The pure white sun exploded with a tremendous roar, creating a massive mushroom cloud.
Shockwaves rippled outwards, blowing away the surrounding trees, and a violent storm raged.
“Alright, first one down.”
If they were still alive after that, I’d give up.
Even if they were alive, I wouldn’t have any way of knowing.
I turned my gaze away from the rear and shifted my target to the one in front—presumably another Hero.
“Dolly-chan, chase that one down.”
“GOOOOON!”
Dolly-chan roared and gave chase.
“Damn it! Why are you coming this way, you monster!”
With only a few dozen meters left, the Stella-Class A in black went half-mad and started firing Magic Bullets in rapid succession.
I deployed Shields around myself and Dolly-chan to defend against them.
“GOOOOON!”
“Ah, Dolly-cha…”
Dolly-chan seemed to get excited by the light of the Stella-Class A’s magic, and with heightened vigor, increased her speed even further.
Thinking that we would collide if we kept going like this, I tried to steer us to run alongside them, but it was too late.
“GOOOOOOOOAAAAN!”
“Gweh…!”
Dolly-chan headbutted the Stella-Class A with her skull, sending them flying.
“Ngoah…gi…goh…bweah-cha!”
The Stella-Class A, sent flying with great force, slammed their head into the ground, bounced a few times, and then slid across the ground like a moose hit by a school bus, stopping with a splat.
The Stella-Class A’s black robe was torn by the impact, but as expected of a Stella-Class body, there was hardly any damage.
“Dolly-chan…”
“…Goooon.”
“…Well, what’s done is done. Let’s finish this quickly this time.”
I stroked Dolly-chan’s neck, who seemed to be feeling down about what she had done.
Let’s deal with this Stella-Class A here.
I can’t let Dolly-chan become a hit-and-run driver.