Chapter 71 Strongest, Treated Like a Sham

 

『...Huh? The concealment's gone... Can I shoot him?』

Alma who received an arrow from Ruli asked me with a bewildered look when she saw Elhart's concealment magic getting completely removed.

『Yeah. And you'd better do it quick. He might find out that he has lost his concealment magic if you take too much time.』

As we're communicating through telepathy magic, we probably look like we're just standing around and clueless about the enemy from the demons' perspective.
It's only a matter of time before they notice the incongruity and realize their situation.

『Go...Got it!』

Alma set up the arrow and shot it at Elhart.
Seeing that, Elhart collapsed into a strange posture and barely evaded the arrow.
Looks like Alma didn't use the 【Wire-guided Enchant】.

『Even if your enemy looks like a fool, you should always use guided enchant on your arrow. They could evade it like just now.』

『Sorry. I knew that but... What's that?』

Alma turned to look at Elhart with a perplexed expression on her face.
Elhart isn't attempting to attack back as he keeps the posture he took to evade the arrow.

It seems to be a hard posture to maintain, his neck is trembling.
Since his location would get found out by the unnatural movement of the arrow if he touched it.
He's far too late though.

『He's probably trying not to expose himself. Looks, he's being careful not to make a sound with his feet now.』

It appeared that Elhart had reached his limit, he slowly put his hands on the floor and returned his posture.
He probably didn't think in the slightest that his camouflage was already gone, and that Alma only shot the arrow randomly.

『That means, it's the second round!』

『I'll hit him this time!』

The arrow Alma shot homed in Elhart who tried to evade it, hitting him right in the face.

"...How foolish! My camouflage should have been perfect!"

Elhart who was hit by the arrow shouted with a face that looked like he couldn't believe it.

"You're the fool here."

That camouflage vanished around a minute ago.
If this was perfect, just how bad are these demons....
If all demons are all like this, I can understand why humanity hasn't gone extinct yet.

『Huh? It doesn't seem to be working at all...』

True, even though Elhart looked surprised, he didn't seem like the arrow hurt him.
Even with the support of magic, Alma currently lacks the strength needed to break through a demon's defense.
However, that is according to plan.

『There's no problem. It's working alright.』

It would be hard for Alma's arrow to directly shoot through a demon's defense.
We really have to rely on the power of the inserted magic.

"...Mu? Why aren't you attacking?"

Elhart had an inexplicable expression on his face as he looked at me.
And then, that expression suddenly turned into a grin.

"...Oh I see! That's how it is!"

"What're you going on about?"

"If you were the real Mathias I should have died already! However, I'm alive! This can only mean one thing! You aren't that monster Mathias! You're a sham!"

"...Ha?"

This time I'm the one who's bewildered.
What the heck is with that leap of logic.

"Kuku.... I thought it was strange. It's impossible for humans to reach our domain in such a short amount of time. The dragon we detected isn't attacking either, it must be just a sort of illusion magic."

No well, that dragon is currently flying right above this building though....
You can't see it with naked eyes since the ceiling obstructs, but you should know it as soon as you use 【Passive Detection】.

"...There is no reason to hide now we know you're fake. Come out Arias, let's kill this faker together!"

Elhart called out toward thin air but there's no reaction.
Well, the other demon hiding here (apparently called Arias) doesn't seem to be that stupid.
It's exceptionally better at camouflaging than Elhart, and it has a high chance of escaping here without being found out.

"Arias won't show himself?　...I see. I alone is enough huh. That's exactly--true!"

Elhart rushed toward Alma.
I moved before him and blocked his sword.

--Heavy.
Even if he's injured, a demon is still a demon.

It doesn't seem like I can block him easily without Physical Reinforcement.
Well, if I were to completely overwhelm Elhart, this wouldn't serve as a field practice for Alma and Ruli, so this is fine.

『I'll be the vanguard. You two, keep shooting at the demon like earlier.』

『I-I got it!』

『Un!』

"...Tch, my sword got blocked huh. Looks like even a sham is strong enough to act as a substitute of a monster...."

I'm the real one though...


















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