Chapter 56

Using my remote controlled military grade toys, S-16's, I closed in on my targets.

At the same time, I was eliminating foes within the city. As long as they were within approximately one kilometer of my fey body's location, they were within my reach. With how easily clones could be synthesized, no enemy was spared, not even the ones hidden in the tunnels beneath. Those who I had spared earlier who still hadn't ran away had suffered the same fate unfortunately.

Actually, there were some rare exceptions but that was due to the difficulty of navigating the tunnels. I couldn't be bothered to move my clones to those secluded pockets of space.  

It really was a misfortune. I was caught in the moment and forgot about it. It was a complete one sided slaughter...

Ah, I'm a monster now, a true monster, a devil. I spared no one. It's all too late now. I might as well... No, they're invaders. Let's just think of it this way. Yeah, I'm a defender of justice! Nnn.

With the death of so many, I had finally caught the attention of those five individuals, forcing them to stop their siege on the inner city gates. All the soldiers around them were mercilessly mowed down by me.

It wasn't that I had taken out all the strong individuals but rather there weren't many strong ones in this area. Even when there were strong individuals, unless they were absurdly powerful, they were no match for me. My poisonous needles were hardly visible. After landing one, the next one would be much easier to land. Following this principle, unless my initial poisonous needles were guarded against, only death waited them.

Let's see if I can snipe the mage first. I can play the sniper game too, you know?

While scattering my S-16's and keeping them within my effective range, I dashed from building to building while keeping within my effective range. Every half a minute, I shot poisonous needles toward the archer or one of the two vanguard fighters. This was to test their responses.

Each time, my attacks either bounced or were completely neutralized by a magic barrier.

As expected. Automatic defenses? No, it had to be the mage casting a super thin barrier.

Meanwhile, I didn't neglect to clean out the enemy soldiers still holed up in the city. Even after losing so many of their fellow comrades, their commanders hidden somewhere didn't order a retreat. Many were climbing the mountain and on their way toward the temple above.

Don't tell me their commanding officers had all died? No. Way. Right?

I continued to snipe the five individuals except for the armored guy. For a while, this tactic seemed to have disorientated them as they were neither pushing forward nor retreating. The mage was constantly maintaining a barrier.

If you don't hurry up, all the regular soldiers not under your mage's protection will die...

During the time they were brainstorming a countermeasure, I created more S-16's until I was too tired and decided to just synthesize saucers. Advancing too quickly? Non-sense! Saucers were just so much easier to create than S-16's. I just had to create a disk and leave a few holes for projectiles to exit. If I could combine elemental magic with it, that would be super cool like shooting light beams!

As if they suddenly came to a resolution, the guy with full mobile suit opened fire. At the same time, the archer aimed towards the sky, and released a barrage of flaming arrows.

Only in that brief moment they opened fire I knew the barrier had to be lowered. However, that wasn't enough time for me because I couldn't launch my poisonous needles that fast. By the time my needles were launched, the barrier was raised once again. 

Seven of my flying clones were instantly blown up by gunfire. Immediately following, as if those arrows were seekers, five more of my flying clones were lost. I knew they were seekers because those arrows couldn't be evaded easily. It took my quite a bit of effort to maneuver my clones which was why I didn't lose more.

Huh? Does that mean |escapist| trait doesn't apply to clones? What is this bad joke?

I peeked at the archer with my eyes, and examined her abilities.

[Level 56 Mortal;

Species: Human;

Physical: 314/315;

Spiritual: 142/170;

Traits: Keen, Precision, Quick Draw, Field Vision;

Abilities: Hunter, Bombardment, Absolute Penetration;

Description: A common mortal.]

These traits and abilities look quite annoying to deal with. Was it |precision| that gives seeking arrows? Or was it a combination with [bombardment]?

None of them had full mana except the guy in full mobile suit. If I kept harassing them, they would eventually run out of mana to keep up the barriers. That was my great plan. There was no way their mana would outlast mine.

Actually, I had a secret plan as well. While they were distracted by my periodic harassaments and preoccupied with eliminating my obvious flying clones, I created leaves and branches to match them to that of trees growing in the city. They were scattered around in plain sight. And for fun, I shaped a clone into a cricket. They slowly crept their way toward the mage and archer following a gentle breeze I generated with wind magic.

As the armored guy and archer continued with their onslaught of my clones, I didn't hesitate to create more saucer clones. A battle of attrition wasn't something I enjoyed playing but I was only buying time.

It was nice knowing you two.

The moment a rolling branch and a gliding leaf touched the mage's barrier that protected his allies, it was game over.

I activated [absorption] on the barrier itself while launching a full assault with all my clones available in the area. Poisonous needles and darts, mini saucers and any remaining S-16's, all ammunitions were unloaded without reserve.

It was too late for the mage to notice, much too late. I was quite sure that high output magic couldn't be easily used. Hence, it was my victory!

Get wrecked and good fight!

The archer and mage fought desperately until the end but ultimately succumbed to death by poison. In exchange, I lost three quarters of my clones in the area.

A good chunk was destroyed by the mage who released a huge burst of fire magic in the last second. I didn't think he had it in him but apparently he did. Many of my darts and needles were also burnt up in that attack.

The archer was not that different, suddenly releasing a quick succession of twenty split shots in total. That really surprised me. Each fire arrow was split into twelve, which meant that actually over two hundred arrows were fired. Thankfully, my flying clones remained operational despite receiving damages, otherwise I would have ran out of clones first.

Anyway, losing this many clones in this area didn't mean anything to me. I could easily just create many more.

That archer actually had levels close to mine so after defeating both the archer and mage, I gained a level.

Now, there were just three big boys remaining. One of them looked a bit familiar. If I could turn his frown upside down, his face would remind me of that evil hunter who tormented me for no reason. Then, if I could add that cigar to his mouth and redo his hair, it would be a perfect match.

Speaking of similarities, he actually has similar abilities and traits... Wait, four of them are the same, aren't they? It can't be a coincidence, right? I mean, there shouldn't be any way for humans to level up so fast. What kind of cheat did he use?

Hold your thoughts! We can't be sure yet. Let's save him for last and question him.

Without the mage, the fake legs man was as good as dead. As if he knew his life was forfeit, he gave his all to destroy the next entrance gate leading into Vera's inner city.

Not happening!

A flicker, and that man collapsed before he was able to exert another powerful kick on the subsequent gate.

blanksphere

Age. Having higher levels tend to extend a being's lifespan in this world. This applies to physical beings which can be seen in the case of the Hero King although his level wasn't disclosed. Those categorized as fey, demon and etc. don't count as physical beings.