Despite my bold assertion, the odds weren't tilted in my favor. After landing a single blow, I was completely overwhelmed by the assassin's skills.
He stowed his crossbow on his back and proceeded to completely transform his fighting style, switching to a close-quarters approach. Undeterred by his experienced stance, I approached, and we exchanged punches that ended with me being easily taken down.
How long did my protagonist aura last? About five seconds.
Well, I must admit that even though I didn't expect anything from myself, it was a bit disappointing to lose my momentum so quickly. However, even on the ground, I wouldn't settle for closing my eyes and hoping for a quick death.
So I applied force and swept the cultist's legs, knocking him off his feet as well. Using the small amount of time I had, I got up and ran over him, sprinting toward the nearest exit of the mansion.
As I fled, I heard the whizz of arrows cutting through the air and the sharp thud they made as they embedded themselves somewhere, thankfully not in my body. My strategic retreat wasn't so strategic, since a sniper would benefit from having his target in an open space, but I needed to know if Rem was alive.
I circled the mansion, shouting Rem's name and searching for her, all while the killer pursued me, firing projectiles that I managed to dodge by zigzagging and ducking every few seconds.
I found no trace of Rem even after scouring the entire area she must have been patrolling. At worst, I expected to find her dead or dying, but not missing. That confused me.
"Rem... Are you alive or dead?"
Unfortunately, I didn't have more time to worry about her, because I tripped and fell to the ground, instantly losing the distance factor that kept me relatively safe.
When I turned around, the assassin was already standing in front of me, his loaded crossbow pointed at my chest.
"Um... If you shoot you're a bitch?"
No, it wasn't funny or clever. I should give up on comedy.
***
Minutes earlier, Rem had been standing guard like a sentry. The hours passed slowly, so slowly that the blue-haired oni could feel each second with anguish. Her anxiety had almost reached a breaking point when she saw the mabeast.
It was an ordinary Ulgarm, but with the peculiarity that it showed no aggression or suspicion toward Rem. It hurriedly approached her and began to growl with nervous excitement, panting and letting out short howls of urgency.
Leandro told Rem that one of the village children, a little girl named Meili, had the blessing to command the mabeasts. Somehow, he persuaded her to use her ability for his plan.
As agreed, Meili would send a mabeast to the mansion if the murderous cultist attacked the village or appeared nearby. This mabeast would guide Rem and Leandro toward the invader, who would supposedly be held back by a large horde of mabeasts.
Seeing the Ulgarm there, Rem felt her blood boil. Too impetuous to follow the plan properly, she completely forgot the part where she informed Leandro about the warning to go to the village together.
"Take me to the cultist!" She ordered the monstrous hound, who snorted affirmatively and began to run toward the forest.
Several minutes later, they reached a small hill almost completely covered in Ulgarm corpses. Rem examined the surroundings closely, but found nothing to indicate their enemy was still there.
"He already killed them all!?"
"Miss!"
Suddenly, Meili appeared, riding on King Ulgarm's back. She pointed in the direction of the mansion.
"The cultist isn't here anymore! He went over there!"
At that moment, everything clicked in Rem's head. She had wasted precious time.
"Miss?" Meili snapped her out of her temporary daze.
"I have to go back immediately!"
Manifesting her horn, Rem exerted her full physical strength to return to the mansion as quickly as possible. After some thought, Meili decided to follow her.
"Waaaait!"
***
I had to do something right now, or I'd die. I could only think of one thing, but I wasn't sure it would work.
To begin with, I wasn't even sure I had the same affinity as Subaru, but I had to take a chance.
It wasn't like I had any choice but to die...
I closed my eyes and focused on drawing the mana through my gate, turning it into a dense, black cloud. To my relief, I didn't lose control of my gate and managed to cast the spell successfully.
The assassin was enveloped in Shamak's darkness, which isolated him from his senses for a few seconds.
I would have liked to celebrate my first successful spell but I had to run for my life, so I resumed my escape into the forest.
My fear was overshadowed by a growing determination to defeat this guy. If I could punch him in the face, his level wasn't that far from mine, at least physically.
The trees helped protect me from the incessant gunfire coming from behind. Thanks to my mana training and my survival instincts, I'd been running with all my might for the past half hour without collapsing.
I congratulated myself for trying hard, even though the idea seemed pointless at first.
Soon I came to a familiar spot: a cliff. I stopped near the edge and turned to face the cultist.
"Well, it seems I can't keep running away." I sighed, mentally preparing myself to end this conflict.
The cultist approached slowly. I noticed he was running out of ammunition for his crossbow, as he tossed it aside to shed the unnecessary weight and pulled two daggers from his waistband.
Unarmed, I could only smile wryly as he lunged at me. As he was about to stab me, I caught his shoulders and dropped backward, shoving my foot into his stomach and pulling his torso up to send him flying.
The cultist's figure disappeared as he fell off the cliff, probably dying in the fall.
"I did it... Shit, I really did it!"
My legs weakened as the adrenaline wore off. I fell to the ground, but I ignored the pain: I was too euphoric about my surprising victory.
"I can't believe my plan worked..."
I didn't hear the crunch of the rocks, nor the soft flutter of the robe. I only noticed the shadow cast against the light of the full moon shining in the sky behind me.
A pointy head like a triangle, a hand raised holding a knife. The damned killer was behind me. How had the bastard survived? Only Echidna knew, if she was even watching this.
Even when I understood what was going to happen, I was unable to move my body to dodge the attack. I had completely let my guard down.
However, a second before the attack landed, a huge black beast leaped at the assassin, saving my life.
"The alpha...!" I muttered, staring in amazement.
Two more figures emerged from the forest: Rem and Meili. Seeing them, everything started to fall into place.
"It's a good thing you're both safe! Phew..."
I tried to get up and immediately fell back down, as exhaustion had made me a little dizzy. Luckily, Meili took pity on me and helped me stay up, just like she had with Elsa when I met them in the city.
"Are the townspeople okay?" I asked worriedly.
"Yes, your cultist friend only attacked the Ulgarm."
"I see. Rem, how did you...?"
I interrupted my statement when I realized Rem wasn't with us. With her demonic horn active, she had charged into the battlefield, pushing King Ulgarm away to take care of the enemy herself.
Rem's Morning Star soared through the air and slammed into the cultist's body, who managed to block and neutralize the attack with his hands.
When that didn't work, Rem lunged at him with scratches and kicks that were completely dodged. The cultist might not have been very strong, but his agility was something to behold.
He even treated her like a fighting bull, luring her to a specific spot and evading her attacks at the last second. Seeing Rem with her horn activated being mocked like that, I started to get seriously worried.
Growing more furious and savage, Rem snarled and swung her weapon around, this time feinting to reach her target and rip out his throat with her bare hands.
Cleverly, the cultist dodged the grab and brought his leg in to knock Rem off balance, catching her off guard with a critical blow to her horn. She fainted instantly.
"Shit..."
I had a bad feeling when my strongest ally was nullified with relative ease.
Once again, the cultist came running, his murderous intent lingering. Clearly, I was his priority, which would be flattering if the cultist were a pretty girl and wasn't trying to kill me.
King Ulgarm intervened just in time to prevent the start of a fourth loop, again ramming my assassin away from me.
"Something's wrong with this guy... Why is he so resilient?"
While I was racking my brain trying to decipher the cultist's mysterious abilities, King Ulgarm unexpectedly managed to catch him in his jaws and swallow him.
"Oh?! That's it!" I shouted excitedly. "Eat that bastard!"
For a moment I thought we had won, but I soon discovered that these were false hopes.
A horrible howl sounded. Meili stifled a scream and covered her mouth with her hands. King Ulgarm collapsed to the ground, his belly slashing open, revealing the cultist, seemingly unharmed, though covered in blood.
"Son of a bitch, are you Terminator?!"
He stared at me and started walking toward me. Placing my faith in another long shot, I leaned over and whispered something in Meili's ear. She nodded and ran off.
That was the last card I played from my own hand. If that failed, this loop was screwed.
The cultist's daggers were crooked and covered in blood, so he discarded them as he had previously discarded his primary weapon.
"I guess you didn't learn the concept of 'recycling.' You should start putting it into practice; it's highly recommended."
I sneered, taking a fighting stance. It was time for round two.
I clumsily parried a punch aimed at my jaw, but my combat reflexes were brutally humiliated by a second punch that sank into my gut.
I spat out saliva, gagging as the attack continued. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning: what followed was a knee to the face, which made me bite my tongue and drew blood from my nose.
Then came a series of blows to my ribs and legs. I stopped counting the blows beyond that point and focused on holding on as long as possible.
Gradually my vision blurred and my ears began to ring, dragging me to the threshold of unconsciousness.
I felt like I was going to faint with the next attack, but then I heard her.
"LEANDRO! I BROUGHT YOU SOMETHING!"
It was Meili's voice. Just in time. Gathering my remaining strength, I looked at the cultist and held his shoulders while flashing him a bloody grin.
"Shamak."
Darkness erupted from my body, leaving us both plunged into a blind world. Feeling my grip on his shoulders, I gauged his body position, praying for good aim.
With a less-than-elegant move, I bent my leg and executed a kick straight to the cultist's groin. I felt my foot connect with something soft, and, assuming I'd hit my target, I ran out of the cloud of smoke.
***
The Hunter writhed. Despite being prepared to ignore the pain, his body reacted to the terrible impact on a sensitive area; the blow unleashed a stunning effect on his nervous system and left him unable to move for a few seconds.
However, even if his limbs were torn off, his muscles ripped, and his skin eroded, the Hunter would never stop as long as he could act. After all, his very existence was tied to his mission.
When the paralysis effect wore off, the Hunter ran out of the dark area to find his elusive prey. He had to fulfill his purpose.
But upon leaving the blind spot, the Hunter was met by not one, but twenty consecutive shots. His body was penetrated by long, sharp bullets with which he was familiar.
They were the arrows he used in his main weapon, the crossbow; the same crossbow Leandro was holding at that moment. Yes, the one the Hunter left lying on the ground when he ran out of ammunition.
"I didn't say all that stuff about recycling just for the hell of it, you know?"
Leandro reused all the crossbow bolts, turning the Hunter's body into a hedgehog-like meat sieve. His heart, throat, and many of his organs were punctured: he was basically doomed to die imminently.
The Hunter fell, his blood pooling on the ground. Leandro crouched beside him and watched him silently, watching the life drain from his body.
"In all this time, you haven't said a single word. I wonder if you're one of those resurrected soldiers... Ah, what an idiot I am."
He slapped his own forehead, laughing as if he were in a casual situation.
"I can find that out easily."
With that, Leandro reached out and pulled back the top of the Hunter's robe, exposing his face to the moonlight.
But when he saw it, Leandro's expression turned into something that expressed pure bewilderment.
"No... Why?!"
He stepped back in fear, unable to tear his gaze away from the Hunter's face.
"Why does this guy have my face?!"