The white-masked entity crossed his arms and shielded himself from the three wind blades coming towards his head from above.

“Gu…uhh!”

The wind blade aimed at his face was repelled with a clanging sound. However, the two other wind blades cut through Alvesta’s right shoulder and left flank, causing blood to spurt out.

While watching the situation, I jumped back up again and landed on the opposite roof. With my left hand, I immediately reached for the Mechanical Bow Baroque on my back and with my right hand, reached for the arrow barrel hanging on my waist, but… 

(He’s not slowing down!?)

Without regard to injury, Alvesta kicked the wall and made a triangular jump, leaping from the alleyway and launching himself into the air. He then came at me while swinging a reddish-black blade that sprouted from his hand. 

“…Ah…AAAAAAH!!”

With a strange cry, he shot out a diagonal slash aimed at my torso.

“Guuh!”

I avoided the attack in the nick of time by taking a step back. Leaping further towards the back of the roof, I aimed at his large torso with the Mechanical Bow.

“Woruah!!” (Piercing Shot!!)

Woosh

The white-masked entity chased after me and tried to close the distance, so I shot him from a distance where he had no room left to duck! 

“Ho-h…how can s-su-such a l-lo-lowly mo-m-monster…!”

My arrow found its mark, puncturing Alvesta’s flank and causing him to spurt out blood, but he did not care and continued to chase after me, holding the reddish-black blade of blood, as he leaped towards the roof I was in. 

“Guh…Garuuh!!” (Tsk, to hell with it!!)

Since the Battlecry from earlier was still in effect, I put some strength in my legs and leaped into the air, and collided with Alvesta.

“Wh-whaat!?”

Since I beat him to the punch, it surprised him and momentarily delayed his response. I then immobilized his right arm which produced the blood blade and snuffed out his chances to carry out a slash attack.

“Guuruoah!!”

From close quarters, I slammed a knee strike at his solar plexus and slammed a punch into the white mask while still holding onto my mechanical bow. 

“G…guuh, aaaaaah!?”

A small crack ran until the edge of the part of the mask that received my blow, and Alvesta came crashing into the alleyway while being exaggeratedly distressed. Well, I also fell into the alleyway following the laws of physics, but I maneuvered my body and landed safely on the ground.

Since the alley isn’t that wide, I threw my Mechanical Bow on the street to prepare for close-quarters combat and pulled out the Scimitar by my waist whilst glaring at the white-masked entity.  

“Gu, aah!”

(If he’s not scattering blood in this distance… then does this mean that the Bleeding Disease this guy spreads only affects humans after all?)

The moment I felt inwardly relieved, the white-masked entity used the gap in my awareness to quickly turn around and break off running. 

“Garuoaaann.” (I won’t let you go!)

Picking up my Mechanical Bow, I let out a roar as a signal to my companions who were laying low nearby, even as I continued to follow behind him.

“Gau, guaoaaaaaaan!!” (Now, let’s go hunting!!)

“Uoooooonn!!”

“Guruaoooooon!!”

As I listened to my companions’ corresponding howls, I considered the blows I exchanged with him earlier without stopping to think.

(I couldn’t feel any fear or hesitation in his movements when he received my attacks earlier… so I’m still holding out on my conclusion. On the other hand, I got a response from him when I punched his mask. It might be a little cliche, but that’s what it is, I guess.)

It seems like an obvious weakness, but since it was an area that is easy for him to defend, it had a huge advantage, which makes him more troublesome.

I lost sight of Alvesta in the complicated alleyway while thinking of such things, but it wasn’t a problem at all since the smell of blood was very thick.

“Woaaaaaaaann!”

“Guruaooon!”

Occasionally, the howls of the other Kobolds echoed through the Royal Capital late into the night.

They used their howls to confirm each other’s position while at the same time, alerting their prey to their presence and guiding it to the direction they wanted it to escape to. The intricate alleyways of the Royal Capital do not pose an obstacle if you run on the roofs after all.

After executing some more strategies, we finally cornered the white-masked entity and slowed down when we arrived at the plaza in front of the auditorium of the Academy of Magic which is located on the southeast side from the place where we had a close encounter. 

“Wh-why a-a-are mo-mo-monsters…… in, in th-the ci, city?”

A white dove perched on the Bell Tower gazed at the white-masked entity who leaped into the plaza in front of the auditorium. It shared its vision with the silver-haired, blue-eyed mage who lightly hovered 1000 meters in the air.

From the high altitude, Ernesta’s silver hair shines in the moonlight, and her back has invisible wings made up of pure magic, which catches the updraft caused by wind magic and allows her to stay in the air.

Furthermore, the light-tinged ball of wind that circulated above her raised palm formed a halo shape approximately 3 meters in diameter. Doesn’t it look just like a halo?

It is a unique magic called “Halo of the Storm Angel Zachiel” that can only be used by the Tempest Witch who has received the blessing of Setio, the Storm Goddess. The intention is to increase the diameter of the halo, to counteract errors in long-range magic due to the distance. Its features were a long range of more than 10 times that of normal magic and unparalleled cutting power.

The clouds above and below were scattered in advance. She switched her vision to her own magic-enhanced eyes for sniping and aimed at the small black dot that was about to run through the center of the auditorium square below.

“…Let’s finish this in one shot! ‘Zachiel’s Halo’!!”

And just before the increasingly shining Storm Angel’s Halo was thrown, the white-masked monster looked up at the sky!

“Giiiiiiiiiih!?”

DOWOOOOOOOOOOH

The Halo of the Storm Angel that she unleashed tore through Alvesta in an instant at a speed close to 1000 m/s, but the monster tilted and shifted his head, warping his upper body to avoid a direct hit to his mask.

After the halo cut Alvesta from his right shoulder to his groin at a slight angle and cut him in half, it also partially cut through the statue of the dean nearby, and then disappeared as if it were sucked into the ground.

“Woruah!!” (Did she kill it!?)

“Gauuo, Guruah!!” (Not yet, Leader!!)

“I, I so-somewhow e-endu-endured that.”

Alvesta, who should have been cut in two vertically, stands on the spot without collapsing. The blood spouted from the cut surface joined the divided halves, returning the masked monster to its original form.

“What the hell? It can’t be!”

The scene is also visible to Ernesta through the white dove’s eyes, but invoking a second shot is impossible for her since she is running out of magic due to the halo and flight magic. 

“Guruo, voaru gaouh!!” (Everyone, aim for the mask!!)

“Gauh! (Got it!)

“Ruuoa kuanoh!!” (Burn bright! Foxfire!!)

I nocked an arrow on the Mechanical Bow that I held at a slight angle and at the same time I shouted.

From a short distance, Blazer also activates the mechanism of his Gauntlet and deploys the Crossbow attached to the Gauntlet, while my sister created a huge Foxfire with both of her hands.

“I, I w-wo-won’t… l-let you!!”

“Uoh!” (Uoh!)

“Gau” (Tsk.)

“Kukyuuh!” (Kyaah!)

However, the white-masked monster was faster than us and unleashed a wide swath of blood.

I have a feeling that I was exposed to a small amount of blood during the battle earlier, but… I’m not sure whether I would still not be infected with the Bleeding Disease even if I’m exposed to a large amount of blood.

“Kuoh!!” (Get out of the way!!)

So I did not push it and jumped away from the spot and kept my distance.

“Kuruoaaaaan!” (Eat this!)

Lancer, who was diagonally behind us, threw the Slash Spear at the place where Alvesta’s head was supposed to be while the spray of blood made it difficult to see, but…

Clunk

Only the sound of the spear falling over could be heard in the plaza.

After the blood screen dissipated, the white-masked entity’s form was nowhere to be found…

“…Uoon garuoaan.” (…You can run, but you can’t hide.)