Data.208 – Old Bowman, Boomerang Terror

“Woah! That was a shock!”

While she said this, Macoco had properly blocked Necoco’s kick with her circular boomerang.

Not only that, but the boomerang was glowing, which showed that she even had the time to use a skill.

Her reflexes were incredible…!

However, Macoco was now separated from Crowkus Jr., and she fell towards the ground.

This was my chance to attack…!

“Kaa! Kaa!”

“Woah!?”

Instead of going to help the falling Macoco, Crowkus Jr. charged towards me!

At a glance, it seemed like he was abandoning Macoco, but in fact, if he wanted to help her, it was best to stop me from attacking.

Was it really able to think ahead like that…?

In any case, Crowkus Jr. was a lot faster now that it wasn’t carrying anything.

I had to hit it once and stagger it!

As it was a bird, I did more damage when it was in the air.

So even a scratch would deal decent…

“Tsk…! I can’t even scratch it!”

It was no ordinary raven, but a monster.

And so its intelligence and speed were both at a ridiculous level.

I don’t think anyone has ever dodged my arrows so smoothly before…!

However, Crowkus Jr. was also clearly dodging them desperately, and wasn’t able to get much closer.

I had a feeling that if this continued, I would get used to tracking it and be able to land a hit. But Macoco would return before that happened!

I wanted a little more time…!

“Gar! Gar!”

“This voice… It’s Garbow!”

Garbow became a red light that shot through the air as he crashed into Crowkus Jr.!

And just like that, the two Unisons fell into the river that flowed through the field!

“Garbow!?”

While the water wasn’t murky, it was quite dark, and so I couldn’t see what was happening inside.

And since the current was strong, I would likely be washed away immediately if I went inside.

I was sure that both Garbow and Crowkus Jr. had fallen in.

But I no longer knew their positions…

No, I can’t be shaken by this!

Garbow had dragged the enemy into the water.

Like a real alligator, he would kill his prey in an environment that he could move well in…!

I knew more than anyone how strong Garbow was inside of the water.

And so I would believe in him!

“Old man! Hurry up and get out of here! I’ll deal with my aunt!”

“…Alright!”

Even though we had already settled on this strategy, I hesitated for just a second.

The reason was that I still wondered if she could really handle Macoco by herself.

I had already made up my mind before, but now that I had actually faced Macoco, I knew just how strong she really was.

And so I couldn’t help but hesitate.

And there was another idea.

What if both Necoco and I fought her? Perhaps we could defeat her more quickly?

She had amazing reflexes and used skills to dodge our attacks. However, it wasn’t like it was impossible to hit her.

Maybe we could do it if we were together… I had a faint hope.

However, I realized that this was wrong quite quickly.

“Aghh…!!”

Something that I couldn’t see had cut my right shoulder…!

And while I hadn’t lost an arm, it took away a decent amount of HP, and my haori was damaged!

What the hell was that…!?

“Wa-was it the boomerang…?”

The slash attack had seemed to come from behind.

In other words, even as Macoco was being blown away, she had used a skill to make one of her boomerangs invisible.

And she had unleashed it while disguising her movements in the air. And made it curve so that it would hit me while returning to her…?

Ah, even I didn’t understand it…!

But there was one thing that I did know!

“Warp Arrow!”

This was not a place for someone to be when they were hesitating…!

And so I decided to follow the plan and leave it to Necoco.

I would fulfill the role that had been given to me!

“Good luck, Necoco!”

 ◆ ◆ ◆

“…I still haven’t heard any death announcements.”

Macoco muttered as she caught the invisible boomerang.

“If both the returned arrow and invisible boomerang hit him directly, the old man with low defense should not have been able to survive… In other words, he had dodged both attacks. I suppose that’s why you chose him.”

Macoco said to Necoco, who was hiding somewhere.

After unleashing Thunderbolt Kick, Necoco had not followed with more attacks.

The reason was that though it was meant to be an ambush, Thunderbolt Kick had been blocked with the boomerang.

Had Macoco not been able to block it, and had her stance collapsed as she flew, then Necoco would not have hesitated to unleash a follow up attack.

However, Macoco had been able to throw the boomerang at Kyuji even while being attacked.

And so she knew that charging at Macoco then would just result in being driven back.

Besides, Necoco’s goal wasn’t to defeat Macoco.

She was supposed to buy time and wait until the others arrived.

As she understood this very well, she did not continue to attack… That was half the reason.

The other half was simply that she was scared, and her body would not move.

She had thought that she was resolved, but one’s resolve tended to get shaken when put to the test.

But Necoco’s fear only lasted a second. For just a second…she was afraid to fight the person that she looked up to.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to hurt someone who she respected, but more of a worry that her attacks wouldn’t work against Macoco.

Yes, this was the first time that Necoco was seriously fighting against Macoco.

And so this battle would be completely different from the times that they gathered together as friends and played.

While Macoco still had a relaxed expression, for a second when being kicked, she had looked at Necoco with the sharp expression of a warrior.

She had seen this expression on her aunt in videos many times, but when it was directed at her, Necoco felt like her aunt could see right through her.

Had all of the players felt like this when being defeated by her aunt…?

For some, that might have been enough to lose the will to fight…

But Necoco was different.

Respect and fear…and the will to fight!

Even though there had been a conflict deep within, the fire was still burning inside of her!

“Necoco, come out. If you don’t…I’ll just target a different player!”

Macoco turned around and started to dash.

If you were really strong, there was no shame in showing your back to an enemy.

When a weak person did it, it meant they were running away. But when you were strong, it just meant you were allowing your enemy to escape.

“I won’t let you do that, aunt! I promised everyone that I would stop you here!”

The fact that Kyuji had run away made their strategy clear to Macoco.

And so telling her didn’t change anything.

Still, she shouted it as a way of reminding herself about what needed to be done!

“Just how much stronger has my little niece become? Well, I still won’t go easy on you.”

Macoco said with a slight smile.

However, her eyes were not smiling.



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