It’s a total sneak attack. No one could have blocked it, but the shield least prevents any injuries.
Slowly, an image appears in front of me, a three-eyed kijin with its face contorted with anger.
It’s probably because it really thought it had beaten us.
It’s holding a large axe, and upon seeing it, we immediately get ready for battle.
I should praise everyone for not panicking when something like this happens.
First, we spread out with the kijin in the middle, so we’re not all clumped up.
The kijin responds by swinging its axe at the person closest to it, me.
It doesn’t attack again right away, most likely because it didn’t expect to be blocked, but I evade the next attack because I feel like blocking it is dangerous.
And just as I’m about to take my shield from the Item Box, I see its left eye tremble.
I see the kijin in front of me and my friends collapse, but immediately return to normal.
I check to see if it inflicted a status condition on me, but since I don’t see anything wrong, I move in and swing my sword.
The kijin blocks my attack with its axe sideways. The thick axe blade can be used like a shield.
I’m not numb, but I feel the impact on my hands. But I hold it tightly as I swing again.
It keeps blocking, but I don’t care. Argo and Rurika are moving in to attack from blind spots.
Both attack with swords, and I see the kijin’s right eye tremble.
Immediately, I see water coming from the center of the kijin. It envelops it, and blocks the swords. No, not just block, it flings them away.
Argo and Rurika are pushed back, but the kijin hasn’t even begun attacking.
A second later, it expels the water, turning into ten bullets that are fired in all directions.
I dodge, but Argo and Rurika’s stances are off, so they can’t dodge in time.
But just as they’re about to get hit, Sera and Rick use their axes to block the water bullets.
“Thanks Sera.”
“No problem, let’s move back.”
Argo and the others also move back, but as I’m about to do the same, the kijin’s eye shakes again. This time, it’s the one on its brow, above the two others.
The kijin then disappears as if melting into the scenery. No sense of presence or anything, even Map shows no reaction.
Is this how it managed to attack us without anyone noticing?
The moment I understand that, I cast Fire Wall and Earth Wall in the last place where I saw it, surrounding it.
That way, I should be able to know where it went. Unless it already moved.
But that’s not the only problem, I don’t know how it turns visible again. Is it a matter of time? Or does the kijin have to do something?
Judging by what happened before, I’d guess it wears off when it attacks, so can I just put up a shield? But that would be risky if it keeps attacking.
If kijin are capable of learning, this one should know that one attack isn’t enough to break our defenses.
Then, one magic energy reaction disappears. It’s the Fire Wall inside.
I hear a sound, and it’s from the Earth Wall.
The position… To the left, where Rurika and Sera are. I peek over there, and see Rurika and Sera holding up their weapons with nervous expressions.
Did they see the kijin when it broke through the Earth Wall… Should I force it to be visible?
I take from the Item Box what I used to dye my hair. There isn’t a lot of it. What else…
“Chris, Cast a small tornado over the Earth Wall in Rurika and Sera’s direction!”
Chris immediately does it. It’s not spirit magic, so it activates quickly, and part of the Earth Wall Collapses.
The kijin isn’t there. Or at least I can’t see it. Maybe it really isn’t there.
But I throw what I took from the Item Box into the tornado just to check, as I take a couple of steps.
I’m throwing wolf corpses with both hands, ones that haven’t had their blood drained yet.
The Throw skill helps with it, and as they get sucked into the tornado… Their bodies are ripped apart and their flesh goes all over, creating a rain of blood.
It hits us too, but… I see it!
I see some red things floating unnaturally in the air. They’re now our marks.
The others see them too, as they slowly move.
I raise my voice and throw a knife. The red things stop, and move a little. Did it turn around?
I missed them by a wide margin, instead hitting the Earth Wall. Of course, I did that on purpose. And the red somethings moves again like nothing happened.
It’s moving slowly towards Rurika and Sera. Maybe it has to move that slowly while invisible. Maybe it hasn’t noticed the blood.
Rurika and Sera look around cautiously, probably on purpose to trick it.
The kijin keeps moving… And once it gets in range, stops.
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Thanks for the treat.