Just as I dodged, a burst of magical energy emanated from the arrow on the ground, causing it to explode instantly and create a powerful shockwave.
boom----!
The shockwave spread outwards, and although he managed to keep his distance in time, he was still affected by the blast wave. His body was immediately thrown out of control, tumbling dozens of meters on the unobstructed ground before barely coming to a stop.
"This is bad..."
My ears were ringing, as if my eardrums were about to burst. This was the first time I had ever encountered an attack method that infused magic into arrows. Even Lia, who was skilled with arrows, had never combined them in this way before.
"Who exactly is it?"
Everything happened so suddenly, there was no time to react, yet I still couldn't believe I had offended such a guy.
Whoosh whoosh...
Before I could even get up from the ground, two more arrows flew at me, extremely fast and posing a considerable threat.
"Damn it..."
I cursed and quickly circulated my magic power, and an earthen wall rose up in front of me.
Thump thump—!
Two loud bangs shattered the solid earthen wall. Taking advantage of this brief opportunity, I quickly stood up and looked around, but I couldn't find any trace of the enemy.
It was a barren wasteland. Apart from a few inconspicuous saplings, the only other thing to be seen was the location of the carriage and the campfire. There was no sign of enemies, not even a ghost.
"...Seriously! This is unbelievable!"
Judging from the immense impact of the arrow, the enemy couldn't have been hiding too far away. The arrow wouldn't have been able to achieve such power due to the air's resistance, especially since bows and arrows are only short-to-medium range weapons.
Therefore, I concluded that there must be some kind of barrier magician hiding nearby who can use a kind of barrier magic to obscure the view. As long as they set up magic near themselves, they will become invisible to the naked eye, thus achieving perfect integration with the surrounding things.
In other words, once you find a place that seems out of place from its surroundings, that's definitely where the enemy is.
The only way to find a seemingly abrupt location is when the enemy launches another attack.
Whoosh whoosh...
The thought had barely formed when two more arrows whistled through the air. I immediately crouched down to dodge, but despite my quick reaction, one of the arrows pierced my shoulder, drawing blood and causing me to wince in pain.
"Found it...it's in the direction of the campfire..."
However, this intelligence came at a very good price. Although I didn't see the exact location from which the arrow was shot, I have determined the general direction.
For a barrier magic to maintain this state, it must be immovable. In other words, you only need to wait for the enemy's next attack to find the exact location.
"What a bastard! Treating a child like that, he's a complete scumbag!"
I stood still, focusing my attention intently on every single second in the direction of the campfire.
However, it seems the enemy never expected me to react so quickly. In the next instant, just as I thought, they launched another attack, and this time it was...
I could clearly see a slight ripple in the air spread out, and then four arrows appeared out of thin air in front of me, tearing through the void and flying towards me with a terrifying sonic boom.
"Hmph! I finally caught you!"
I sneered inwardly. It was truly unforgivable to use such a scumbag who only knew how to launch sneak attacks against children!
"Double: Rashomon"
The moment the arrow was spotted, Rashomon was quickly cast, and two earthen walls rose from the ground to block the way.
Thump thump...
The first earthen wall was destroyed without any doubt, but the remaining three arrows pierced through the second earthen wall and came straight at me. However, I had already expected that Rashomon would not be able to withstand this attack.
The Rashomon gate was merely used to obstruct the enemy's view, not to defend against attacks.
Knowing that the arrows were imbued with some kind of explosive magic, I dared not rashly use magic to catch them. Instead, the moment the first earthen wall collapsed, I quickly rushed towards the campfire. After each arrow was shot, there would always be a gap for drawing the bow and nocking the string, and this gap was my opportunity.
"mud"
Furthermore, almost the instant Rashomon was cast, Mud Swamp was cast, targeting the area around the campfire. I had just confirmed that the enemy was right next to the campfire!
As they drew closer, the surrounding sand swirled in the air and swirled towards the campfire.
"What! What is this?!"
"Damn it! That brat spotted us!"
"Silas! Launch the attack now!"
"Don't move! Your Highness! We're sinking!"
Meanwhile, the sound of arguing came from the campfire, and as a ripple spread through the air, four figures gradually emerged.
"...!"
This made me stop, because apart from the person holding the bow and arrow and the scepter, whom I had never seen before, the other two figures were extremely familiar to me.
One of them was Lilith, but she was already tied up and gagged. Although she didn't have many injuries, she was in a coma.
The other one is that hateful man, the Seventh Prince!
I never expected that, even though I had left the capital and had not participated in any power struggles or joined the Sixth Prince's forces, he would be so petty.
"Damn it! I can't open my eyes! What is this?!"
"Silas! Kill him right now!"
"Yes, sir!"
The sandstorm spread among the four people, but it did not affect the man named Silas who was holding a bow and arrow. He nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring, and the arrowhead had an eerie purple hue.
"Go to hell!"
call out--
A purple arrow suddenly flew from the bowstring, leaving a trail of afterimages in the air before disappearing in the blink of an eye. It hurtled toward me, but when it was about half a meter away, it suddenly turned into a wisp of smoke and vanished.
"Um!?"
Pfft...
As I wondered what was happening, the arrow pierced my right calf from another direction, the intense pain causing me to involuntarily bend my knee.
Furthermore, I discovered that the magic carried by the arrows also contained corrosive properties, constantly eroding the wounds.
"This...this is!"
At the same time, the magic power within his body instantly became chaotic, running wildly inside him like a frightened deer, and the mud and sand were also dispelled in that instant.
"What are you standing there for! Strike while the iron is hot!"
"But Your Highness, the Seventh Prince! He's already been poisoned. There's no need to kill him!"
"How dare you! What do I give you money for! You dare to tell me how to do things? If you won't do it, I'll do it myself!"
Immediately, I felt my head spin again, and through the haze, I saw the Seventh Prince walking towards me with a long sword in his hand. The way he looked at me was truly insane.
"You brat! Blame it on your meddling! The throne was within my grasp, but you, a mere brat, interfered. I was going to spare your life to serve me because you're so young and have such a talent for chanting! But you just don't know how to cherish it! In that case, I might as well send you to the underworld to join your family!"
No sooner had I finished speaking than a sword flashed down toward my head.
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