The Villain is Too Good at Sniping

100. Review and Preview (3)

I’ve received countless notifications about favorability increases.

But this time, it was different. The system had explicitly stated that her favorability had reached a certain level. When I turned around, Chloe was grasping my chest.

However, I didn’t have time to pay attention to that right now. Kail and Ellyn were exchanging blows with the enemy, and our side was being bombarded with fierce attacks.

I used my dagger to deflect the multiple magical bullets flying towards me. At the same time, my [Intuition] responded.

Whoosh…!

A small pebble grazed my shoulder.

It wasn’t something to be underestimated. I immediately dodged to the side to avoid the attack.

The pebble shot by the enemy archer landed on the arena floor. As I saw the rising dust, I realized…

If I got hit by that, I’d be out of the game immediately.

Whether I got a direct hit or suffered an injury, it would definitely be a critical blow, leading to a loss of combat power for our team.

“What’s wrong with you, why are you using so much force? This is just training!”

“This is a real battle training. The instructor also said not to hold back.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to go all out!”

Puck!

Kail was currently clashing swords with Ellyn. At least one of the enemy swordsmen was definitely marked.

So, the remaining enemies were the archer and the mage.

The enemy mage was also focusing on casting, just like Chloe, so the immediate enemy I had to face was the archer with the pebble.

“…Sion Illeayonhart, wasn’t it? We met during the entrance exam.”

I didn’t remember, but he remembered me.

“I didn’t think we’d meet again like this. I owe you one.”

Click-

I didn’t respond, instead raising my Glock.

It was too early to use a bullet of conviction. I had prepared various magical bullets with moderate magic power, but I wasn’t sure which one to use yet.

At least, the wind-attribute magic bullet would be difficult to have a significant effect.

The new gun is a non-magical weapon that is classified as a wind-attribute weapon. Even if I use a wind-attribute magic bullet, it would only be overwhelmed by stronger winds and air resistance.

It’s possible to pour in magic power, but the cost-effectiveness wouldn’t match.

Thud….

So, I pulled out a fragmentation grenade from my subspace with a calm expression. I removed the safety pin and threw it towards the enemy team’s mage.

The wide-area magic device that had just finished casting was dangerous, but this instant-acting grenade was also dangerous.

Hunters active on the front lines would easily block it, but the opponent was still at the novice level. It was a matter of whether they could muster their full strength to block it or not.

Moreover, this was not just a military-grade grenade, but a modified device designed to combat demons.

The price was not cheap, and its lethal power had already been verified.

As Professor Isabella said, I shouldn’t show mercy. There was no reason not to use this weapon, which I had refrained from using due to safety concerns.

After all, every attack within the arena was controlled. Whether it was through magic or physical means, if a truly dangerous situation arose, the barrier would react accordingly.

“……!”

The expression of the person who saw the flying grenade froze for a moment.

Recalling the entrance exam, I thought they might have had a bad experience with my grenade. It was likely one of the students who had failed due to my hand during the entrance exam.

Pang!

However, the fragmentation grenade I threw exploded in mid-air. It was hit by a rock thrown by the enemy team’s leader before it even touched the ground.

“You didn’t know better last time, but you won’t get away with it twice…….”

…Pang!

The guy who was about to laugh triumphantly saw the three daggers flying past his side.

“…You didn’t dodge it.”

The dagger I threw was stuck in mid-air. To be precise, it was stuck in the air, blocked by the enemy team’s mage who had stopped casting and raised a barrier.

In fact, I had thrown it expecting them to block it.

No, I had thrown it to make them block it.

If they didn’t block it, they would have to take it with their body. It was a considerable gamble to just watch the incoming attack, unsure of how the barrier would react.

Moreover, there was no mage who could maintain their focus while seeing the dagger flying towards them.

At least, not among the 1st-grade students. They wouldn’t learn multi-casting, which involves constructing multiple magic formulas simultaneously, until they were 2nd or 3rd-grade students.

Furthermore, they lacked practical experience, making it a truly desperate situation.

“I said I would block it. What if I stop now?”

“Then just take it and get hit? You can’t even do your job as a leader properly, that’s why it’s like this.”

“It’s fine, so just start casting again. One more hit and it’ll be over.”

“Easy for you to say, but we have to redraw the magic formula from the start.”

As expected, the enemy team’s mage was preparing a wide-area magic device.

The brief interruption in casting caused a small commotion among the 4th team. Elin let out a frustrated cry.

“What are you doing, talking to each other at a time like this? I’m going to die! Help me out a bit!”

Elin, who was saying this, was already on the defensive. She was barely holding on against Kail’s sword attacks.

Arsene wasn’t wrong to hold a ‘human combat training’ session before the exchange match.

While we had fought against monsters through various training sessions, this was practically the first time we were engaging in direct combat with other students, excluding the entrance exam.

Even during the entrance exam, most students, excluding a few like Serin Anett or Kail Ivanstear, couldn’t demonstrate their true abilities due to the chaos.

It was clearly different from practicing against a dummy or an instructor.

“Elin!”

“Hey, Kyle! Take it easy, man!”

For a moment, I saw an opening in Elin Beonard’s defense.

Tang-!

“Ugh?!”

I fired at Elin’s leg. The stumbling guy lost his balance and fell.

I tried to take advantage of this opportunity to settle the score, but Elin, even in his fallen state, managed to deflect Kyle’s sword. It was precarious, but he dodged Kyle’s swordsmanship.

“…First, grab the commander! Quickly!”

“I’ll handle it myself, don’t give me orders.”

“No, this isn’t an order, it’s… uh?!”

Elin’s shout made the opposing team’s commander aim his rifle. The magic in his hand was no joke.

I also aimed my Glock at him. I wasn’t the only one gathering magic.

Tang-!

Pang-!

The pulled trigger violently recoiled, and simultaneously, the gun muzzle spewed flames.

The bullet and pebble collided. Fire and wind, the two attributes clashed, causing a small explosion in mid-air.

A cheer erupted from outside the arena. From the spectators’ perspective, it was an entertaining show.

But I felt a little annoyed.

It wasn’t anything grand, just my pride as a commander was stirring. My current thought was, simply…

“…I’ll take this hit.”

I didn’t target the incoming pebble. I targeted the main body pulling the trigger. Originally, the bullet should have hit the rifle or the hand pulling the trigger.

However, that guy somehow predicted my trajectory in an instant and blocked the bullet.

He definitely had talent as a commander. He probably had skills like accuracy correction or hand tremor correction.

But no matter what, it was no match for ＜Master Marksman﹥.

Seemingly proud of having blocked my attack, he continued to pull the trigger, firing five or six pebbles from all directions.

“It doesn’t seem like I can win with firepower, and there’s no other way……”

Originally, I wanted to go for a single, decisive victory, but it looks like that’s not possible now.

Now was the time to move on to Plan B, the secondary strategy.

First, I used [Thousand Mile Eyes] to read the trajectory.

The rifle was a mid-range weapon.

A mediocre weapon between a gun and a bow, rarely used in actual combat, it was almost obsolete. Although it boasted formidable power at mid-range, when you looked at it closely, it was ultimately inferior to the bow.

The reason I used firearms was similar, but guns had the advantage of a longer shooting range. That guy probably had his own reasons for choosing this weapon.

“I’m sorry.”

I had to win. To be precise, I had to lift Kyle up.

So, I would show him why rifles were obsolete weapons in this place.

Even if he had optimized his talent for using rifles, I would reveal the inherent problem that he couldn’t overcome.

Whether he could overcome this or not would become a crucial task for his future path.

I grasped multiple daggers in my left hand and threw them at the incoming pebbles.

The projectile attack was powerful, but it also had weaknesses.

Firstly, it was weak against magic that utilized spiritual energy. A single mage who mastered spiritual energy could deflect most projectiles.

I knew the reason why.

In the original work, bows and guns were classified as [penetration]-type attributes, whereas throwing was categorized as [impact]. Even just catching the flying projectiles in mid-air would easily neutralize the attack and render it powerless.

The second reason was that it was too easy to deflect the trajectory.

“It’s not that the destructive power is bad, but it’s a problem because that’s all there is.”

The dagger I threw was no match for the rock that guy hurled, and if we clashed head-on, I’d be the one who couldn’t hold out.

So, I used my dagger to deflect the incoming rock at an angle. My goal wasn’t to win with brute force, but to manipulate the trajectory and send it flying back.

Deflecting the incoming projectiles was something I had shown Kazuha during our performance earlier.

“What…?!”

The attack that was meant to crush me was instantly neutralized. That’s why the new gun was treated as a minor weapon, inferior to firearms.

I knew this because I had tried it myself.

It was a build that couldn’t even be used for entertainment, a trash build that was useless even for show.

From the start, this build wasn’t meant to clear the game, so I could vaguely understand the sense of loss that guy felt.

In that sense, I pulled the trigger. He was still standing, and if I gave him time, he’d launch a counterattack soon.

Moreover, as I had been warned beforehand, it was better not to show any mercy.

“Ugh, ah?! St…!”

My bullet mercilessly struck the opposing team’s captain’s body.

It all happened in an instant. The guy who had been cornered to the edge of the arena would be eliminated with a single shot if I pulled the trigger one more time.

However, I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger at the last moment. It was because I pitied him.

The future of that guy who had chosen a build that even I couldn’t use for entertainment would be bleak and thorny.

In that moment, I thought about whether there was a way to let him retire without making him lose so miserably.

“Casting’s over!”

Rumble—! Boom……!

For a moment, it seemed like the sky was darkening, and then the sound of thunder echoed.

Looking up, I saw that real dark clouds had gathered. It wasn’t as severe as the storm that had covered the entire Arsen region during the previous student council occupation incident, but the small, ominous cloud covering the arena was unsettling.

The barrier responded. A faint light enveloped the arena.

“What?!”

“Come out, quickly!”

I grabbed the back of Kail’s collar, who was still wrestling with Elin, and pulled him away.

“What’s…?”

Elin, who had been lying on the ground, lifted her head. At that moment, lightning had already started striking the entire arena.