Ch.226Sniper and Bomber

“BOOM!!”

The sound of dynamite exploded through the Wellord mining village for the third time.

The faces of people who had taken shelter inside the mine were becoming stained with fear and despair.

And for good reason—the current situation at the Wellord salt mine was far more precarious than the food shortage from a few days ago.

“Damn, this is dangerous… No matter how I look at it, they seem to be targeting the barrier tower.”

“Probably. That’s what I would do if I were the enemy commander.”

Some of the Lesser Demons’ catapult attacks had been directed at the barrier tower, but that was merely the result of attacking any intact-looking target they could find.

Besides, the barrier tower, made of special metal, was fundamentally much harder than stone, so as long as the magical formula operation wasn’t compromised by repeated impacts, it could have withstood the assault without major issues.

But the story changes when the enemy is deliberately targeting the barrier tower with dynamite rather than stones.

No matter how well-fortified the metal defense facility is, it’s not invincible enough to withstand repeated dynamite explosions. If, by bad luck, dynamite were to wedge between the steel frames and explode inside, the barrier tower could easily be destroyed.

Of course, even if that happened, they could quickly deploy a Repellation Field to prevent monsters from flooding into the mine, but without a way to purify the black mana, not only the residents here but also the reinforcements arriving later would be fully exposed to mortal danger.

“We can’t just sit here and take it. We need to deal with the sniper first… Phyllis.”

“Hmm?”

“The enemy is 110-120 meters straight ahead. Same strategy as with the Demon Rose—can I count on you?”

“I don’t mind… but can you block that incoming shot?”

“The first bullet, somehow.”

To properly protect Phyllis, it would be more certain if someone stood with a shield, but the more allies blocking the way, the more they’d interfere with Phyllis’s shooting.

So the best approach is for me to somehow block the sniper’s first shot and then quickly dive sideways to clear her line of fire.

“Mina, what’s the firing rate of the Replacer sniper rifle?”

“Depends on the user’s skill… but it’s single-shot with high mana capacity, so it’ll take at least 5-6 seconds between shots.”

“OK, that’s enough time. Phyllis, stand behind me. Ancestor, get ready to open the door. Everyone else, stay inside where the sniper can’t see you.”

Jessica, Seti, and Mina moved further into the mine, taking the hesitant Iris with them, while I took a quick-draw stance in front of the tightly closed mine door.

Behind me, Phyllis positioned herself slightly to the right, ready to counterattack as soon as the sniper’s position was confirmed.

Ancestor, in human form, was holding the door handle, ready to pull it open at any moment.

“3, 2, 1… Go!”

*Creeeeak*

“BANG!!”

The moment Ancestor pulled the mine door open with all his strength, a black beam of killing intent flew toward us in slowed time.

The sniper’s position, sensed through my danger detection skill, hadn’t changed at all from before.

Well, they didn’t know their position had been exposed, and anyway, their positioning options were limited if they wanted to aim through the narrow doorway.

Of course, even knowing the enemy’s position, I couldn’t activate my skill due to the range limitation, but…

‘It’s different if the target isn’t a person!’

As my right hand moves toward my holster, I feel time completely stop around me.

If I can’t activate my skill on an enemy beyond 100 meters, I’ll just target something that’s within range.

Yes… that black mana bullet flying straight toward my heart!

‘BAAANG!’

Perhaps due to the difficulty of hitting a bullet with another bullet.

The mana I consumed to fire six white mana bullets through frozen time was truly enormous.

Just like when I went all-out against the Minotaurus or Crow, strength suddenly drained from my entire body, making my legs wobble for a moment.

“Phyllis!”

“Lightning Bolt!!”

*Crackle!*

White and black mana bullets collided in mid-air.

Even witnessing the unprecedented feat of shooting down a bullet with another bullet, Phyllis’s aim remained steady.

The white lightning shot from her muzzle passed right by the white star still glowing in mid-air and precisely hit the sniper lying on the hill about 100 meters away.

“Direct hit.”

“Nice shot, Phyllis. Now I’m going outside to intercept the dynamite, so please cover me.”

“I’ll come too. My blade’s slightly damaged, but I can still launch Wind Blades.”

“OK. Let’s go!”

Seti and I ran out through the mine door toward the barrier tower.

Sure enough, one of the Lesser Demons buzzing like a swarm above the village was dropping dynamite with a lit fuse.

*Bang!*

*BOOM!*

When I hit the center of the dynamite with my reloaded revolver, a brilliant fireworks display erupted in the sky.

The flames and shockwave engulfed several nearby Lesser Demons, making them falter, but monsters with physical resistance could fly around unscathed even through dynamite explosions.

“I’ll handle the dynamite, Seti, focus on watching our surroundings! There might be enemies with rifles or mages nearby!”

“Got it.”

The immediate threats were the bombers, mages, and another rifle user.

Of course, the abandoned sniper rifle could find a new owner and bare its fangs again at any moment, but fortunately, I wasn’t the only one who had thought of that.

*Bang! Bang!*

“Will! I’ve destroyed the sniper rifle! No need to worry about someone else using it!”

“Thank you, Phyllis!”

After the sniper threat was completely eliminated, Jessica and Mina also joined the interception team with their weapons.

With four people now protecting the barrier tower, it became even easier to spot explosives being dropped among the numerous Lesser Demons.

“Flame Lance!”

*BOOM!*

Some were shot down by Jessica’s fire magic, causing massive explosions.

“Hah!”

*Swoosh!*

*Crash!!*

Others had their wings shredded by Wind Blades before they could approach the barrier tower with dynamite, crashing onto the ruins below.

“Here’s another one~”

*BOOM!*

And some triggered chain explosions from Mina’s large pistol loaded with explosive rounds. All attempts to attack the barrier tower with dynamite were thwarted without achieving any results.

Seeing our success, some residents joined in with their own guns, actively shooting down Lesser Demons.

Mana crystals from Lesser Demons began to roll around various parts of the Wellord salt mine that had been one-sidedly attacked until now.

Perhaps displeased with the tide of battle turning in our favor, the main villain of this battle finally showed himself.

Flying through the sky, held by five or six Lesser Demons.

“What is that…?”

“That man—is he planning to blow himself up with the barrier tower?!”

A human man with a bushy beard, his body wrapped in dynamite, jumping from the sky.

He was using the Lesser Demons’ bodies to shield the dynamite from being hit by bullets, but…

“Fire Ball!”

*BOOOOOOM!!*

“Oh.”

When Phyllis’s Fire Ball met the dynamite, causing a massive explosion, he ended his life without even leaving a corpse behind.

“Huh~ Even though he was an enemy, that was a bit pitiful.”

“Still, it was a good decision. If he had made it to the ground, we would have been the ones caught in the explosion.”

“Ah, I see… If he had transformed into a monster, he would have had physical resistance.”

Was the plan to withstand the impact of the fall and the dynamite explosion with physical resistance while destroying the barrier tower?

I heard that if monsters are forcibly brought inside the barrier tower, they die because they can’t sustain life through black mana. It seems he was planning to blow up the barrier tower before that happened to save his life.

It was an incident that made me newly realize that the barrier tower isn’t something that physically blocks monsters from entering.

“Anyway, we’ve dealt with the sniper and the dynamite, so the rest is… huh?”

“The Lesser Demons…”

“They’re retreating.”

After the plan to destroy the barrier tower with dynamite also failed, there was a major change in the Lesser Demons’ movements.

The Lesser Demons that had been chaotically flying above the village all began to withdraw beyond the fence boundary.

Moreover, about half of the visible Lesser Demons scattered in all directions, appearing to completely withdraw from the vicinity of the Wellord salt mine.

The mine residents who had rushed out with guns reacted most intensely to this fact.

“The monsters are running away!”

“We won! Hahaha!”

The residents cheered and patted each other’s shoulders.

Even though the monsters hadn’t completely withdrawn from the area, they seemed unbearably happy just to have driven away the Lesser Demons that had been occupying the village airspace.

I think it’s too early to relax since there might still be mages or enemies with rifles in the area, but…

“Well, I’ll let them enjoy the joy of victory for a little while.”

In a situation where we don’t know how many more days it will take for reinforcements to arrive, we can’t expect people to remain constantly on edge and stressed.

Let’s hope this small victory helps boost the residents’ morale a little.