Ashtar let out a cold chuckle.
"As time went by, even bug-like you began to look a little cute when you kept poking your nose everywhere like a mouse. How cute, to think I'll catch a big fish here, you're different from the other bugs, you'll be fun to crush.''
Facing a talkative Ashtar, Noire didn't respond making Asthar chuckle before deciding to play with her for real, it was then.
Noire's figure disappeared.
"Oh? Do you think you can escape?"
Swoosh!
Ashtar also disappeared.
He sensed the reverberation of mana left behind by Noire and immediately followed it.
She hadn't run far away.
There was no need for him to search. Noire was standing in the middle of the desert outside of the city.
Asthar let out a dirty laugh.
"Did you realize running away is futile? Right. I'll send you off comfortably as a reward for not being a pain."
Noire didn't respond.
Ashtar, who was smiling, narrowed his eyes at him. Something doesn't feel right.
Then a calm voice sounded out.
"I didn't expect it to work so well."
"…what?"
What was she talking about all of a sudden?
The previously revealed panic was now nowhere to be found.
Instead, Noire was staring at Ashtar with a cold gaze.
"I knew the range of your detection ability in the basement from the start. But I stepped into it on purpose. Why do you think I did that?"
Ashtar's expression changed.
"Are you saying you purposely revealed yourself to me? Ha! That's bullshit. Why would you do something like that-"
"To lure you out."
It wasn't a gamble.
Noire had been convinced that there was only one Demigod around, Ashtar.
There was no way that multiple Demigods would be deployed to watch over such a small, unimportant country even if it was for an experience.
Ashtar's face darkened and he felt insulted, for the greater cause he was dispatched here among the Numbers with the promise to upgrade his rank once he completed the task, and as Noire predicted, they would be using the same tactic much on a bigger stage, while it would be difficult to implement this in the empires, Kingdoms, and principalities will be different and if they could destroy those, it would great affect the overall situation of the incoming war. They must prepare the best stage for their Lord, the apostle of Chaos, Bahamut. If they successfully conquered this world, opening the door to chaos to devour the middle worlds except for the Higher World, they would be taking one step into the final war.
Thinking about what status he might achieve in the future if he were to perform well, Ashtar shuddered. He must not fail here and the first step would be to clean up the bug annoying his experiment.
Suddenly, a huge bow appeared in Ashtar's hand.
'A longbow?'
It was much larger than a regular longbow as its size easily surpassed 3 meters.
Noire narrowed her eyes. Acting as if she hadn't expected the man to draw a weapon at that moment.
Noire was still disguised and would keep this disguise for a while, meaning she wouldn't be using her full strength yet.
Unaware of this Ashtar began his attack.
The moment he pulled back the bowstring, Noire became suspicious.
There were no arrows to be seen touching the taut bowstring. In other words, Ashtar was just pulling back the string.
"…!"
Noire instantaneously gathered mana and cast a barrier spell.
Pit.
The sound of the bowstring being released was very faint, but the power behind the attack was beyond imagination.
Crack!
"…!"
This barrier was shattered in an instant forcing Noire to bend her back to the limit, and something shot past her chin.
It didn't touch her, but she still felt chills from the attack.
'Invisible arrow.'
No. It was something else.
Nothing was launched into the air. Perhaps he was shooting his aura like an arrow.
Boom!
The sound alone was enough to send shivers down Noire's spine. Despite losing some of its power because of the barrier, the invisible projectile still smashed the dunes behind her to pieces.
She didn't look back, but she could already imagine how horrific a sight it was.
Noire quickly reapplied her barrier while Ashtar smirked and pulled back his bowstring once again.
''Kukuku! I thought you'd be worth something but I guess I was wrong.''
Swoosh!!
The bowstring snapped once again.
Noire was also concentrated on the sound, so she didn't miss the three separated sounds from the bowstring.
Crack!
Once again, her barrier broke. However, she had perfectly avoided the three arrows.
In a way, they were much easier to avoid than the first. It was a small difference, but it was still noticeable.
Ashtar's expression changed a little.
'She appears to be a frail magician, yet she was able to move so quickly…'
It was impossible to avoid his arrows so easily. The arrows he fired traveled at the speed of sound.
There was no need to reload, and there was less wind resistance since the object that was traveling was just a mass of his aura without a real physical body. Well, he was using his Gift.
She kept dodging the invisible arrows without much trouble.
At this sight, Ashtar couldn't help but feel a chill for a moment.
'What kind of human is this, she is beyond normal…'
The threat of the invisible arrows when they first appeared was beyond imagination. Even the vast majority of skilled fighters would lose their lives to the first arrow without knowing what happened.
However, this woman had been able to immediately grasp the fact that he had no arrows on his bow and deploy an omnidirectional barrier to defend against whatever attack might have come.
Her instantaneous judgment and level-headedness were so surprisingly sharp and accurate that Ashtar was dumbfounded for a moment.
Even at that moment.
Noire's eyes were locked onto his bow.
By looking at where the bow was being aimed, she was able to predict the approximate path that the invisible arrows would take.
Then, with her barrier, he would be able to slow the arrow down enough, allowing her to avoid it.
Composure, observation, and reaction speed. If even one of these was not up to par, then such a thing would have not been possible.
'This person is experienced in every way. She is an extremely dangerous variable.' Ashtar recognized this fact.
This fact alone increased the person's danger level by several times.
He had to kill her here. Eliminate this variable that could potentially damage their plans.
Suddenly, Ashtar's expression changed.
From the tip of Noire's foot, ice spikes began shooting up. They were so powerful and sharp that even steel would be torn apart.
The power of this attack, which was launched silently and without any prior warning, was extremely shocking.
But Ashtar's response to it was simple.
He lifted his right foot, and he stopped on the sand lightly.
Kakakang!
This simple stomp shattered all of the ice spikes.
Upon seeing this Noire clicked her tongue and launched more attacks but Ashtar easily took care of all of them.
''Kukuku! Struggle some more.'' He declared before drawing his bow's string at an impossible level.
Ashtar smiled as he nocked the arrow on his bow.
Then, the smile grew larger.
Tung.
The bowstring sounded, but this time, it was accompanied by powerful air pressure.
As if it had been concentrated in one place before bursting in an instant, the air exploded, causing a massive, omnidirectional shockwave.
The shields Noire created disappeared in an instant, and even the final barrier shook heavily.
That wasn't all.
Rather, that was just the beginning.
The wind pressure was simply akin to the wind that came when a powerful Demigod swung his fist.
The real threat was the arrow that came out of Ashtar's bow.
Kwakwakwakwa!
Calling it an arrow was not good enough.
Noire felt like a Dragon was opening its huge maw in front of her. It was frightening yet amusing at the same time remembering the past.
Ashtar's attack destroyed the surroundings as it shot toward Noire like the arrival of doomsday.
This wasn't an attack that could be blocked by clumsy spells. It was also not small enough to easily dodge.
Noire was forced to take out the dagger that she had kept hidden.
Swoosh!
A dark red light shot out from Noire's finger. This light, which she named Absolute Line, collided with Ashtar's arrow.
Gong!
A huge explosion occurred.
Gusts of wind, stronger than any sandstorm, swept through the area without mercy.
A cloud of dust filled the surroundings, making it impossible to tell one direction from the other.
Ashtar was stunned by the fact that his arrow was blocked. He couldn't understand what had just happened, he wondered if that dagger was a Gift, that must be the case if not a normal weapon, and no matter how high its grade couldn't accomplish what this dagger did.
For the first time since the beginning of the fight, Ashtar decided not to continue underestimating this strange woman.
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