Manuke FPS Chapter 213

Published at 8th of May 2023 04:13:29 PM

The members of Sasanqua, as well as Ophelia and Virginia, stood in my path.

In addition to them, there were also six Dragrange Frontier Knights. Leading the group at the forefront was Ophelia, brandishing her hoarfrost-clad rapier. Next to her was Virginia with her silver staff and small shield. This time around, she’ll be fighting alongside Ophelia from the beginning. 

The six members of the Frontier Knights wearing green light armor slowly expanded to the surroundings while watching my movements. In the back, the four members of Sazanka――Frau, Miche, Malinda, and Ru formed a formation to block the gate of the labyrinth, seemingly playing a role in cutting off my escape route. 

If there’s one thing to worry about――it’s the equipment of the Frontier Knights.

The green light armor may be the official equipment of the Knights, but what you have in your hand is a striking mace and a thick shield with improved defense performance thanks to the double layering. At a glance, you can see the purpose of the equipment. A defensive measure against my firearms and a weapon specifically meant to fight me who has selected the skeleton avatar.

Behind the knights, I could see Frau-san watching me carefully.

Although she didn’t see my battle directly, she may have noticed that Jonah’s attack method is similar to Schwartz――in that he’s using the skill  ≪Arms≫.

“Everyone, be vigilant. If he grabs a strange cane, never expose the key points in your body.”

The flat voice of Virginia echoes in the throne room where only the rubbing sound of armor could be heard. In response to that,  the Knights replied with a dashing voice. Of course…. They’re now completely wary of firearms. However, can they handle my strikes with those heavy shields?

I tightened my grip on the sledgehammer’s handle――alternating my grip――rushing forward.Following the dash, I did a slide jump to my front right, and upon landing, swung the sledgehammer sideways before the opponent could surround me completely. The rightmost knight was knocked away by the force of the blow. 

“Dense formation, the undead skeleton is attacking! Virginia!”

“Yes! ～～～、～～～、～～、Stone Corridor!”

When the knights saw the big shield blown away, Ophelia instantly shouted an instruction. The knights, who were trying to expand, gathered back into a crowded formation of two people in front and three people behind. At the same time――when Virginia’s magic chant was over and the magic name was declared, stone walls squeezed up from the floors on my left and right, and they overlapped in an arch shape to form a stone tunnel.

The length of the tunnel extends from the formation of knights to the rear, past me.

Surrounded?

“Move in!”

“≪Charge≫!”

The two people lined up in front shout, and with unnatural acceleration, they raise a large shield and charge. Avoidance … is impossible. I guess this is why they raised stone walls around me, huh? However, in this position, Frau-san should not be able to see it.

I stepped forward, activating CBS to receive the charge.

“What!?”

“Wha?!”

The moment the assault, which seems to be a skill, hit me directly, the movement was stopped by something invisible, and the two knights were surprised. However, I had no intention of answering or explaining the cause. I was pushed slightly by the power of the ≪charge≫ skill. Right when the momentum died down, I canceled CBS.  

Then I grabbed the upper part of their shield, and used my strength to create an opening for me to attack.

“Kuh――!”

I could see the face of the knight hiding behind the shield――he seemed to be desperately trying to hold the shield, but I, who had assimilated the function of the power suit, was simply superior. I let the handle of the sledgehammer slide in my right hand so that my grip was closer to the base of the hammer head. No killing――my aim was the left shoulder. I swung the sledgehammer down into the gap that was opened.

The light armor sunk in quite easily, and the collar bone underneath broke.

While listening to the dull hitting sound, the feeling of crushing bones, and the soundless scream of the knight, I slid his body inward and then shoved the other knight into the stone wall.

The two collapsed as if they were crushed by the impact of a crack in the stone wall and the weight of the large shield. Trampling on their bodies as I made my way forward, I spun the sledgehammer in my hand a bit to give it more momentum before tossing it at the knights at the back. I had never thrown the sledgehammer like this back in VMB, but at least I’m convinced that I’d at least hit my target thanks to my experience of throwing countless amounts of tomahawks and knives.

The three knights who were watching from the back while holding the large shield seemed astonished and immediately hid themselves in the large shield in a defensive position.

At the moment――neither the knights nor Ophelia and Virginia could see me――so I whipped out the silenced PSS, then immediately replaced its magazine with another one that was loaded with simulated bullets. Since the PSS is now loaded with simulated bullets, none of them would die if I fired at them. But I bet it’ll still hurt like someone has slugged them in the face…

And a high-pitched impact sound reverberated.

The thrown sledgehammer hit the large shield on the right directly, and the impact of being thrown the strength provided by the power suit was beyond imagination. The sledgehammer bounced off, still having enough power to break through the stone wall that forms the arch. What you can see before holding the PSS was the knights who were blown away and collapsed and the profile of Virginia who turned her eyes to the sudden formation collapse.

I aimed for the temple――one of the human’s weak points and fired the trigger twice. Then I slid the crosshairs, aiming at the next knight who was out of shape so that he could be dragged by the fallen knight and shot his chin.

“Virginia!”

“Kuh! ≪Charge≫!”

By the silent shooting that hit the key point, Virginia and one of the knights collapsed like a doll with a broken thread――Ophelia was on time to catch the fall of her escort knight. Meanwhile, a knight who had a shield on the far left rushed in to protect them. It is possible to accept this skill that would bring the shield to the front and charge. However, now that Ophelia’s offensive stance had collapsed, there was a chance to end this battle as soon as possible.

This also ran toward the stone wall that rose in an arch shape――I did a wall run to climb it, running through the stone wall to reach the upper part.

The knights passing underneath have not been able to keep up with my movements. However, Ophelia was glaring at me, following my movements. However, since she’s encumbered, she will not be able to prevent or dodge my attack.I summoned a taser gun to my left while running through the top of the arch.

“Kuh, don’t run!”

“What can you do to stop me when you can’t even move, huh?”

Overtaking Ophelia, who was holding Virginia――I raised the Taser Gun and PSS in both hands. Ophelia, who had turned her magic weapon into a shield, realized that I was already behind her. Meanwhile, I also aimed at the knight who also looked back. The taser gun, a gun-shaped stun gun, doesn’t need an exact Aim, just aim at the part that can’t be hidden with a big sword――two crosshairs danced in my sight, between Ophelia’s uncovered legs and the knight’s eyebrows. I pulled the triggers consecutively.

“Kyaaaaaahー!”

Eating an electric shock of 50,000 volts, a scream that I had never heard from Ophelia echoed. Behind her, I saw the frontier knight who was shot with a simulated bullet between the eyebrows lying.

Ophelia, her body numbed, clenched her teeth while trying to endure the electric shock. She glared dagger at me, I would’ve died if gaze could kill.

Neither in the collapsed Drum Fortress nor this Mine labyrinth, I did anything like exchange swords with Ophelia.

Ophelia, the sword princess, her sword skills combined with her magical weapons are undoubtedly first-class. I could tell when she attacked me at the Drum Fortress. But against me, well――it may have been frustrating to see me elude her the second time. I can understand that feeling well. As an FPS player, I have had a lot of pain. Even if it’s in a different shape … I still had to deal with it to my heart’s content.

However, it’s not the time to worry about that. From now on, I might have to fight to kill.

These four members of Sazanka――there’s no way I could get past them if I don’t get serious.

Chapter end