Nero raised his hands above his head and shouted, dodging another arrow by mere centimeters.
"Relax, we didn't come here to hurt you!"
Lux nodded frantically and raised his hands just like Nero. Shortly after, Kōri, Sunday, and Merlin copied their companions' gesture.
"Excuse me... but I can't continue your journey."
The girl—who was hidden about 50 meters from the group—wore a guilty expression that went unnoticed, before firing another arrow.
The arrow traveled and flew without touching any of the giant mushrooms and struck Sunday's hand.
The arrow hit with such force that it pierced his entire hand and became lodged, leaving a gaping hole.
Nero turned to Sunday, looking at him with concern.
"Sunday?!"
Sunday didn't complain and simply hid behind one of the mushroom-trees. For him, the arrow's impact had been nothing more than a mere prick.
Four more arrows flew toward the rest of the group with terrifying precision. Miraculously, they managed to dodge them, giving them time to hide next to Sunday.
Sunday looked at Merlin and then said, a lump forming in his throat:
"Thank you, Merlin... because of you, I now have another hole."
"Shut up... idiot, you're going to make me waste my Sinner moss."
Merlin exhaled sharply before removing the arrow from Sunday.
Nero looked up at the wizard.
"Merlin... I think that's medically inadvisable."
Merlin shrugged and took some moss. Then, he placed it over Sunday's wound, filling it completely.
"Oh great goddess of life, Stibar, heed my pleas and hear my words: Sana hunc peccatorem nequam."
After Merlin uttered that magnificent prayer, Sunday's hand healed completely. It wasn't a normal healing; it was so precise it could be called "miraculous." It was so precise that it left no scars or phantom damage…
Nero, who was watching from nearby, thought:
Wow… incredible.
Then, he slapped himself and focused on what was truly important.
Someone is shooting arrows at us…
Taking into account the distance and the darkness in the phosphorescent environment, the result would be that the archer is very skilled, or something makes her skilled.
Perhaps she's a Sinner, and I don't think she's higher than rank 10 or 11.
Nero turned toward the arrow on the ground and looked at the wand in Kōri's hand.
First, he snatched the wand from Kōri and absorbed it, obtaining a large part of the aura used to create it.
"What are you doing?" Kōri whispered.
"With the wand, we're a bright, yellow target."
Nero picked up the arrow and examined it.
The arrow was lightweight, about 30 centimeters long and 2 centimeters wide at the shaft, with a 5-centimeter tip made of a strange steel that Nero didn't recognize—some kind of alloy of steel and iron.
Something only someone with extensive experience in blacksmithing could make…
With this information, Nero began to strategize.
He was certain that the mysterious archer had more arrows like the one she had shot, therefore her ammunition had to exceed ten.
Furthermore, if the enemy was a Sinner, everything became more complicated…
Since Nero didn't know all the Sinner paths, much less their ranks. He didn't know if there was a path or rank focused on archery, vision, or precision.
What he did know was that this archer had excellent night vision, allowing her to see in the profound darkness, and a very high archery skill.
So Nero had two logical options:
The archer shared the same path as Lux—the path of happiness, rank 11 clown, which allows her to see in the dark—and possessed an artifact that enhanced her archery.
Or:
She shared a path that enhanced her archery and an artifact that allowed her to see in the dark.
"Damn it..." Nero muttered.
He was so frustrated that he bit his lip until it bled. Luckily, the blood helped calm him down...
He sighed and shared all the information he had gathered with his companions.
"So..." Sunday began, "the threat is greater than I thought."
Kōri tried to peek out, but an arrow made her retreat.
Lux exhaled in frustration and banged his head against the mushroom where they were taking refuge.
"Damn it... I'm tired, I have no aura, I'm hungry, thirsty, and sleepy..."
Nero placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Relax, we'll get out of here alive..."
Suddenly, the sound abruptly disappeared, filling the air with tension and horror.
Time seemed to stop, yet strangely, nothing moved...
Gravity seemed to double, but nothing changed...
Nero spotted a strange and terrifying symbol on the ground about a meter away from the group. The symbol was a curved line pointing towards the sky, next to a dot on its left.
The emblem emitted a sound that drew the attention of the entire group.
The symbol began to glow with an intense, hot red light, which spread upwards until it transformed into dark smoke and white ash.
"what is that...?"
Kōri stepped back, his face etched with fear and bewilderment.
The white ash and black smoke merged and began to form a "thing."
The "thing" rapidly evolved into a humanoid form, but it resembled a living shadow with whites parts more than a human.
His faint white eyes stared intently at the group...
For a moment, nothing happened, and the tension throbbed and bled.
Nero didn't realize when, but his Zero Stage activated. He dodged a shadowy dagger that narrowly missed his forehead.
Nero threw himself back as Lux tried to strike the shadow.
The blow simply passed through the illusory body.
The shadow vanished into the darkness, only to reappear behind Kōri and kick her in the back, sending her flying out of the mushroom tree.
An arrow struck the lady's shoulder without mercy.
Kōri stifled a cry of pain and simply rolled toward the protection of the mushrooms.
"Activare..." she said, summoning an ice dagger.
She fired the dagger, which struck the shadowy creature in the chest, causing it to disintegrate into black and white particles.
...
After Merlin removed the arrow from Kōri and healed his shoulder, he stood frozen, a look of utter realization on his face.
"Damn..."
"Merlin?" Nero looked at the pale mage.
"There are two people... the archer and... someone with the Path of Cruelty."
Path of Cruelty? Don't just leave me with the name, tell me the power...
Merlin continued:
"This path has a rank 11, which is based on absorbing the Centrum of a creature or person with Sinner power and summoning them... for example, that monster, which appears to be a calamity called Wandering Shadow."
What?! That's incredibly powerful! Puff... I only have Double Jump, Creation of small objects and Vision, and a little bit of enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes... Who was the bastard who created this damn power system?!
Besides... what's a calamity? That doesn't matter! What matters is that the Path of Cruelty is very powerful... it must have a weakness.
Nero shook his head, trying to dispel his mental rage. When he managed to do so, he opened his mouth and exclaimed:
"Now we're even more screwed, aren't we?... an archer, a wandering shadow, and a summoner."
"Not exactly."
Merlin smiled.
"The Path of Cruelty has a flaw: it can only summon if they fulfill the condition of creating a symbol like the one before, and... the creatures they summon die in one or two aura attacks."
Well... that's a good weakness; now I think it's balanced.
"But they can infinitely recycle their summons."
I regret my thoughts; that path is still unbalanced.
Sunday smiled.
"According to the Sinner approximation law, which states that Sinner abilities can only be used within your aura zone, the enemy shouldn't be that far away."
Nero chuckled inwardly.
Excellent, excellent. That was the kind of information I needed.
Lux raised an eyebrow.
"Aura zone?"
Merlin gave him a brief glance.
"It's the range you can perceive within your aura and the extent of your ability use... it depends on the range and path."
Nero took everything he'd learned and formulated a plan. His mind began to spin like new gears, calculating every possibility.
Nero sighed and looked at the group with renewed determination:
"We'll split into two groups of two, one going to the left of the tree and the other to the right."
"But there are five of us," Lux counted each of them with her eyes. "One of us has to be the decoy, right?"
"I..." said Sunday, "I'm the fastest, and if I concentrate, I can dodge the arrows with ease."
Merlin laughed and said mockingly, "Like when you dodged that arrow earlier?"
Sunday glared at him.
Nero cleared his throat, silencing them.
"Kōri and I will look for the summoner, while Lux and Merlin will go after the archer, and Sunday will distract the archer."
Sunday exhaled heavily, his pores oozing a thick, sticky liquid. Without another word, he shot out from behind the mushroom tree's protection, zigzagging across the ground.
Lux and Merlin exchanged a brief glance. Then, they ran in the same direction as Sunday and copied his zigzag.
Nero deactivated his Zero Stage, wanting to conserve aura in case a small fight broke out.
Nero stood still and thought that when his Zero Stage activated "by reflex," he couldn't see anyone's aura. Besides, how could he use a Sinner ability if his aura was inactive?
Stopping these questions away in his mind, he and Kōri ran in the opposite direction from Merlin, Lux, and Sunday's route.
With a stealth that would make the best ninja proud, they hid in the bushes, though this slightly damaged their clothes.
"Hey, Ice Princess."
"Yeah... Ice Princess?"
Nero laughed silently.
"You can freeze the ground, right?" he asked, his red eyes turning slightly toward Kōri.
"Yes, but it uses up all my aura."
Kōri sighed and walked faster than before.
"In a hurry?"
Kōri's lips curled upwards as she turned, leaning close to his ear.
"Nero, we're being followed..."
Nero maintained a neutral expression, a slight smile playing on his lips, as he stealthily created a poker card.
He activated his Zero Stage, sensing Kōri's blue aura. He turned his torso, just enough for his red eyes to peer into the darkness.
Among the green, phosphorescent mushroom trees and bushes, an orange aura emanated from the area, a few meters away from Nero and Kōri.
Nero remained unfazed, simply drawing his strongest card.
Suddenly, the source of the aura deactivated it, but Nero had already pinpointed its location. This individual seemed somewhat frightened and didn't fit the description of someone cruel.
Kōri turned and looked in the same direction as Nero.
"Identify yourself," he ordered.
A small boy, about ten years old, with orange eyes, peered out, looking terrified.
Nero was perplexed to see that the aura was coming from this small creature.
Is he really a Sinner?
Nero approached and crouched down to the boy's eye level.
"Kid, what are you doing here?"
"I-I..."
Kōri slowly approached, her hands behind her back. Then, she crouched down and stroked the boy's head with one hand, while with the other she stabbed him in the chest with her ice knife.
"What the hell?!"