A clear, hard sound rang out.
âââeep> ]
I finished saying the name of the skill.
However......
He isnât there anymore.
[ââââ ââââ]
I activated it in front of me.
Thereupon, I immediately activated
to my left, right and behind me.
[.......................]
However, the figure of a man sleeping because of my skill didnât appear.
He also didnât appear paralyzed......
The man remained out of my sight.
Perhaps, did he âvanishâ while heâs in a state of sleep or paralysis?
Even if thatâs so, he had disappeared somewhere out of my sight.
[Are you alright!?]
Seras shouted, sword at the ready.
[Yeah...... Thanks to you, Iâm alright.]
The time that I had managed to catch sight of the man......
It was only at the moment of impact when Seras received the manâs sword with her own.
The moment their two swords collided, the man âvanishedâ.
Looking at that......
I guess I could say that he had withdrawn abnormally fast.
When their swords collided, I had activated my .
However......
Before I could finish saying the name of my skill, he disappeared.
In an instant, that is.
[Your reaction speed saved me.]
[Itâs just that, even with my Regalia of the Spirits, I could barely block his strike. To be honest...... His speed is terrifying. Iâm doubting if I even saw things right.]
[Indeedâââ He was too fast.]
Keeping my vigilance high, I looked around.
He isnât around.
There also isnât any place nearby where he could hide.
There shouldnât be any place like that.
[Pigimaru, how is it?]
[P- Pinyuiii~~......]
It seems like Pigimaru was unable to sense him either.
[Seras.]
[M- My apologies...... but I couldnât feel any presence.]
Yes......
[His presence couldnât be felt huh......?]
Teleportation?
......Iâm unable to see him.
However, if he had been in my range, my skill would have taken its effect on him.
Thatâs why, with that in mind, I had fired off my n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
earlier.
However, in the first place......
From the beginning, the enemy had managed to read that the range of my spell was about 30 meters.
So, even if heâs close by, he would be at least 30 meters away.
Above all, thereâs the problem with âmy recognitionâ in order to use my skill.
All of my skills other than requires me to have my enemy âwithin my recognitionâ.
With my arm facing the target......
They need to be within my recognition â I would then say the skill name â Skill Activation
This process is necessary.
Even if itâs teleportation, the speed of his withdrawal......
My recognition speed is just too slow to become aware of him.
What should I do?
For me to strike that sneaky mole, I need to use my skill that needed a preliminary actions to useâââââ
No, that would be impossible.
As expected, the condition that I needed to âhave my target within my recognitionâ is a bottleneck.
[So this is John Doe......]
Fortunately......
Even though she was on defense, Seras can just barely react to him.
In that case though, how is that we would attack?
Using the combination technique with Pigimaru...... Iâm not sure if that would be effective.
There is a high probability that he would judge my change in appearance as dangerous.
Itâs possible that once I activate it, the enemy will take as much distance as he could.
This enemy......
Heâs just too incompatible with my Abnormal State Skills.
The hurdle of me, having my enemy within my recognition itself, is high.
Is he still here?
Or was it that he isnât here anymore?
I canât even tell.
Itâs also difficult to tell from the footprints around us.
There were already a lot of footprints left by the 6th Cavalry.
Standing in this place, thereâs also the problem that I couldnât properly hear if anyone approaches.
The groaning of the Sixthâs soldiers lying around just drowns it.
Even if there is the slightest footstep or breathing sound that may resound with his movements, I couldnât detect it with them around.
Noââââ Even if thatâs so......
I should be able to hear the sound of his footsteps.
Could it be that he has an ability that makes it incapable for others to recognize the sound of his movements?
There are good reasons for me to think so.
Heck, I couldnât even see the sword or any equipment in the hand of the enemy.
It was as if......
âAll perceptions in phenomena and objects related to John Doe had been inhibited.â
Could it be...... I wouldnât be able to recognize footprints that are more than five meters away?
[Seras.]
With my analysis of the current situation in mind, I conveyed it to Seras.
[ââââInstant Teleportation...... or perhaps, total inhibition of âperceptionâ itself regarding John Doe huh.]
[But if itâs teleportation, then he must have teleported from quite the distance. In that case, he should be observing the situation somewhere......]
We are at a higher platform with no obstacles hindering the view of the nearby vicinity.
If he had a teleportation ability, it means that he had teleported from a very distant place.
However, if he was that far away......
Would he even be able to see us?
If thatâs the case......
[Itâs highly likely that he had a recognition inhibiting ability......]
[H- However...... He was visible when he attacked.]
[That is.......]
For a few moments, I pondered.
[......It was possible that his ability...... âgets nullified when he gets within a few meters of another personâ.]
Thereâs no point in him going to the trouble of deactivating his ability when he gets close.
Then, itâs reasonable for me to assume that this was the case.
......Presence......
Thatâs right.
If the essence of his ability is âpresenceâ......
It would be something that gets harder to erase the close he gets to others.
In other words, his ability is to dilute his presence to the limit......
Itâs an ability to make others unaware of his very existence huh?
[........................]
What the heck is this?
Itâs like he went to the extreme of becoming a mob that heâs erasing his very existence.
Leaning close to Serasâ ear, I whispered.
[The Sixth fellows lying around could be used as âobstaclesâ for the enemy...... Thanks to them, the easiest routes to attack should be reasonably limited. In other words, we might be able to narrow down some of the routes where he could attack.]
Keeping her voice low, Seras kept her gaze forward.
[I see...... Indeed.]
Anyway, the problem would be his overwhelming speed of attack and withdrawal.
As long as we couldnât deal with that, it would be difficult for us to win.
[.........................]
Walking behind Seras, I then placed my hand on her back.
âIâm going to use now.â
With my current action, Seras seemed to have guessed my action.â
As long as theyâre within about 1 meter radius from me, people within the range of my could move.
They could also move if theyâre judged to be âin contactâ with me.
For example, Pigimaru is âin contactâ with me, so he can normally move.
With this......
No matter where he comes from, Pigimaruâs reaction time will be faster than his actions.
Seras will be slower once she leaves the meter radius though.
Therefore, the distance she can swing her sword and the range she can move are limited.
But as long as she is within my range, she can move âfastâ.
With my hand still on Serasâ back, I brought my other hand on the hilt of the dagger at my waist.
Perhaps......
It would also be good if I could kill him myself.
The problem with is that I couldnât use other skills while itâs active.
However, the effects of my skills that have already been activated will not disappear.
Thus, the effects of the skills on the Sixth fellows lying around will persist.
The other drawback would be the huge amount of MP consumed while activating.
It will continue activating while consuming my MP, and it will only automatically stop once it has consumed 5000 MP.
In addition, once I use it, it would enter a cooldown time.
But for now, I want to have time for me to safely conjure up a plan.
At least, for the time when consumes 5000 of my MP......
[ââââ ââââ]
With the safety level increased...... It becomes easier to concentrate on thinking.
I can use this time to assess the enemyâs capabilities and devise a countermeasure.
Or perhaps, while is activatedââââ
It would also be good if either Seras or I can finish off the slowed John Doe.
[Status Open.]
With my status displayed, I could check my MP consumption.
Now then......
How are you going to come out, John Doe?