Black Iron Magician

Chapter 545 Meteor Shower

The battle has begun, and the girls begin to take action. With Haruna and Touko at the front and Chinatsu at the back, the disciple team formed a V-shaped formation and ran toward Deris in that formation. On the other hand, Deris didn’t move a single step from the starting point and readied his staff (gun) on the spot. The muzzle is, of course, aimed at the enemies, Haruna and the others.

(He said it was a staff, but that thing is definitely not a normal staff. After all, that appearance is completely――)

――It’s completely like a gun, a modern weapon. The Staff that Deris is holding looks so much like a gun even when seen from afar. It has a long gun barrel with a blade at the tip, and a trigger-like thing can be seen where he puts his finger. The entire staff, which resembles a single-shot rifle, is dyed jet black, just like Haruna’s and Touko’s weapons. It’s easy to guess that the black magic stone was used as the material.

(In other words, it is ridiculously sturdy and repels all magic except the user’s! I can understand that, considering that it has the same properties as I and Haruna’s weapons! The problem is the functions of that gun as a staff!)

At the tip of Deris’s gun is a blade as long as his forearm. However, considering his character and the shape of the gun, he will most likely be fighting at a distance. If this is the case, it is important to know how to get close to Deris and how good the performance of the gun is.

(The bullet just now had the same power as the black ball I threw. But, the speed was faster than my full-power throw! I and Touko-chan have the 『Armor』 skill, so we can endure it even if the attack hits us, but it’ll be bad if it hits Chinatsu-chan! Then, the best thing to do is to attack as much as possible while closing the distance, and keep applying pressure on him without giving any opening!)

The three arrived at the same answer almost at the same time, and began to move in the shortest and fastest way to fulfill their respective roles without even trying to communicate with each other.

Without slowing down, Haruna unleashed a meteor shower. She was simply repeatedly throwing her black bullets from her pouch, but the tempo was so extraordinary that they left afterimages. The number of the balls is just like stars in the sky. Moreover, all of them are magic balls with different speed, directions, heights, rotations, ball types, and so on. Confirming all them will be extremely difficult even for someone of the Great Eight Demons level.

Following Haruna’s barrage was the onslaught of aura bullets of Touko’s ki. Although the trajectory is not as abnormal as Haruna’s black bullets, the attack that makes use of her agility, which is the best among the three, attacks Deris as a deady bullet with even greater numbers and speed. It can be said that Touko’s attacks are a different kind of threat from those of Haruna.

Moreover, these attacks did not interfere with each other, but rather were fired to cover the gaps in each other’s attacks. From the target’s point of view, it is a nightmare event where the threats are multiplied.

On the other hand, Haruna and Touko were able to concentrate on advancing and attacking because of Chinatsu’s presence behind them. The fast-deploying light barrier created by Chinatsu extends like a carpet in the direction in which they are advancing, completely protecting them from a surprise attack from below the ground. Furthermore, by creating multiple shield-shaped floating armors in the air, Chinatsu’s surroundings became a pseudo-mobile fortress. The origin of these barriers was 『Reflect Fortress』, but even Deris probably can’t to use this magic so flexibly. In other words, this is a variant of Reflect Fortress that only Chinatsu, who has been using it so diligently, could do. Naturally, these barriers are perfectly adjusted so that they do not interfere with Haruna and Touko’s actions.

(They are working together in no time without confirmation, huh? Good grief, their teamwork is perfect….)

Deris couldn’t help but be impressed by the cooperation ability that the girls showed in this instant. He’s happy as a master, but as an enemy, he thinks that it’s troublesome. No, maybe the latter part has a larger proportion.

The reason why the girls were able to cooperate so well was because they kept doing the unreasonable sparring against Nell and Ursula. In order to overturn the overwhelming difference in strength, what was necessary was to make up for each other’s shortcomings and build a situation in which they could demonstrate their abilities beyond their capabilities――in other words, they would die during the training if they didn’t improve their coordination ability, so they desperately polished their teamwork. They’ve known each other for a long time and have the same goal, so they’ve learned how to understand each other without saying anything.

(A rain of attacks, no, it’s more like a meteor shower. It’s powerful enough to destroy a small country…. Well, I have a reputation for not dying easily, so I wonder if it will work against me.)

The muzzle spewed fire, and the magic bullet was fired again. However, it wasn’t just one shot this time. Gunshots rang out continuously without any interval just like a machine gun. The sound of the gunfire, which makes you want to cover your ears, show no sign of stopping.

(((Rifle fraud!?)))

The girls’ inner voices overlapped at the deceptive appearance of the rifle. Moreover, Deris’s bullets seem to have a homing function, and they went to intercept the attacks in various places the moment they were released from the muzzle.

The homing bullets shot down the attacks one by one, and some were erased. The interception speed was on par with that of Haruna and Touko’s attacks, and they would be pushed back if they slowed down even a little.

(Hey, hey, hey, that rapid-fire rate is foul play! Also, they are erasing my ki bullets, aren’t they!? Yeah, they are gone! Haruna’s attacks were intercepted showily with sparks, but mine disappeared without a sound! …… Ah, does it mean that he’s conscious of me!? Alright! If that’s the case, I will make Danna more conscious of me!)

(Haruna’s attacks were intercepted with something hard, but ones intercepted Touko’s attacks were dispersed? I don’t know the details, but he’s clearly using two types of bullets with different characteristics. I probably can defend the former with my barrier, but the latter might be tough. Still, even if it’s possible to fire that many bullets in rapid succession, manually controlling the bullets while confirming all of the incoming attacks would be impossible even for Deris-san―― no, I guess I can’t say that for sure. After all, Deris-san’s intelligence that Alezel-san told me far surpassed mine…. Fufu, it’s another adversity, huh? But, adversity is my home ground, Deris-san.)

(Shishō is only using two types of bullets so far. But, the difference between bullets cannot be determined until they land and show their effects, and there is no guarantee that there are no other types of bullets. Ah, maybe I should consider them as Shishō’s magic in the form of bullets and are being fired from that gun? Hmm, that’s very troublesome! Also, it’s worth conquering!)

(…… They getting more motivated, aren’t they?)

Deris thought that the girls would be somewhat shaken, but unfortunately, it seems that his prediction was wrong.

(…… But well, that’s very like them.)

Haruna, who has the best eyesight among the tree, could see Deris smiling for just a moment.

(Ah! Shishō is thinking something bad!)

However, whether or not his true feelings could be conveyed is another matter. Habitual behavior is something important.