Published: September 2, 2025
Satou here. I heard that shooting games were popular back in the day, but I’ve actually never played them. As for FPS games, I’ve tried them at game shows for work reasons, but that’s about it...
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The flying ants formed squads of eight and attacked the carriage one group at a time.
I handed crossbows to the four of them, excluding Lulu who was acting as the coachman, and gave a quick rundown on how to use them.
Pull the string using the lever, set a bolt on the rail, and pull the trigger. It’s really simple if you don’t worry about aiming perfectly.
“Ready... Fire!”
Following my signal, bolts flew through the air, targeting the incoming swarm.
We took down three. Reloading, I fired another shot—this time two fell.
The next bolt wouldn’t be ready in time, so as planned, Arisa took out the remaining three with her psychic shockwave.
The next swarm had gotten closer, so after shooting one with the crossbow, we used the psychic shockwave to weaken them, then Liza’s spear and my point-blank arrow finished off the remaining two.
“Master, do you have any MP recovery potions?”
I handed Arisa three. She took them and, like in a commercial for an energy drink, put her hands on her hips and gulped them down.
“This next wave is bad.”
Indeed, three swarms were attacking simultaneously this time. While talking, we kept shooting arrows, but it didn’t look like the numbers were dropping. Thankfully, there was still some distance.
“Requesting permission to use full power unleashed (over boost). We should be able to handle more than half.”
Between words, Arisa downed a second potion.
“Alright, you have permission.”
“Thanks, love you.”
Don’t try to set weird flags here.
Arisa’s usual playful tone was a bit strained.
“Full power unleashed (over boost)!”
In response to Arisa’s command word, a purple aura burst from her body.
She gripped her long staff and began chanting aloud.
The purple aura traced multiple magical circles centered on her staff.
“■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ Psychic Shockwave”
An invisible shockwave ravaged the ant swarms. Those hit directly died instantly from head trauma and bodily fluid loss, unlike before; others caught in the aftershocks spiraled down unconscious.
Though Arisa said she hit about half, in reality all three swarms were rendered combat ineffective. That’s the power of a unique skill.
I gently caught Arisa as she fainted.
“I’m dizzy~”
“Spinning~ it is.”
“The dizziness might be from Arisa’s magic; I feel a little faint too.”
The three others seemed to have been affected by the aftershock, their legs giving out. I entrusted Arisa to Liza and decided to finish off the remaining five ants arriving late.
I had Lulu stop the carriage.
“Pochi, Tama, cock the crossbow strings.”
“Yes.” “Got it.”
Both were slumped but managed to prepare the crossbows.
Each time we fired, Pochi and Tama reloaded and handed us fresh bolts.
I felt like I was at Nagashino.
After cleaning up, we kept checking the radar and map, shooting finishing arrows at unconscious ants hidden out of sight using curved shots. I remembered a manga hero doing this and decided to try it, though I didn’t expect it to actually hit.
Without a spotter, I aimed at relatively dense clusters, adjusting aim by feel before shooting one by one. The hit rate was under 20%, but good enough.
Some of the ants shot down earlier were still alive, but hitting enemies almost two kilometers away was impossible. The arrows didn’t reach.
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We took a short break, wetting our throats and the horses’.
“Tiring, but I’m glad everyone’s okay.”
“Exhausted~” “So tired~”
“Arisa hasn’t woken up yet—is she alright?”
“She’ll be fine after a night’s rest.”
AR display showed Arisa’s stamina and magic power, which had dropped to zero, slowly recovering.
Lulu wiped her sweat with a damp towel.
“Liza and the others, along with collecting the demon cores, I want you to gather some stingers and poison glands.”