Fuuh... uu... haaa... aah."
I took a deep breath.
My throat trembled.
Forcing down the anxiety and terror that rose from my abdomen, I faced toward the densely rising smoke and prepared my right arm's Gatling gun.
"...Fuu! Fuu!"
That was the first move.
If I ended up losing the initiative, I would definitely lose.
In the first place, did I do any damage?
Was there any effect from the poison set on the door, or the narcotic that was set to burn, or the traps on the way there?
I put in as much power as possible into the four offensive spells I used just now.
If he was completely unhurt by all of that, wouldn't this Gatling gun-like magical tool be unable to scratch him?
No, in the first place, did I even hit him?
There's no way I wouldn't hit him with a spell of such vast scope.
I shot it out with the highest class of force and scope to make sure he wouldn't avoid it.
From a place so far away it couldn't even have been seen by an eye of foresight.
From a place that Orsted wouldn't be able to predict, no matter what magical eye he might have.
"Take thiiiiiiiiiiiiis!"
While yelling, I activated my right hand's Gatling gun.
The magical power ran through it, generating and firing Stone Cannon bullets at a tremendous rate.
The cannonballs cut through the air, an incessant [Kyuinkyuin] shrieking sound echoing through the surroundings.
The mass of cannonballs with overwhelming speed blew away the clouds of dust.
I caught sight of the silver-haired man with a tattered cape and soot-filled face.
Was there any damage?
None?
There was blood on his chin.
Aren't those burns around the base of his neck?
It's all right. Although it wasn't much, he definitely did take damage.
"!!"
Our eyes met.
The hawk-like sharp glint of his eyes perceived my figure.
The eyes of a hunter who'd discovered his target.
I opened my eye of foresight as much as possible and tried to read Orsted's movements.
His movements were fast, seeming blurred as they stacked on top of each other.
I aimed the Gatling gun so as to obstruct him from evading it.
The time lag from firing to impact was essentially non-existent.
Even so, Orsted evaded all of them as though he could see their trajectories, gradually approaching me.
One step, two steps.
Orsted steadily closed the distance while maintaining an expression like that of a bird of prey.
Occasionally he'd grimace as a rock cannonball grazed him, but that was all.
As if to say that even a direct hit wouldn't be fatal. As if to say there was nothing to fear.
As if to say that he always fought against enemies with this level of attack.
That wasn't the case for me.
I felt a shudder toward that zombie-like unsentimental way of fighting.
My heart fractured at the sight of that movement which seemed to tell me that all of my attacks were futile.
But for now, I still had the advantage.
While telling myself that, I stepped in order to match him.
If Orsted came from the right, I'd move back and to the left.
If he came from the left, I'd move back and to the right.
If he came from the front, I'd load onto him with the Gatling gun.
If he fell back, I'd load onto him with the Gatling gun.
That way he'd never be able to close the distance between us.
The fight would continue with me in a position of complete advantage.
Just as I'd simulated it.
In order to further corner him, I cast magic with my left hand.
My aim was beneath my and Orsted's feet.
The spell was Quagmire.
The moment I raised my hand to activate the technique after having immediately completed it.
Orsted raised his left hand toward me.
"Disturb Magic!"
The magical power I'd finalized was stirred up by his magical power.
He was trying to transform meaningful magical power into meaningless dregs of magical power.
"Kuh!"