Difficulty (part 2)

She shouted at me, but I quickly turned my gaze back to the demon. Alica is fine, and Nico is behind me. Now that I know the demon can shoot arrows, it's time I used the tactic I've been preparing up until now.

"Nico, scatter!!"

I shouted, and I started running to the left.

Nico realized what just happened, and he also realized that sitting still is not a good idea. He also started running, but he went the other way completely. He ran to the right, and stopped ten meters away from where he used to be.

"The entrance!! Shoot exactly at the en--Ugh!!"

I didn't realize how deep the wound on my stomach and shoulder truly is, yet I still made an attempt to make a run for it. In order to face a demon that can shoot objects, I need to separate myself from Nico so the demon won't just shoot towards one direction. But, running away when my stomach got stabbed by an arrow is not exactly a wonderful idea.

I immediately flinched from the amount of pain that arrived to my brain. My words were halted due to coughing blood, and I knew immediately that my condition is not the best right now.

Damn it... it's so painful...

I'm wearing the protection artifact, and I still got wounded this badly???

The necklace artifact is still being worn underneath my necktie. I also have confirmed its usage by allowing myself to get hit multiple times by the smoke demon. And yet, this demon's arrows still managed to stab me this deep?

Beforelong, Nico and I fired back. Nico's aiming is exactly on point, and it landed on the demon's body. I aimed specifically for the head, and the attacks can be seen to have a certain effect.

What I didn't realize is how thick this thing really is.

During the fight against the smoke demon, the holy water gradually decreases the smoke demon's smoke density, allowing its health to slowly get reduced. The fight with the green liquid demon was also the same, except we only needed to shoot the minions constantly to reduce its size.

But this demon… doesn't look like it's size is getting reduced at all.

It's still very dark, so I couldn't really see what the demon was made of. All I can see is the pure silhouette of the demon in the dark, which is already quite tough to see.

After a while, I finally realized how shooting it with holy water just doesn't have any effect. And beforelong, it started preparing to shoot arrows again.

'It's going to shoot again!'

Aunt Linda shouted from the entrance, preparing herself for incoming arrows. I quickly turned to Nico and told him what Aunt Linda said.

"Jiggle, Nico! Dodge!"

Nico understood the command and he started moving weirdly. He moved to the left, right, left again, then right again. His movement will make it really difficult for the demon to shoot him since he is moving, so his chances of not getting hit by the arrows is big.

But, little did I know… how dangerous this demon truly is.

JREBB!!

JREBB!!

"Aakh!!!!"

Another arrow landed on my hip, but that's not what scares me the most.

"Ghahhkk!!!!!!"

I quickly turned to Nico, and realized that he got shot on the stomach as well. Except this time, the arrow landed on his lower left abdomen.

That's the gut… That's not a good place to be shot at.

Seeing how bad things had turned out, I gritted my teeth.

"Nico, run to Alica!! Aunt Linda, protect Nico!!"

I shouted to Aunt Linda, and she nodded. Nico came running to Alica while holding his opened stomach, and I'm sure he could still feel the black arrow still stuck on his stomach.

Arriving next to Alica, Nico quickly took off his bag. Alica got confused as to why Nico handed his bag to her, and Nico tried speaking despite the pain.

"First… aid…"

He muttered, and Alica quickly understood. He opened Nico's bag and hurriedly looked for a first aid kit. After a while, she found it and quickly started using it.

Meanwhile, I was stuck in a battle for my life.

The arrows shot by the demon are much faster than anything I've ever seen. It's faster than a baseball getting hit by the bat. Faster than a bird flying in the skies.

It's as fast as a real bullet, and I have no idea how to dodge them.

So, I did the same thing Nico was doing. I dodged left and right, all while shooting the demon with holy water. Hopefully what I'm doing has any effect, because I can't dodge these black arrows forever.

To my surprise…

SRESH!!!!

"--Fuck!!!"

Another arrow grazed me on my left cheek. It nearly created a hole on my nose, but I moved just in time when it was fired. My left leg was hurting a lot, and I was ignoring it because Nico got shot. But the moment I started moving, the pain appeared again inside my brain, causing my movement to get distorted.

I won't be able to dodge a lot with this wound... What am I supposed to do?

Damn it… there is just no end to this.

What the hell is this demon?? How can it shoot black arrows so quickly and accurately???

Immediately, I had an idea. I turned my gaze towards the flashlight on the ground not far from Aunt Linda, and I quickly opened my mouth.

"Flashlight! Aunt Linda!"

I shouted, and Aunt Linda immediately understood my intentions. She used her wind ability and grabbed the flashlight from the floor. She then handed it to Alica, and the flashlight arrived on her lap magically.

Alica turned the flashlight on, and I can see exactly what we are fighting now.

It's… a rock demon!?

The demon looks like a grown up man, but that's not what is so fearsome about it. Its body seems to be made of rock, a black shiny rock that blends fairly well with the background since it was so dark. It has dark red eyes, and I can see that it is also bald like other demons.

The demon seemed to be holding a long bow on its hands. I can see it pulling the bow string with no arrows, but suddenly an arrow started appearing on the bow string.

The arrow just formed out of thin air, and the demon is very ready to fire it. Seeing this, I quickly jumped to the side.

FLING!!!

The arrow flew past my head, and I was so shocked by how close that arrow was just now. The demon even predicted that I would jump, so it fired sideways to where it thinks I might dodge. It barely misses my face, and I don't even want to imagine what would happen had it landed on my eyes.

Damn it… a demon this powerful can't be cleansed with holy water!?

I've been shooting it with holy water for so long, yet not a single sign of the demon getting hurt can be seen. We've only been fighting for a minute, but there should at least be signs that it got hurt by the holy water. That is just not the case with this demon.

"W-What should I do…?"

I mumbled, and Aunt Linda noticed the confusion on my face.

'Ellie! Can you take care of these two?'

Aunt Linda said, and I immediately realized something.

If holy water can't damage it, then maybe Aunt Linda's abilities can. She has the ability to control the wind, so maybe she can chip the demon's body little by little. I just need a good job of protecting the two people behind her.

Immediately, I started making my way towards Nico and Alica. Aunt Linda noticed me coming, and she started making a move as well.

She flew forward like a ghost and started using her spirit powers. The wind surrounding us turned insane, and the temperature turned much colder. Aunt Linda charged forward with the intention of attacking the demon, and she did not do it half heartedly.

'Haaa!!!!'

VWOOSSHHH!!!!!!

She lets out a shriek as she attacks the demon. I couldn't exactly see what technique she used, but the black rock demon got flung backwards due to her attack. The wind at the entrance turned insane, and both Nico and Alica got affected by the harsh wind.

Aunt Linda went inside the building and started fighting the demon on closer range, while I arrived right next to Alica and Nico.

"How is Nico!?"

I asked panicking to Alica, but she shook her head.

"He's fine! But you…"

"I can still fight. The battle isn't over. We need to get Nico out of here."

I said, and Alica nodded. Nico is still wide awake and is still holding back the pain, but he looks like he is losing too much blood. He might go critical soon, and we have to get him to a hospital as quickly as possible.

I walked to where Nico was lying down and started lifting him up from his left hand. Alica is also helping from the other hand, and we started pulling him up.

"Ready? One. Two--"

"Hupp!"

We managed to lift Nico up, but something else started to happen. Right when we got Nico up, the surrounding area around us started to turn green.

I looked around me, and it looked like an invisible green dome was formed covering the area. It was the same invisible green wall that previously blocked the entrances of the demon hunt locations, but this time, it is covering the entire area and forming a dome.

What is… happening?

These green walls around us…

Does this mean we can't get out?

BAAARRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!

A loud explosion can be felt from the center of the building, and I noticed a large amount of smoke coming out from the top of the building. I realized that there is now a glimmer of light inside the building, and it looks like the sunlight has entered the center part through the destroyed hole that was just formed.

This abandoned building is an abandoned hospital, not a very large one but large enough to have an indoor park inside. Thanks to the light coming in from the hole at the top, I can now see the entirety of the building's insides from the entrance. I also found where the two are located, and they are in the middle of the wide indoor park.

The black rock demon looked untouched, and it was pointing its bow towards a certain direction. It is being shone directly by the sunlight, and I can see very clearly that it is still not damaged in the slightest.

Aunt Linda on the other hand… looked heavily exhausted. She is sitting down on the ground ten meters away from the demon's bow, staring dead straight at the demon, wondering what else she can do to kill the demon.

How… can we get out of here alive…?

In the midst of the paused battle, a pair of eyes are watching from the top of the destroyed hole that was just created. Seeing the battle happening between a demon and a powerful spirit, the watcher grins.

"Looks like my trap worked flawlessly…"