I Became the 101st Hero – Chapter 97

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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My intuition sharply pointed towards defeat.

However, it was also true that you wouldn’t know unless you tried. It was a sensation I had grown accustomed to.

‘There’s still some distance left.’

Although I couldn’t escape, there was still quite a bit of distance between us. I nocked an arrow.

And I shot it again towards the spearman.

Why bother shooting again when I had just confirmed the presence of Magic Shield?

Because I couldn’t escape, and there was nothing else I could do until they reached me. And there was also a bit of certainty stemming from Seo Yoo-rang’s knowledge.

-Thwack

The arrow, imbued with the Power of Wind, flew quickly and accurately, striking him.

And Overload reinforced the arrow’s power to pierce the leather armor. There was no interference from Magic Shield.

‘Just as I thought.’

Of course, Barrier was a high-level magic that was difficult for candidates to use.

However, Barrier required high concentration and a large amount of mana. So I judged that it might not be possible to cast Magic Shield simultaneously while casting Barrier.

Fortunately, that judgment was correct. The spearman, with an arrow in his chest, soon disintegrated and disappeared.

‘Now there are three swordsmen left?’

Reducing the number of enemies from four to three was a significant achievement.

But that didn’t change the fact that the situation was still dire. The three swordsmen had already closed in on me.

‘They’re monsters.’

They were all fast.

Of course, they were slower than Elsie, who specialized in speed, but the important thing was that there were three of them. And I couldn’t use my sword in this situation.

‘Power of Wind.’

I enveloped myself in the Power of Wind. It would be too late to start accelerating later.

I had to accelerate continuously from now on.

‘Maybe it’s a little too late.’

My Power of Wind was an ability that only became useful when sufficiently accelerated.

But in my current state, it was hard to be certain whether I could reach the desired speed in time. Especially if I had to deal with three people attacking simultaneously, not just one.

I drew my bow again, trying to reduce their numbers even by one. They had already approached quite close, so there was no need to adjust my aim with the Power of Wind.

I shot an arrow, applying only Overload, anticipating the movement of one of the approaching swordsmen.

It wasn’t exactly close range, but it was a close-range shot that was difficult to react to.

But at that moment, his forearm glowed. And a circular, translucent shield was generated from his forearm.

With a dull thud, the arrow struck the shield, and he blocked it.

‘Items?’

I didn’t know how much they were investing just to catch me. Still, the arrow I just shot wasn’t without results.

The impact of the arrow enhanced with Overload was quite strong, so he was pushed back considerably.

This temporarily reduced the number of enemies I had to deal with simultaneously to two.

‘Two left…’

Could I deal with them at my current speed?

It was at that moment, when I had that question, that the tip of the sword raised by the guy running towards me extended.

‘Swordsmanship Class 1 is different, huh?’

His attack range had increased significantly. Then I had even less time.

But in situations like these, it was important to reassess the surroundings.

‘Where’s the other one?’

I quickly turned my head to check on the other one. Although there was a guy attacking me from the front, my purpose was to reassess the situation before dodging.

‘As expected.’

The sword of the guy on the opposite side was also emitting an unusual light. These guys weren’t planning to give me any leeway.

‘Are they planning to overwhelm me at once?’

A desperate situation without a moment’s respite. It was an unexpected person who managed to create a small opening in that situation.

‘Belle?’

She didn’t have any weapons. But she threw herself at the opponent behind me.

The guy cut her down with his sword, too easily, but that action created a small opening.

‘If this is the case…’

A small gap created among the three enemies. It was only for a fleeting moment, but it was enough to create a possibility.

I raised my bow and aimed at the opponent who was attacking with his extended sword.

‘The acceleration is sufficient.’

At least enough to aim at a moving target. Next, I predicted his sword path with my S- rank Swordsmanship sense.

If I predicted the sword path, I could naturally predict his movement as well. A close-range shot that couldn’t tolerate a single miss.

I had to read his movements and accurately pierce his vital point. I focused even more intently on his movements. It was at that moment.

‘His center of gravity shifted!’

He shifted his center of gravity to his left leg. A preparatory movement to turn his body using his left foot as a pivot and swing his sword. …

Or so it seemed. It was a feint.

‘Thorough.’

He hadn’t underestimated me as an archer. It meant he didn’t see me, an archer capable of close-range shooting, as an ordinary archer.

They were dealing with me as if I were a swordsman. I might have been in serious trouble if my Swordsmanship rank wasn’t S-.

I read his feint.

‘A thrust.’

He mixed feints into his center of gravity and steps. But the decisive factor was how he was holding his sword.

It was clearly a grip for thrusting.

‘If he follows up with a thrust here…’

He twisted his body as if to swing his sword at a fierce speed, and then abruptly changed his stance.

But I had already anticipated his movement and calmly moved my bow. And it was the moment he went into the thrusting motion.

‘From here, it’s a straight-line attack.’

Due to the nature of thrusting, his upper body balance was tilted forward.

It was difficult to aim for the neck or heart at this angle. Then, from the moment I anticipated the thrust, there was only one place I was aiming for.

Between the eyebrows.

I had been aiming there from the beginning to the end of his movement. The guy’s expression turned to shock as he realized it.

Crack Before his thrusting sword reached me, the arrow dyed black by Overload pierced his head.

I didn’t have time to wait for his death to be confirmed.

‘There are still two more left.’

There was no time to rest. I immediately turned around. Then I saw the guy behind me swinging his sword.

‘Dangerous.’

A strong light was flashing from the sword. I had seen that light before while observing previous matches.

It was a strengthening ability with quite a bit of power, though not as much as Yuseora’s. Blocking it was impossible. Dodging was too late.

Then there was only one way.

‘Deflect it.’

I held up the arrow I was holding.

The shafts of arrows used by heroes were made of metal, not wood, so although they were thin, they didn’t break easily.

Even deflecting his attack would be quite a burden, so I didn’t use Overload, which would damage the arrow’s durability.

“Kuh-ugh!”

A sharp sound, as if steel was tearing steel apart. But the impact transmitted to my arm told me that the arrow shaft was still enduring.

The impact stopped, and I quickly moved my eyes to check the state of the arrow.

‘If it’s like this…’

The arrow looked tattered from the guy’s sword strike. But the arrowhead was still intact.

There was no time. The guy who had blocked my arrow with his shield and been pushed back was also approaching.

I didn’t create distance from the guy who had just attacked. My right arm ached, perhaps because I hadn’t fully deflected the impact, as I hadn’t used Libero’s swordsmanship.

I switched the arrow to my left hand.

And I instantly lunged at him. He froze, surprised, as if he hadn’t expected me to deflect the attack.

He lacked practical combat experience.

‘Overload.’

I thrust the reinforced arrowhead directly into his neck.

Now only one remained. The last guy, who was quickly approaching and swinging his sword.

Since I had just finished a close-range attack, I couldn’t dodge. The only means I had to block the attack was the bow in my hand.

-Clang

I held the bow in both hands and blocked his sword.

However, because I blocked it in an unstable stance, I, with my relatively lower Strength, was thrown back strongly.

“Kuh…!”

I rolled on the ground and quickly looked up. I saw the guy quickly approaching me again. But I couldn’t nock an arrow.

The bow had broken from the previous defense. That was why you shouldn’t use most holy relic bows as blunt weapons, even if they were quite sturdy.

Of course, it was different here.

‘It’ll recover when I return to reality anyway.’

I barely managed to get up and used the broken bow to crudely block his attack again.

The Power of Wind had been reset by the previous impact. I was now inferior to him in every aspect.

‘I can’t beat this guy.’

There was a large difference in both Strength and speed. The match was practically decided. But I still held on.

I wouldn’t use my sword. I wouldn’t use Libero’s swordsmanship either. The moment I used those two, the very purpose of hiding my identity and coming here would be defeated.

I just endured, even as I was getting battered. But I didn’t feel any regret.

Because…

‘I might have lost this fight, but I won the mock battle.’

The moment I was thrown back by his attack just now, the barrier that should have been there was gone. And finally, I heard a message.

My role wasn’t to defeat all these guys. It was to hold on until Yuseora arrived. And that role was now over.

“You took down three by yourself?”

I didn’t take them down. I had no choice but to kill three of them while trying to hold on.

“Go, Yuseora.”

I almost added “-mon” at the end.

Yuseora ran past me, as I lay sprawled on the ground in an unsightly manner. I watched Yuseora swing her sword.

The sword, dyed black by Overload. As expected of the original, unlike the Overload I used, it had an ominous glow.

She took a large step and swung the sword diagonally.

‘I should fix her posture later when I have a chance.’

Her posture wasn’t satisfactory yet. But its power couldn’t be ignored.

To block Yuseora’s strike, the guy created a shield from his forearm again, but it was as thin as paper.

‘It’s a realm where the idea of blocking doesn’t work in the first place.’

Nothing remained where Yuseora’s strike passed. Soon, messages arrived one after another.

I told you. You won’t know unless you try.

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