Arena Chapter 188-190

Note: Kok.u.ma did not translate the names of the eagles (I can understand why, they're literally named 'first' 'second' 'third' and so forth.), so I decided to use 'Firstborn' 'Secondborn' all the way up to 'Twelfthborn'. (Even though they aren't specifically born in that order…., meh)

The air of war rang out through the Brown Mountain Range.
Entering and exiting the trading post was only permitted to a select few veteran elven warriors, and as for the women and the young elves, they were only told that they were allowed to move between safe cities.
The veteran elves, centered around Derek. Started scouting the entire Brown Mountain Range without any gaps.
It hadn't even been two years since the trading post appeared in the Heinz fiefdom where the elves and the humans were actively trading with each other.
Although it was quite short, the elves of the Brown Mountain Range had ushered in an era of prosperity.
Thanks to that, the Brown Mountain Range was occupied by the most number of elves since the beginning of history.
Receiving the aura of nature emitted from the three Trees of Life, the elves welcomed their golden era.
Weapons that were tempered through high temperature and magic, which elves had difficulty creating, could be provided to the warriors through trading with the human merchants.
Derek was also supplied with two magic swords imbued with durability enhancement magic and was now able to unleash more of his prowess.
However, a time of ordeal was approaching after a couple of years of peace.

'Both prosperity and crisis come from humans.'

Thought Derek as he scouted the area with a few other elf veterans.
The fact that there were three Trees of Life in the Brown Mountain Range was thanks to the help of a human, named Kim.
However, the threat to their well-being was also caused by humans.

'How are we elves supposed to accept humans?'

Kim, friends with the elves despite being human, recommended that the elves should interact with the humans.
He advised that the elves should interact very proactively and learn to differentiate which humans they could befriend, and which humans they shouldn't.
Just as he had told them, the elves of the Brown Mountain Range started to interact with numerous merchants frequently and exchanged goods.
The change that originated from that was definitely a good thing.
Numerous enslaved elves were freed, and the elven warriors became stronger through the provision of magic-imbued weapons.
However, it was as though…….

'…as though we became a part of their society.'

Derek, who had lived for a long time, had a hard time judging whether this was a good thing or not.
He could not get used to the fact that humans were influencing the lifestyle of elves.
However, if this was the way they could not fall behind humans, they had to accept this life.

'Not like I could change anything just by worrying too.'

Derek erased his trivial thoughts from his mind.
No matter what kind of change the elves meet thanks to becoming a part of human society, it did not change the fact that the Brown Mountain Range should be protected as the holy territory of elves.

"There aren't any signs yet."

One elf spoke.
It was one that was around Derek's age.
Derek shook his head.

"They will not show signs when they attack. Let us go elsewhere."
"Yes."

They headed towards the western end of the Brown Mountain Range, summoning elementals regularly to scout around the area without rest. It could be seen just how strong their will was to protect their holy lands.
Although their schedule was arduous, Derek's well-honed concentration did not waver in the slightest.
But at that moment.
Derek was startled and stopped moving.
His actions caused all the others to stop in their tracks as well.

"What is it?"
"Did you see something?"

Instead of replying, Derek glanced towards the south.

"Is there something in the south?"
"We didn't feel anything though."

His colleagues voiced out their questions.
Derek spoke.

"Go on ahead first. I will follow after I check it."
"Okay, then."
"Take your time."

The veteran elves departed first.
Derek left alone, started moving towards the south where he felt a slight presence.
It was very minute, yet ominous.
Derek was only able to notice it as he was on his edge all this time.
When he got through the tall gra.s.s, he was able to find something.
A small green orb was floating in the air.
The green orb was looking at Derek as though it was an eyeball.
Derek glared at the green orb.

"Who are you?"

He questioned.
The green orb did not answer.
However, Derek intuitively knew that the orb was listening to him.

"You are Kajad Pun Aman?"
– I guess I was found out.

The voice rang out with eerie black magic. However, rather than being afraid, the voice sounded very confident.
Derek creased his brows as he felt the black magic energy on his skin.

-And here, I wanted to see my nourishment for myself. You're quite the elf for having discovered the presence of my Eye of the Abyss.
"Nourishment?"
-I am referring to the Tree of Life.

Derek's face turned red in anger.

"And that's your nourishment?"
-Indeed.
"Do you realize the importance it has to us?"
-That, I do.
"Yet you still aim for it?"
-Unfortunately, things turned out this way.
"So you are aware that you are walking the wrong path."
-Just because harm comes your way doesn't mean that I am in the wrong."
"What?"
-Killing and eating animals in order to survive does not make that a sin. In the first place, being right or wrong is different according to different standards.
"So you realize your wrongs from what I hear. I hate sophists like you."
-…….
"Do you think we will let you? I shall definitely slay you with my own hands."
-Haha, I'll be looking forward to that.

Flash!

At that moment, Derek's right hand emitted light.
The time between pulling the sword out of the scabbard and slashing it was too natural and seemed like a flow of light.
The Eye of the Abyss turned into dust after being cut in half.

"Kasa."

Kasa, shaped like a flaming giant, was summoned.
Derek ordered.

"Please tell the others to return. We are returning to the village."

After nodding, the flaming giant flew off to the west.
Derek's face was still stiff.

'The enemy really did show signs.'

We were still staying at Count Wolfenburg's mansion.
A letter containing the royal decree from Alsefon III came from the palace.

[The Aman Imperial Army has started marching towards our nation. There is no more doubt that war is inevitable.
Hence, I decree Count Wolfenburg and his allies to gather at the specified point at the specified date.]

Here, "allies" referred to the examinees. Alsefon III did not know the exact contents of the exam, but he did know that Count Wolfenburg had powerful allies wielding supernatural powers.

"So we should get going now."

Spoke Odin.
I nodded my head.

"Yes. All we can do now is cross our fingers and hope everything goes according to plan."

Odin called all the examinees and told them about the royal decree.
Since everyone had agreed beforehand that they were partic.i.p.ating in the war, there were no objections now.
Everyone decided to depart to the rendezvous area, while I took out my communication device prior to the departure.
I called for Baronet Raymon who was currently training the army at my territory.

– Count Kim?
"Yes. Have you gotten used to using the device now?"
– I can barely manage not getting surprised all the time. My word, such a peculiar device this is.
"Haha, that's good. In any case, we are about to head off to war. Please protect the fief while I'm out."
– Please don't worry about it. Albeit short, the results of training have started showing.
"That puts my mind at ease. I'll call you back later then."
-Yes, I wish for the best, Count Kim.
"Thanks."

After that call, Cha Jihye and I packed up our stuff.
I took out all twelve of my rake eagles.
There were originally 10 of them, but I decided to tame 2 more a while ago.
This was thanks to the fact that I could tame a total of 12 animals with the Animal Taming skill when it was mastered.
I thought about taming another type of beast, but I ended up going with a pair of male and female eagles from the Brown Mountains.
The new ones were named Eleventhborn and Twelfthborn. I fed them a lot during the past few months, so their sizes tripled in the meantime.
In any case, two people rode on one rake eagle. Cha Jihye and I rode on Firstborn's back.
The examinees that weren't able to get on approached me awkwardly.

"Ah, I really hate to do this."
"Nothing will happen to me right?"
"What if I can't breathe……."

How could I not understand their feelings?
I sighed.

"It's completely fine. I showed you the test."

Yes.
The ones that weren't able to get on the eagles were to be taken by me in my Virtual s.p.a.ce.
They were very repulsive towards going inside the Virtual s.p.a.ce, even after showing them a demo with Cha Jihye.

"There there, come on then."
"d.a.m.n, I guess there's no turning back now."

The examinees resigned themselves and approached me. I put them all inside the Virtual s.p.a.ce one by one.
There was one female examinee that refused to enter the Virtual s.p.a.ce to the end. I wasn't able to put her in if she so desired.
However, when I glared at her, the light-skinned girl awkwardly apologized and obediently entered.

"Let's go now, then."

Odin spoke after watching the entire thing.
I nodded my head and ordered the rake eagles.
Twelve large beasts flapped their wings and took to the skies.
We headed north-east in an arrow-shaped formation.
Even while flying, Dana showed his leisure by controlling the satellite with his laptop.

"The Aman Imperial Army is gathering on the northern border. From how the supply chain is quite thick, we may indeed be invaded very soon."

Dana updated us with the new intel.

"Please keep watching over them. They may be using a strategy to cause a commotion with a large army and striking somewhere else with the elites."

Spoke Odin.
He was the only examinee among the ones here who had experience commanding a battlefield, so he took the role of leader for this round. He wasn't lacking in other areas either.

"Understood."

Replying, Dana kept a.n.a.lyzing the information he received through the laptop terminal.
Even though the back of rake eagles were no airplane seats, he was able to do all that on the back of a living beast. He was no ordinary guy.

"It's beautiful.'

Cha Jihye, who rode in front of me, spoke.
As I was hugging her back, I tilted my head.

"Huh? What is?"

She silently pointed towards the west.
The sky was dyed scarlet from sunset.

"…You're right."

Looking at that scene, I felt stunned.
It looked nothing like the bloodbath that would unfold soon.

Note: Sendels isn't (wasn't) a Count. He's a Margrave. The Korean word for it just literally combines the words "Perimeter" and "Count". Though, the author does mix up the two words. I guess this doesn't make a difference to most of you, though. Do you even remember the dude?

"Your humble servant Wolfenbrooke, as well as 32 other people have arrived here per your orders, your majesty."

The 33 of us arrived at the battlefield.
As our representative, Odin showed courtesy to the king.
Alsefon III, who had come to the battlefield himself with his troops, nodded in satisfaction.

"Thanks for coming. Since the Count and the other heroes are here. We may as well have won the war already."

In his words, the n.o.bles around him also laughed in agreement.
This was the northern border of the Arend Kingdom.
The same place where Margrave Sendels, who conspired with the empire, was once protecting.
Margrave Sendels was the one that was executed for his crimes that were uncovered by Yo Jisoo's team.
As the border between the Arend Kingdom and the Aman Empire, there was a pa.s.sageway between the two countries for trading, and it was the core battlefield of this war.
As evidence, most of the forces of both sides were gathered in this place.

"You must be tired after coming all the way here. You may go to the barracks to rest. As for Count Wolfenbrooke, you come and talk with me a little bit."
"Yes, Your Majesty."

Odin left with the king, presumably to discuss the war.

"Please follow us."

We were led to the barracks by some soldiers.
The room I was designated was a small room.
Although the facilities were horrible, as this was prepared for war, there were no problems with living. This was great considering that we were about to go to war.
As Cha Jihye and I revealed that we were husband and wife, we were told to use the same room.

"How would the war go?"

I asked and Jihye replied.

"The forces on both sides are very large, so they will not go into a full-scale battle right away. They will start with the smaller-scale ones and probe each other out."
"Then I guess we won't need to do anything for a while."
"I do not believe that we have to stay pa.s.sive."
"Really?"
"We have the surveillance satellite. We know all of our enemy movements, and there's no reason to let this advantage go to waste. In fact, we can be as daring as we want."

Thinking about it, that was true. We can see all of their moves, so there was no 'probing' to do.

Dana a.n.a.lyzed the locations the Aman Empire put their forces in detail with the satellite.
A report containing a map that marked all those points was given to Alsefon III through Odin.
The report even contained the scale and routes of the supply chain of their enemies, so the king and the n.o.bles were very surprised.
The king asked just how they could look into the enemies with so much detail, but Odin just told them that one of the examinees had such an ability.
It was a great advantage to get detailed information on enemies.
Alsefon III wanted to use this advantage fully and as a result…….

"An ambush?"
"Indeed. Military rations are being moved in large quant.i.ties."

Odin came to me and briefed me on the plan.
Simply speaking, it was to strike their supply chain.
We were aware of the enemy's supply chain in realtime, and we could also fly there very quickly using the rake eagles, so an ambush was very easy to do.

"The quant.i.ties are huge as they have to feed an entire army, but compared to that, there aren't many soldiers guarding it. They have their guards down because the routes aren't battlefields and it's within their country."
"So you want me to fly there and strike them?"
"Yes. You wield the flame elemental, so you can burn those rations, can you not? You don't need to go down there and fight too. You can just snipe from the skies."
Just as he said, the man for the job was me.
There was no reason to refuse.
I nodded my head.

"Okay. I'll do it then."

But at that time, Jihye, who was standing next to me, joined in.

"I'll go with him."
"Is it really necessary to? It will be much faster moving by himself."
"This should not be a one-shot mission."

She started explaining.

"As there are numerous forces distributed throughout numerous areas, the number of units that supply those areas must not be just one either. If you give us their locations through the communication device, we'll keep targeting them."

So that's it.
We had another advantage other than intel and movement speed.
It was communication.
We could call each other real-time regardless of distance.
Jihye had extended the plan to bring damage to all of the Empire's supply chains.
Odin, after thinking about it, nodded his head.

"That's a good plan. I haven't thought that far."

Currently, the Aman Imperial Army was at war against not just the Arend Kingdom, but several other countries surrounding it.
The countries that allied themselves with the Arend Kingdom had all declared war against them, so they couldn't just concentrate their forces on one country.
In other words, there were several supply chain routes leading to different battlefields, meaning that there was more than one unit transporting the supplies.
If we managed to attack all of them and destroy them, we may as well bring the war to victory before it even began.

Though, I could do that by myself as well.
There were two reasons she decided to follow me.
One is to protect me if something dangerous happens.
The other was that one was better than two in regards to mental stability when it came to long-term battle.

Odin relayed her plan back to Alsefon III.
The king permitted the plan with glee. He had no reason to refuse as they would be able to win this war without fighting if this went well.

"Please take this with you."

Dana handed me a small orb just as we were about to depart.
He spoke with a smile.

"It's my Marble of the Abyss."
"The Marble of the Abyss? Why give it to me?'
"Because it will be easier for me to give you orders if I know exactly where you are."

Dana intended to learn our real-time location through the orb. With that, he would have an easier time giving us directions.

"Okay. but isn't it too draining on you to maintain his Marble of the Abyss at long distances?"
"It's no problem. I'm not joining the battle as I have to control the satellite."

With that, Jihye and I got on First's back.

-Do you hear me?

Dana's voice could be heard from the Marble of the Abyss in my pocket.

"Yes, I can hear you fine."
-Okay then. You may depart. You can go south-east.
"The distance?"
-I'll notify you when you are about to arrive.
"Got it."
When I tapped with my feat, Firstborn took off with a flap of its wings. Jihye grabbed round its wings, while I hugged her waist.

There was an endless stream of carriages carrying rations, while cavalry could be seen scouting the area and protecting the procession.
This enormous quant.i.ty of rations was precious food for the armies that would partic.i.p.ate in conquering the world.
If they did not arrive on time, an army of several hundred thousand would starve, so they would not be able to avoid punishment.
Thanks to that, the transportation corps of the Aman Empire had to move without rest.

There weren't just one or two carriages in line. Even if one of them broke, there would be huge consequences to the schedule, so they couldn't help but hurry.

"Please, let them not break."

A middle-aged military officer in charge of the transportation corps sighed.
Since the war began, the military discipline was at an all-time strictness.
As someone who was serving his country in the backwater countryside before the war, he couldn't help but think that he got caught up in something unpleasant just before he was discharged from service.

'Well, I guess it's a good thing that I'm a transportation troop.'

His mission was simple: to transport rations to his allies at the border.
Since the supply route was confined to the territories of the Empire, there were no worries about getting attacked either.

'Really, really fortunate.'

Thought the middle-aged officer.
However, his relief disappeared without a trace exactly ten minutes later, when a rain of fire descended from the skies.

"Wh, what the h.e.l.l?"

He doubted his eyes.
A rain of fire was coming down from the skies.
Ma.s.sive b.a.l.l.s of flame pouring down from absolutely nothing was not within his realm of common sense.
Flicker!
The fireb.a.l.l.s strangely only aimed for the carriages with rations.
Finally, the officer came to himself. There's no way that was a natural disaster!

"We're under attack! Defend yourselves!"

Even as he shouted that, he could not understand himself – just how were they supposed to defend?
Then, the next moment, he realized something important.

"The rations! Move the rations away! Put the fire out and move the rations!

The rations were burning along with the carriages.
The soldiers hurriedly started loading off the rations, but the flaming carriages didn't allow for easy access.

"Find the enemy! There's an enemy magician somewhere!"

He never imagined that it was the doing of a fire elemental.
Archers looked around with bows and arrows in their hands, but there were no signs of enemies.
There may have been countermeasures taken if there were magicians within the corps, but such high-cla.s.s human resources weren't included here.
In the end, dozens of carriages were burnt to ash.
There was no more rain of fire as well.
The rations rescued from the carriages amounted to less than a percent.

"How can this be……!"

The middle-aged officer collapsed. As someone who was just about to get discharged, this was no different from a bolt from the blue.

"That should be about done, right?"
"That will suffice."

I burnt all the carriages carrying rations and supplies, and there were no unnecessary casualties either.
I made Kasa fire a round of fireb.a.l.l.s from extremely high alt.i.tudes, and the effect was very good.

-You've succeeded. Congratulations.

Dana's voice could be heard from the Marble of the Abyss.

"You can see?"
-Yes, I'm watching through the satellite. You've not missed a single carriage.
"Then we'll head off to another one then. Please point us in the directions."
-There's a transportation unit carrying weapons in the north-east. You should be able to find them if you fly there for about an hour.
"Okay, then."

I ordered Firstborn with my heart. After receiving the order through the animal taming skill, Firstborn started flying north-east.
A few minutes later, Dana told us to steer a little towards the right.
This was something he was only able to do as he knew of our position through the Marble of the Abyss.

'Good, at this speed, we can destroy over 10 troops a day.'

The war had just begun.
And the start was very smooth.

Only a week.
That was all it took to set the foot of the Aman Imperial Army on fire.
All of the armies, stationed at the border of the Empire to fight against other countries, did not get their supplies.
The supplies were attacked 13 times in less than one week.
As there was an enormous number for forces at the border in this conquest, the number of supplies was likewise, immense, but they lost all of it.
This was WITHIN the Aman Empire as well.

"How is this happening!"

A martial meeting at the Imperial Palace.
Sultan Saloc, who was in charge of strategy, shouted as he smashed his arm against his armrest.
His va.s.sals couldn't meet eyes with him and only looked down. It wasn't like they knew how this happened, nor did they know what to do in order to counter this.

"How did our enemies learn of our transportation routes in so much detail!"

They changed the route every time as there were worries of being attacked by enemies.
Despite that, they were attacked every single time.
What was even more mind-blowing was the testimony of the soldiers.
Absolutely none of them had seen the enemy, and apparently a rain of fire had descended from the skies.
The attack pattern was the same.
Meaning, that there was a single person behind it.

"Don't tell me it's that traitor?"

One individual had attacked them unknownst to anyone and anything.
Sultan Saloc couldn't help but remember Dana Litalin, who not only interrupted the revival ceremony but also killed High Priest Aprit and even duped every single person here until the last moment.
With his incredible prowess, being able to leisurely flee amongst the attacks of all the other High Priests and Lee Chang-wee, such a thing like this may just be possible.
However, there was one individual that disagreed.

"It is not him."
"Whoa!"

Sultan Saloc was scared out of his wits.
Even the va.s.sals were shocked by the appearance of an old man that appeared from nothing.
However, that shock soon died down.
Everyone here knew who he was.
A tall and burly stature, unbefitting of an old man, magic circles could be seen on his arms and neck, while the rest were covered by his clothes.
This was the 3rd Sultan, Kajad Pun Aman.
Although it wasn't announced to the public, the core members of the Empire all knew of his revival.

"L, Lord Ancestor, what do you mean by that?"

Asked Sultan Saloc very carefully.
Once the supreme leader of the Empire was like a little child in front of him.
This couldn't be helped as Kajad could control the magic governing system to make him abdicate.
This freak had already planned this out several centuries ago.

"If it was magic, then he would not have been able to escape my detection."

The governing system was rooted throughout the entire Empire.
Kajad, as the one controlling it, was able to freely use it as though it was his five senses.

"If there is something I have a hard time sensing, it would be elementalism. Elementalism can avoid my detection since they harmonize with nature and are not so artificial."
"Elementalism, do you mean to say that it's that Kim Hyunho examinee?"
"That should be the case or an old elven warrior from the Brown Mountain Range"

He continued.

"In any case, we will not be able to handle him with the army, so we should counteract with someone that can counter him."
"Understood, then I shall make some of the Second Advent Life and Death a.s.sociation go undercover."
"All of them."
"…….What?"

Sultan Saloc asked back in surprise.

"Send all of them. Send all of our dark magicians and the examinees on our side. As the examinees on their side decided to proactively interfere, we have no need to let precious fighting power rest, right?"
"B, but Lord Ancestor, they may infiltrate the palace aiming for you."
"HAHAHA!"

Kajad laughed as though he heard the funniest joke ever.

"I couldn't thank them more if they came here to catch me. I will be much better to kill all of them here and devour their souls!"
"I, I guess that's the case……."

Sultan Saloc remembered back to the chilling event when Kajad instantly annihilated the High Priests.
Just who could go against that overwhelming monster?
Even the n.o.bles gathered in the palace hall had pale faces.
The conversation between the current monarch and a revived monarch from centuries ago, sounded very crazy to be spoken within a palace.
No one knew just where this country was heading.

-I think you should come back now.

Dana's voice could be heard through the Marble of the Abyss.
I tilted my head.

"Already?"
-There are dark magicians and Lee Chang-wee's company in the transportation troops this time. Although they're disguised as ordinary soldiers, we have them in our facial recognition database, so I was able to discover them easily.

What a fine surveillance satellite.

"So they threw the bait in order to catch me."

Well, it was good, since we were about to fall for it.

-And since they were at it, they decided to transport a lot of supplies. It seems that Lee Chang-wee and the dark magicians will come to the front lines.
"So it's all going according to plan."
-Yes, though, that plan would only be complete if Kajad decides to move towards the Brown Mountain Range.
"Anyway, we managed to drag them out, so I'll be returning to base."
-Please do.
"Buuut, I'll give them a greeting before I get back.
-I should warn you that you shouldn't get so close.
"Don't worry about that. There's no need for us to get close. Just tell us the position of the transportation troops."
-You can head north-west from where you are.

After conversing with Dana, I controlled Firstborn to head north-west.

"What do you plan to do? Is there a need to go to the trap that our enemies have dug?"

Cha Jihye, who was riding with me, asked.
Naturally, I had no hobbies of enjoying the thrill of getting caught in traps.

"I'll snipe them a few times from a long range. Then, they should be watching out for sniping as they are coming to catch me."
"A psychological battle, huh. Not bad."
"And if we're lucky, we'll bring down the big shots like Lee Chang-wee."

We kept flying north-west until Dana finally called.

-You're close to them now. Please watch out.
"What's our distance?"
-Around 10 kilometers.
"Okay then. Arm!"

Flash!

The anti-material sniper rifle, the Neilson R3 summoned.
The combined power of the 20mm barrel rifle, Ammo Adjustment skill, and Elementalism was enough to kill a man from 5 to 6 kilometers away.
I looked through the scope and did indeed see a procession of transportation troops.
They were carrying a huge quant.i.ty of supplies just as Dana had said.

"Sylph, aim at Lee Chang-wee for me."
-Nyaan.

Sylph wrapped the barrel of the rifle with its tail and adjusted the direction.
I could see Lee Chang-wee through the scope.
Although the distance was far, and the image was vague, I could tell that it was him.
He was disguised as an ordinary soldier, walking amongst the procession.

'Should I aim for when he's a little more off guard?'

I only watched them from afar and did not pull the trigger.
An unknown amount of time pa.s.sed before the procession came to a halt.
A few of the soldiers were on guard duty while the others rested.
Lee Chang-wee, who I was aiming for also rested his back against a tree and closed his eyes.

'Yes!'

I put my index finger against the trigger.

"Sylph, Kasa, get ready."
-Nyaan
-Woof

Kasa was summoned as on my shoulders and we started to prepare to shoot.
I pulled the trigger. As Sylph blocked the sound, it was completely silent.

Swooosh!

The 20mm AP-I (Armor Piercing – Incendiary) bullet, that had nearly as much power as a mortar, straight flew towards Lee Chang-wee's head.
However, I could see that it hit an invisible membrane through the scope.

'Shield magic?'

Lee Chang-wee was startled thanks to that and guarded his surroundings.
Along with him, all the other corrupt examinees got up and readied themselves for battle.

'What was that?'

I couldn't hide my surprise at the fact that I couldn't kill him.
Theoretically, it was indeed possible to stop my sniping with an aura shield.
However, how were people supposed to know when or where I was shooting? It wasn't like they could put up the shield for 24/7.
From Lee Chang-wee's surprised face, he didn't seem to be aware of my shot either.

"How did it go?"

Jihye asked.

"I failed. There was some sort of shield magic in place."
"They shouldn't have put that up knowing about your attacks."
"That's true. That's why it's more strange. Just what trick did they use?"
-It should be an item.

The answer came from Dana.
His voice could be heard from my pocket, where I stored the Marble of the Abyss.

-There is plenty of magic armor with shield magic imbued in them.
"Magic armor?"
-Yes, but the absolute majority of these magic armor is that the magic is activated through a voice command. There is no such thing as armor that's self-activated upon detection.
"Then what the h.e.l.l is that?"

The entire procession of the troops was on guard now.

-That is not a magic armor humans are able to make. I can imagine what kind of rewards he exchanged his karma for in the last exam.

Only then did I realize what was happening.
A while ago, Lee Chang-wee eradicated Heising's faction when he was taking over the Chinese Arena a.s.sociation.
As he had killed numerous corrupt examinees, he had gained enough karma points to cancel out his negative karma and then some more.
It seemed that he exchanged those points for that very armor.

'It looks like he prepared himself to fight me.'

Choosing an item to defend and not on skills…. It seemed that my sniping was scary indeed.
"He's got a pesky item this time."
-It is a great success that we got to find out about it. Please, don't go any further and come back.
"That's what I'm planning to do.

I controlled Firstborn to flee this place immediately.
Since I ran away immediately after firing from 5 kilometers away from them, they could not find me.

Note: I am trying to use the terms used by Kok.u.ma in the past (the previous chapters should have changed as well…), but I really don't like these Chinese names used here.

Lee Chang-wee should be something like – Li Qiangwei
And Heising should be something like – Hei Xing