I Am a Villain, So What?-Chapter 183: Ruins [4]

My stamina was draining fast. My muscles burned, and my knuckles were bruised.

I ducked under a shamshir, grabbed a Wraith by its tattered collar, and shoved it into the path of another attacker. I pulled the trigger of the Reaver, blowing a hole through both of them, but three more instantly took their place.

The horde was pushing me back. I was only two steps away from where Elisha was standing.

Damn it. It didn’t work.

I gritted my teeth. I had pushed the gamble too far. I couldn’t wait any longer. I dropped my left hand to my ammo pouch, my fingers brushing against the cold, smooth casing of a highly explosive gem round. I was going to have to end this myself.

Just as my fingers closed around the shell—

THWACK.

A sharp, violent snapping sound echoed directly behind my ear.

A streak of brilliant crimson light tore past my shoulder so fast I felt the heat of the mana burn the edge of my coat. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The crimson arrow struck the leading Desert Wraith squarely in the center of its forehead. The physical core inside its skull shattered instantly.

The arrow didn’t stop there. Infused with piercing mana, it blew clean through the first Wraith’s skull and buried itself deep into the chest of the Wraith standing directly behind it, detonating in a localized burst of kinetic force that threw the monster backward.

Two piles of black sand hit the floor simultaneously.

I paused, lowering the shotgun slightly.

"Get down, Cadet Lucien," a cold, perfectly steady voice ordered from behind me.

I didn’t hesitate. I dropped to one knee.

Three more crimson streaks screamed over my head in a rapid, continuous barrage. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Three more Wraiths collapsed into dust, their cores completely pulverized before they could even raise their blades.

I looked back over my shoulder.

Elisha was standing tall. Her eyes were sharp, clear, and completely devoid of fear. Her posture was flawless. She was nocking, drawing, and firing arrows with a terrifying, mechanical rhythm.

The Empire’s premier archer had finally woken up.

*****

A streak of brilliant crimson light tore past my shoulder, moving so fast I felt the heat of the mana burn the edge of my coat.

The arrow didn’t just pierce the leading Desert Wraith. It acted like a high-explosive laser, skewering a dozen Wraiths in a perfectly straight line before slamming directly toward the stone throne.

At that exact moment, a massive wave of hyper-compressed sand surged from the floor, swallowing the crimson arrow.

But Elisha’s mana didn’t just fizzle out. The arrow detonated inside the sand wall, causing a massive, concussive explosion.

What incredible firepower.

The shockwave blasted the sand dust across the cavernous hall. As the dust settled, I saw that the mummified Regent and its throne remained unscathed, but Elisha’s shot had successfully carved a wide, empty path through the middle of the undead army.

The horde of Wraiths seemed to freeze, disrupted by the sudden, overwhelming bombardment.

A shaky voice came from behind me.

"Sorry," Elisha said, her breathing heavy but steady. "I was... too late, wasn’t I?"

I had no intention of nitpicking. Trauma from watching a family member die wasn’t something you just snapped out of instantly. The fact that she had broken through the panic attack at all was a massive victory.

"No," I said, keeping my eyes on the throne. I didn’t bother turning around. "Your timing was perfect."

It was worth the wait. Elisha’s raw, long-range firepower was incomparably stronger than my buckshot. This was the result of a genius talent, endless resources from a Ducal family, and relentless, agonizing practice.

I briefly opened the System and checked her status.

[Status Window: Elisha Ravenscroft]

[Role: Magic Archer]

[Skill List:]

[Ravenscroft Secret Archery: Lv. 7]

[Archery Proficiency: Lv. 6]

[Mana Control: Lv. 8]

[Condition: Trauma (In Recovery)]

Her foundational skills had spiked. She was finally stepping into her true potential.

"I’m counting on your support fire," I said, locking my combat knife onto the underbarrel lug of the Reaver shotgun to act as a makeshift bayonet.

"Got it!" Elisha replied, her voice ringing with newfound confidence.

I charged forward.

I drove the bayonet into the chest of the closest Wraith, ripped it out, and smashed the stock of the gun into the skull of the next. I ducked under a rusted shamshir, landed a heavy front kick to push the enemy line back, fired a spread of buckshot, and immediately retreated a step.

A split second later, Elisha’s bombardment rained down.

Crimson arrows poured over my shoulders like a localized meteor shower, accurately picking off the Wraiths I had staggered.

"Again," I ordered.

"Got it!"

Close-range brawling, parrying blades, knocking enemies back with raw physical strength, scattering them with shotgun blasts, followed instantly by Elisha’s pinpoint artillery. The synergy clicked perfectly, like a duo that had rehearsed the formation a thousand times.

Repeating this brutal rhythm, the sheer number of Desert Wraiths visibly dwindled.

I glanced at the throne. The glowing earthen crystals in the Regent’s crown seemed slightly dimmer. The undead lord was burning its mana reserves to sustain the horde, and we were bleeding it dry.

But my muscles were burning, and Elisha’s breathing was growing ragged. We were getting tired.

It was time to end this.

"Elisha, prepare a piercing shot," I called out, crushing a Wraith’s skull beneath my boot. "That first shot you fired at the throne—can you do it again?"

"Huff... I can! Even stronger!"

I felt a massive, chilling wave of mana gathering behind me. The air temperature actually dropped as she compressed the energy into her bowstring.

"I’m moving in!" I yelled.

I charged straight down the center of the hall, drawing the remaining Wraiths toward me. If I didn’t hold their aggro, they would swarm Elisha before she could finish charging her shot.

A shamshir grazed my cheek. The cut was shallow, and the Rune of Vitality immediately began stitching it closed, but the fact that I couldn’t dodge it cleanly meant my stamina was redlining.

"I’m ready, Lucien!" Elisha shouted.

"Shoot!" I yelled back, keeping my eyes locked on the Regent.

"Move out of the way first! I’ll hit you!"

"Shoot!"

"No! Move! It’ll kill you!"

"Fire the damn arrow, Elisha! I will dodge it!"

The arrow didn’t fire.

"If you can’t trust your vanguard, we both die in this room!" I roared, parrying a blade.

"Ugh... fine!" Elisha bit her lip. "I trust you!"

THWANG.

The bowstring snapped forward. A massive, concentrated beam of red light shot straight down the hall like a laser.

My Sixth Sense screamed as the lethal mana approached my spine.

I channeled mana into my legs and triggered my spatial footwork.

Blink.

My body vanished from the center of the corridor, reappearing in the air five feet to the left.

Elisha’s full-powered shot passed cleanly through the exact empty space where my chest had been a fraction of a second ago.

The mummified Regent flinched. Its hollow eye sockets flared with panic, and it released a furious burst of mana.

A massive tidal wave of dense sand erupted from the floor to intercept the attack.

This was exactly the setup I needed. Elisha’s attack was the bunker-buster.

The crimson arrow slammed into the sand wall. The sheer force of her mana detonated, completely obliterating the Regent’s sand defense and scattering a massive dust cloud across the throne.

Now.

While I was still in the air, I racked the pump of the Reaver. I had already loaded one of Merle’s most expensive, specialized rounds into the chamber—an Obsidian Gem bullet inscribed with an armor-piercing magic circle.

I aimed through the falling sand and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The black bullet tore through the dust cloud, flying straight toward the exposed Regent.

The undead lord tried to raise another sand wall, but it was too slow. The bullet struck an invisible, dome-like barrier surrounding the stone throne itself.

The magic circle etched onto the obsidian casing flared to life. The specialized spell granted the bullet extreme sharpness, designed specifically to destabilize mana shields.

The obsidian warhead tore straight through the barrier like paper and struck the Regent’s head.

CRACK.

The impact didn’t kill the undead lord, but the sheer kinetic force violently snapped its head back. The jagged gold crown, embedded with the glowing Primordial Earth crystals, was dislodged.

It flew into the air, fell to the stone floor below the throne, and rolled away.

The mummified Regent let out a horrific, gargling shriek. It convulsed violently on the throne before slumping over entirely. The sinister light in its eye sockets completely vanished.

I landed heavily on my boots, keeping the shotgun raised.

I waited for the remaining Desert Wraiths to swarm me.

Nothing happened.

I looked around the hall. Without the Primordial Crown feeding them mana, every single Wraith in the room had instantly collapsed, dissolving into harmless piles of mundane sand.

The cavernous hall fell completely silent.

An undeniable victory.