Dimensional Descent

Leonel’s palm flipped over, revealing a sleek and simple bow. It was the very same bow he had gotten from the Camelot Zone.

Though it was just a Quasi Bronze treasure, when it came to this battlefield, it was already among the best weapons in appearance. And… when it came to matters of marksmanship, Leonel truly didn’t need anything more than just this.

In the blink of an eye, half a dozen arrows appeared on Leonel’s bowstring at once. As though he hardly needed to calculate anything, they shot outward, piercing through the throats of just as many birds in what felt like an instant.

No amount of maneuvering seemed to matter. With every light breath Leonel took, another ‘bird’ fell from the sky. His single arrow seemed to be capable of covering the whole battlefield. No matter how many barricades you stood behind, no matter how much effort you put into running, it was all meaningless.

Leonel’s body and the bow seemed to vanish. No, it wasn’t that it had vanished, but rather that they seemed to have become one.

The twang of the bow string was no different from a flex of Leonel’s arm or a whipping of his leg. The curve of the bow’s body was no different from a tensing of Leonel’s spine and a priming of his heart.

It had been so long since Leonel used a bow, rather choosing to rely on his Crafting skill to create powerful sniper rifles. The only reason he was using it now was because he realized that it was a more efficient use of his stamina. Even though the sniper rifle didn’t drain him like it once did in the past, it still packed a punch.

However, Leonel never expected to suddenly become immersed in this feeling he hadn’t touched upon in such a long time. There was something about the bow that existed on a plane separate from the gun.

No matter how hard Leonel tried, he always felt that there was a barrier between him and his guns truly breathing as one. And yet, that barrier seemed to be as thin as a sheet of wet paper when he picked up his bow.

Leonel asked himself the same question he had asked of his spear.

What was so special about Bow Force?

It was a funny question because Leonel wasn’t even certain that he had ever used Bow Force before. Had he ever grasped it? In truth, he wasn’t really sure. He thought he had, maybe, possibly. But, had he really? Likely not.

For a long while, he hadn’t felt that there was any difference between the weapon Forces. They just made things sharper, right? In that case, why grasp Bow Force when he could just attach Spear Force to his arrows? Wasn’t it the same thing regardless?

Unknowingly, Leonel had restricted his Bow Force in this way, making what he had comprehended from Merlin’s Trial quite benign and useless.

So, he asked himself again.

What separated Bow Force from other Forces?

It felt like the answer was Range again. In fact, it felt like the answer was Range times ten. But Leonel felt unsatisfied with this answer. It wasn’t because this answer was wrong. In fact, it was correct. The reason he was unsatisfied was because he felt that it was too simple…

Leonel fell into a trancelike state. His fingers moved faster and faster and the arrows he released seemed to blot out the skies all on their own. Before the boat had even crossed from two kilometers away to just a single kilometer, more than half of the birds in the sky had been slaughtered.

At that moment, Leonel entered the range of the Crars marksmen and they began to try to snipe him out of the skies before Leonel could get to them. But, that was when something Radlis, Libli and the twins would never forget in their lifetimes happened.

Leonel’s speed hit a new gear. He ran out of arrows and simply began to form them with his Earth Force. His arm became like a blur and the bowstring often didn’t even have a chance to settle before he slotted another arrow in and pulled.

At that moment, they all witnessed a single bowman facing off against dozens. Leonel sent out several volleys, his arrows perfectly clashing with the ones the Crars marksmen released.

At first, it was even and they seemed to have reached a stalemate. The clashing in the skies grew resounding, flashing lights of all colors coming from one side only to be blocked by a curtain of bronze from another. It was as though the arrows had become no different from droplets of rain rebounding against one another in the sky.

But then, the situation changed.

Leonel’s arrows began to skim against the sides of the oncoming arrows. It seemed that he had missed at first, but then it became clear that a single one of Leonel’s arrows began to disrupt the path of two others. Then three others. Then four others.

BANG!

A surging aura burst from Leonel’s body. A golden spear light flickered into and out of existence on Leonel’s forehead as though it was fighting back against something, but it was to no avail.

Leonel’s arrows suddenly gained life of their own. Rather than speeding up, his pace suddenly slowed. And yet, under the astonished gazes of those watching on, it wasn’t Leonel who began to lose, but rather the marksmen of Crars.

Leonel took a light breath, an arrow releasing along with his exhale.

It curved through the skies, skimming against the side of one arrow after another. It used the arrows of the Crars marksmen almost like a race track, its trajectory curving along as though it had a mind of its own.

Then…

SHUUU!

The neck of a ‘bird’ was pierced right through, the very first one to be felled in the last several exchanges. It felt as though the battlefield had fallen into an eerie silence, a single young man with a blazing aura becoming the center of attention.

Range was indeed too simple to describe Leonel’s feelings for the bow. When he held it in his hands, he had an indelible confidence.

What separated Leonel’s Bow Force from his other Forces? It was the fact it was his Bow Force.

‘With a single arrow, I can do anything.’

A mighty violet fog billowed to life around him.