We closed the distance toward each other, and the [Hero] moved first.
He swung his sword to slash at me.
I evaded it at the very last moment.
Right after his swing, his chest was wide open with no guard. I swung my own sword toward that gap.
Schwarzhause still had [Sharpness Zero] active, so it wouldn't cut him in half.
The blade closed in on the [Hero]—but suddenly it was stopped by something invisible, preventing it from reaching him.
(Again. It feels like I'm being pushed back with equal force from the opposite side… But what is this uncomfortable feeling…?)
I immediately eased the strength in my swing, stopped resisting the pushing force, and leaped back to create distance.
As I retreated, I activated [Aero Shock] near his face—but it didn't reach him either.
However, the dust cloud raised by [Aero Shock] made it clearly visible: an invisible spherical force field surrounded the [Hero].
This force field was likely the reason my sword and magic couldn't reach him.
Little by little, I was starting to understand his unique ability.
After gaining distance from the [Hero], I followed up by activating multiple [Thunder Arrow].
Lightning arrows flew toward him, but he stood still without any sign of dodging.
The moment the arrows touched the spherical force field, their trajectories bent as if avoiding the [Hero], curving along the surface of the sphere and passing harmlessly around him.
As the arrows passed, the [Hero]'s body blurred.
In the next instant, he was at my left side, swinging his sword horizontally in a wide arc.
I had [Reflective Wall] on standby—I activated it right under his feet.
The moment he stepped forward to swing, his foot landed on [Reflective Wall].
He bounced upward like a spring.
At the peak of his jump, with a look of confusion on his face from suddenly being launched into the air, I activated [Thunder Shock].
Countless magic circles appeared, covering him from all directions.
Lightning struck from every angle toward the airborne [Hero].
But once again, his unique ability blocked it—none of the attacks reached him.
(He can handle all directions simultaneously? Then next—)
"[Magic Sword Union]…!"
I transformed Schwarzhause into a magic sword and swung it.
I released the condensed mana as a slashing attack toward the [Hero].
I'd thought that if omnidirectional attacks wouldn't work, then a higher-powered single strike might—but even at close range, the diffused mana attack was blocked. The [Hero] remained unscathed, hovering in midair and looking down at me.
The corner of his mouth curled up slightly.
An indescribable chill ran through my entire body.
"—!?"
I trusted my instincts and instantly transformed Schwarzhause into a shield.
I held the shield face toward the [Hero]—just as he casually swung his sword downward.
There was physical distance between us. Swinging a sword from there wouldn't reach. It didn't look like he was sending a flying slash either.
Yet—
"Guh—!?"
Something I could only describe as an invisible mass of air slammed down with overwhelming weight.
I desperately braced the shield, fighting against the crushing force.
The pressure didn't weaken at all. Even though I endured, the ground couldn't.
Centered on me, a radius of several meters caved in.
The unstable ground caused me to lose balance and slam into the earth.
"…Ugh… guh…"
Somehow managing to stay conscious, I immediately cast recovery magic on myself and stood up, locking eyes with the [Hero] still looking down at me.
"…That much damage from taking that?"
My heightened senses—thanks to ki activation—caught the [Hero]'s quiet mutter.
(Casually swinging a sword and changing the terrain like that… It's definitely his ability at work, but even so…)
I desperately searched for a way to buy time—but concluded that head-on clashes wouldn't let me endure for long.
I activated [Space Leap] and jumped to a densely wooded area in the mixed forest to hide.
The [Hero] scanned from midair, searching for me.
"…Did you run?"
I wanted to flee right now if possible. But I couldn't.
Running away here would be a terrible move for Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky's future.
I had no intention of dying, but I couldn't decide to retreat yet.
(Starting from a long distance wastes effort, but no choice.)
I constructed multiple attack spell formulas in my mind and manifested magic circles far away, pouring mana into them.
Attack magic launched toward the [Hero] from various directions.
Since they were all beginner-level spells, the power wasn't much.
The [Hero] didn't seem to care at all—his spherical force field deflected the spells' trajectories just like before.
But that was fine.
I just needed to keep him aware that I was still in this area—attacking irregularly to buy time.
During that time, I'd think of a way to defeat the [Hero].
But I wouldn't be able to buy much time.
If the [Hero] kept swinging his sword like earlier and kept collapsing the ground around him, I'd eventually be flushed out.
I needed to come up with the next plan before then—
While thinking that, I heard a creaking sound from the tree I was hiding in.
No—not just this tree.
The same sound came from every tree around.
A bad premonition hit me. I quickly moved away from the tree—and the tree slowly rose as if something was pulling it up from above.
"...Huh?"
Then all the trees in the area rose to the same height as the [Hero] and stopped moving.
With nothing left to hide behind, I was naturally—
"…There you are."
—spotted by the [Hero].