Kamigami – 27 part 2

Sheto unleashed the arrows, which had three layers of blessings.

“As if that would hit me!”

The broad blade was held up, and sparks flew as the arrows bounced off. And then the other Heroes began to move.

‘No matter what, do not stop after this! If you slow down even a little, they will surround and kill you!’
“Aye!”

Sheto turned around and ran. He put his trust in Salia’s eyes, and did not look back. There were some bushes near the side of the road, but not enough to hide behind.

‘Sheto! A greatsword attack is coming!’

He felt a chill with the warning, and he dove to the right.

“Eat this!”

He felt the echo in his stomach, as the impact of the attack gouged out a chunk of dirt from the ground. That alone showed how meaningless defending would be.

‘Gadekie’s Hero can unleash shock waves from his greatsword. Also, he has powerful defense enchantments on his armor. He is simple, but difficult to face.’
“How far do waves go!?”

As he dashed down the slopes, he saw that there were no reinforcements from the top of the mountain.

‘About three times the length of the sword. And it slowly gets weaker the farther it goes! Also, it’s difficult to use when in large groups!’
“Aye!”

From the group that approached from below, Sheto saw one figure move back. Upon seeing what the Hero wielded in one hand, Sheto quickly put away his bow and grabbed the hem of his cape.

“Go! Spirit Bow!”

An arrow of light unleashed from the longbow. Sheto concentrated the blessing all around him into the cape.
Clang.
There was a high-pitched ring, and the arrow was knocked down. The archer was about to shoot a second one, but Sheto was quick to return the attack.

“Gaahhh!”
‘Mijibuni’s Hero is an excellent archer. Though, he has no other abilities. However, the arrows have special effects, and he is able to shoot across great distances.’

“Heroes enjoy too much. Rely on tools. And then tools betray them!”

Even after getting hit, the archer continued to shoot. To the side, a sorcerer held up his staff. Sheto ignored them and continued to run through the forest.

“Frozen Moon Arrow. Burst!”

Spheres of light danced around the sorcerer. They increased to ten, twenty and then a hundred as they were unleashed.

“Tsk!”

‘Sheto! Acorn!’

The silver comets tore through the air as if pulled towards him.
Just then, Sheto tossed out a handful of blessed acorns into the air, knocking down the attacks.

“Wh-what the hell is that!? Acorns!?”
‘Lord Ferimaina’s Hero can strengthen small spells. However, something like Frozen Moon Arrow is nothing. It can be knocked down with blessed rubble quite easily!’
“It’s harder than it looks! And scary! Let me use the cape!”
‘You cannot let the cape and gauntlets get worn out yet! Show your courage!’

Salia said sharply. Sheto closed his mouth and ran up the slope. Eventually, the formation of the Heroes began to scatter, and it was clear that some of them were getting tired.

‘It’ the difference between those with automatic recovery and those without. It’s a good way to stop stamina depletion, but it affects blessing. I hear that gods only use it when they are confident.’
“What should I do!? Counterattack!?”
‘Not yet! Only shoot if there is a good opening. Otherwise, just run away!’
“Fine!”

He unleashed an arrow, knocking down a Hero with a flaming sword, and the Sheto continued to run as if to pass through the side of the mountain.

“That little bastard!”

Gardekie could not help but grind his teeth as he watched what was happening on the other side of the mirror. While no great damage had been done on their side yet, the kobold was still alive and well. In fact, he had not received a scratch yet.

“Evacus! What is the meaning of this!”

He picked up the small rat out of a pot.

‘What do you mean?’
“Its movements! How is it able to read the attacks of the Heroes like that!? Could it be that you’ve been leaking information to Saliashe!”
‘Yes, exactly.’

The betrayal was revealed so casually. There was a second of silence.

“Y-you bastard!”
‘Please do not misunderstand me. This is all part of a plan.’
“What!? What kind of plan involves telling the enemy the abilities of our Heroes!”
‘Well, please look into the mirror once again.’

The sight of the kobold running desperately in the forest. Just as before, he was either dodging attacks or knocking them down.

“What of it! Our attacks are doing nothing…”

However, in terms of counterattacks, he only shot an arrow every now and then. In fact, there were no traps yet, which he was known to be good at.

“Could it be that…”
‘Yes. They have decided that running and dodging is the best course of action, based on the information I gave.’
“I see. He is pretending to face us, but means to escape the encirclement by some other means.”
‘To be precise, I made him do it. He will very likely run to the west fountain now.’

Said Evacus, and Gardekie inspected the mountain terrain once again.
There was the road in the center, and the side where the kobold was running. The mountain with the complex terrain, but little to hide behind.
On the opposite side of the road, to the west, there was an area with cliffs and rocks. And beyond it, there was a waterfall that led to the Elein river.

“They will continue this little game into the night, and once it is dark, he will probably escape to the west.”
‘Even someone like Saliashe would have trouble dealing with this many Heroes. Even with the blessing she is using now, she will likely want to save them to stop future attacks.”
“…Has the dragon god returned yet?”

That was his one concern. The rat shook its head.

‘I have heard no news of that yet. However, I am sure the messenger has already gone. It may not be too long.’
“Evacus. Send word to the other gods. Gather the other Heroes to this place. We must stop it in its tracks.”
‘Certainly.’

The rat was then returned to the pot, and Gardekie stroked his beard as he watched the battlefield.
Evacus was surely a traitor. It did seem like he was sympathetic to Saliashe. However, judging by what he could see now, the kobold was focusing on defense, and also using up his items.

“I can read you.”

Evacus’s Hero was absent from this hunt. He was acting in a way to give Saliashe an advantage, while also avoiding giving Gardekie any fatally wrong information.
In other words, he wanted to exhaust both sides, so that he could come in and eat both.

“Hehe. That little rat really thought he could outsmart me.”

Heroes who had summoning abilities were usually quite weak themselves. Besides, this one was also serving a puny plague god.

“So, what should I do?”

Now he would have to keep Evacus in mind at all times. If his Hero was targeted amidst the chaos of battle, anything could happen.

“Hmm…”

Gardekie stood up and left his god seat. And with a little surprise, he watched as the other gods came out into the square.

“Have you also tired of that wretched rat?”
“I expected you to be slower in realizing it.”

The gods chuckled to each other, all feeling the same. It proved that those who did not come, were all fools.

“Now, let us form an alliance. To destroy the evil goddess, as well as that awful rat.”

The others nodded at Gardekie in agreement.

“Very good. I will tell my Hero to obey the orders of yours then.”
“As will I.”
“When victory is ours, we shall share the spoils evenly.”

They glanced around to be sure that the rat was not watching. Of course, it did not really matter. There was nothing a low-level god like him could do about such an alliance.

Now that Gardekie was satisfied, he sat back down in his chair and brought up a mirror. The other gods watched as well.
The kobold dodged an attack and then unleashed some arrows at a Hero with a sword. It made just a small wound, and then the kobold retreated.
Upon seeing this, Gardekie smiled happily.

“So, what will you do now? Rat.”

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