We're All Sharpshooters

Yetius soon put his battle plan into action.

Yetius lunged at Lilia, raising a forelimb and sweeping it toward her in a claw strike.

Lilia showed no fear. She raised her shortsword to meet him, apparently ready to try out the Heroic Strike she had just learned.

"Watch out!" Rhode hardly expected her shortsword to do anything to such a huge Abominable Snowman. He hurriedly moved all his little Mage Hands in front of Lilia, trying to block the claw strike.

Yetius was indeed powerful. The claw struck the Mage Hands hard enough to scatter every last one.

Then Yetius roared again and lunged at Lilia once more.

This time, he went straight for her with his jaws, looking ready to knock her down and bite her neck.

Rhode fired a fireball.

In his panic, he had no time to charge the spell. The Fireball was cast almost instantly, but that also left it with very little power.

Still, it was enough.

The fireball struck Yetius square in the face. Although it did little damage, it set his facial fur alight and, more importantly, interfered with his vision.

Yetius let out a harsh howl and turned his gaze toward Rhode.

Now he finally understood that unless he dealt with this adult, he would never be able to handle the child.

He immediately changed tactics, arriving at the same conclusion as Rhode: take down the leader first.

And so Yetius swiftly lunged at Rhode.

But in the brief moment Yetius hesitated, Rhode's second fireball came flying at him.

It was aimed at his head again.

Yetius was ready this time. He crossed his hands-no, his claws-in front of his face and took the fireball head-on.

One fireball followed another.

Rhode feared that if Yetius got even a moment to breathe, he would immediately pounce on him, so he kept bombarding him with instant-cast fireballs.

But these fireballs were far too weak, and with Yetius blocking them all with his claws, they barely did any damage.

If this battle of attrition continued, Rhode might end up getting the worst of it.

Small fireballs cost little mana, but they still cost something. He could not keep firing them forever.

"Lilia, get behind him and hit his head with a full-power fireball!" Rhode shouted.

"Okay, Rhode." Lilia obediently slipped behind Yetius.

Yetius was busy defending against Rhode's stream of fireballs and failed to notice Lilia's movements.

Even if he had noticed, he probably would not have cared much. After all, she was just a little girl under ten. Even with a sword, surely she could not cut through the thick hide of such a massive Abominable Snowman.

So Lilia set her shortsword on the ground and began charging a fireball.

The process took roughly four or five seconds.

Following Rhode's instructions, she poured all her mana into it and launched the fireball at full power.

The fireball struck the back of Yetius's head.

Even fully charged, Lilia's fireball was not particularly powerful. But Yetius had been focused entirely on Rhode in front of him, and the back of the head was probably a vulnerable spot for any creature, so the hit looked rather painful.

Yetius let out an enraged roar and turned to look at Lilia.

Lilia picked up her shortsword and hopped backward. "Come on, you big monster!"

Here's my chance.

Yetius had never expected this little girl to be capable of hurting him, so he once again chose Lilia as his prey.

This aggro's all over the place. That's what happens without a tank.

Rhode seized the opportunity to charge a fireball of his own.

Three seconds later, a fireball the size of a washbasin burst forth and flew toward Yetius's back.

Why not charge it a little longer?

Lilia was already in serious trouble. She had been forced into a corner and was sitting on the ground. He could not spare another second!

Boom!

The huge fireball struck Yetius square in the lower back.

Yetius let out a cry of anguish.

Along with pain, the sound held a measure of disbelief.

After blocking so many of Rhode's fireballs, he had assumed that was all the human's magic could do, which was why he had felt safe going after Lilia.

He had never expected this one to hurt him so badly!

Yetius turned around again, then staggered backward and landed on his rear.

When such a huge, heavily built monster sat down, Rhode felt the entire ground shake.

The fireball had blasted a deep crater into his lower back, exposing a bloody, mangled wound. The fur around its edges was still burning and crackling.

Although the fireball had inflicted a serious wound, it did not seem enough to kill him.

By the time Rhode readied himself again, Yetius was already back on his feet.

He growled low, the bulging flesh around his mouth trembling constantly. His open jaws revealed sharp fangs as long as an adult's fingers.

He circled Rhode, seemingly searching for an angle to pounce from.

Rhode's last fireball had consumed a considerable amount of mana, and he needed a moment to recover, so he was in no hurry to attack again.

After they circled for a while, Rhode reached the wall and held out his hand. Lilia took it and stood up. "What a tough monster."

"He is a named boss, after all."

They could hear blood dripping from the monster's lower back onto the floor, where it hissed against the sun-heated tiles.

Yetius stopped circling.

Was he whimpering and backing away?

Yetius had no qualms about killing weak intruders, but these enemies looked like trouble.

His underlings were frozen in place and could only watch, while he himself was badly wounded.

He did not want to suffer any more serious injuries.

For one thing, they might make hunting difficult in the future. For another, he might no longer be able to keep his underlings in line.

In the world of monsters, a leader had to be strong-the strongest in the tribe.

What he needed now was to hide and lick his wounds. He was beginning to think of retreat.

Lilia said, "He looks like he wants to run."

"I see that," Rhode said. He slowly stepped forward, and Yetius backed away even faster.

Rhode began charging a fireball. After that brief respite, he could produce another large fireball with real killing power.

Yetius turned and ran. Rhode hurried after him.

He could not let him escape.

Even setting aside the bounty he needed to complete, leaving such a dangerous monster alive would mean untold harm to innocent people.

Yetius ran fast, but fortunately, his injury slowed his steps somewhat.

More fortunately still, the stretch of ground outside the cave was covered in low shrubs and grass. Even the trees were short, leaving a clear line of sight.

Rhode stopped, aimed at Yetius, and began charging a fireball.

This time, he put almost everything into it, reserving only a tiny bit of mana to defend against the frozen Abominable Snowmen in the cave.

Now Rhode was like a cold-blooded sniper, taking aim at his quarry as he fled in the distance.

He even hummed a song:

"We're all sharpshooters, every bullet takes down an enemy..."

At last, the fireball launched.

This fireball was half again as large as the last, roaring toward Yetius in a blaze of searing flame.

Another boom rang out!

Yetius fell to the ground.

This is the end of the road for you.