Thinking for a short moment, Iranueel began to cast a spell. His skin turned to a metallic grey colour and looked really tough. He evaluated his mana usage and the duration of the spell and was content with its power. They had 5 minutes until the spell ended and he could cast it 5 times in a row, so he casted it on Misako also and then meditated for a minute to regain his mana.

“Let’s get them! On 3 we run as fast as possible. You take the path right and I take the left one, so they have to divide their fire. Any questions?”

Misako bobbed her head and took position.

“1…2…3!”

And then they ran like the devil incarnated was on their back. Iranueel broke through the undergrowth and sprinted down the path that was limited by broken stones knee high. The ground was made with pebbles that made each step slippery, but he had made his choice and it was to late to change it.

His look alternating between the ground, Misako and the village he discovered movement on a roof. A reflection of light warned him just in time. He took a fast dive to the left and rolled on the ground to get to his feet again.

The loud and sharp sound of gunfire resonated in the valley. Iranueel didn’t take a look back to watch the damage the bullet caused fearing to weaken his will.

He now saw the shooter on the roof holding a big rifle. So it was a singleshot sniper rifle. He could guess that a single bullet could take him out easily. The guy loaded his gun again and took aim on him.

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Iranueel had crossed near a third of the way and this punk could shoot 2 times again and there was a good chance for a hit for him, so Iranueel had to take care of this problem some way.

He had never tried his mind magic and the distance was a bit greater than he would like to normally cast a spell but there wasn’t much an alternative. All he needed was just a little distraction. So he stopped hard and casted a spell that should make his enemy see him only half a meter to his right. The less the influence the less power the spell used and the greater the chance for the suggestion.

He didn’t know if the spell was successful or not, but Iranueel dashed forward for all it’s worth.

The bullet missed him only a margin but the shock wave it caused almost knocked him over. His head hurt like somebody had used it as a bell and hammered it with the biggest clapper available. Without his protection spell his head would have popped like an air balloon.

If that was the feeling of a super sonic projectile just passing by, he really didn’t want to be hit by it. Whatever size this bullet was, he was sure, that he would look real bad in case of a strike.

Iranueel recognized now that there seemed to be only this one shooter, because there was no other gunfire and movement before him.

The farmers hurried to close their windows and doors and ran for their houses, knocking the doors shut. Children crying and women screaming, the village was in a tumult. Everywhere was movement and he couldn’t take it all in because he had first to get the rest of the way.

Curses could be heard from the roof and the reloading of the rifle. Iranueel made a hard sprint in a zigzag pattern to make the aiming harder for the shooter. But every lucky streak had to end sometime and just before he left his enemy’s shooting range the last bullet made connection with his left arm.

Pain and shock exploded in his already hurting brain and the force of the impact left him tumbling to the ground, hitting it hard and sliding to a stop. He saw his arm separated at the elbow and only connected by a thin skin tissue. Blood splashing out of it and colouring the ground red.

His HP were down to only a third and driving home to nothing. He was out of the shooters rifle range but there was a high chance that this guy had also a pistol and was ready to use it.

Iranueel knew it would hurt like crazy but he had to close the wound. So he used a fire spell on the wound and hoped that Misako could take this motherfucker out. Because only the black screen of Knockout was greeting him after he used the spell.