A Villainess Should Be Strong

Chapter 142: Attackers

Without noticing, Estelle was now surrounded by these people who she wasn't sure about. But she knew that they were definitely strong. Stronger than the previous ones.

The total number she could detect amounted to nine. She wasn't sure if there was more lurking somewhere she didn't pick up yet. She did not want to activate her magic yet in order to not alert the 'opponent'.

She gulped a mouthful of saliva before calming herself down, rationally considering her choices.

[What do I do in this situation?] she asked herself.

First of all, she hadn't directly confirmed whether the surrounding people were hostile to her or not, but she was almost completely sure that they were judging from the contexts.

They were in a deep forest, where anything could happen and it would have a high chance of not being found out.

Estelle took a deep breath and carefully prepared her magical abilities, getting into a fighting stance.

Seconds passed. Not a single move was made. Estelle stayed in her position, and the opponent also did the same.

The girl was waiting for them to make the first move. To confirm that they really were enemies that she needed to defeat. The moment her decision was confirmed, Estelle would go all out and spare nothing whilst also keeping the secret alive.

It was a waiting game. The group of pursuers also seemed to be waiting Estelle's first move. Escaping would be too far of a theory as Estelle was already circled.

Estelle just readied herself and waited.

Then, it came. The first move was made by her pursuers.

One man lunged high up in the air, wielding a sharp blade and hacking it downwards, wanting to hit Estelle.

Estelle scornfully smirked as she dodged the blade and instantaneously made a mana ball.

Close combat was not her strong suit, but she had little area to work with. She could very easily be overpowered.

If moving around the ground was not possible, then to the sky it was.

Estelle cast flight magic on herself, making a high jump and shooting down a magic bullet at the first enemy that attacked her.

It was a direct hit because everything was executed consecutively within a short period of time. The man felt burning pain spread through his entire body as he screamed loudly in pain, squirming around until he could not move anymore.

Estelle's eyes hardened as she watched another death occur in front of her sights. She steeled her heart, telling herself that more deaths was bound to happen. Whether it was now, or the near future. They were at fault for attacking her. If they were prepared to attack, then they should also be prepared to be attacked.

[That volume.. Considering how far we are in the forest, I think the group should be able to hear it if they were alert enough.] Estelle deduced.

She thought of her entourage's lineup. They were all powerful people, but was it really necessary to get them involved?

[Which means that there is a chance for them to come here.] Estelle sighed.

Estelle debated with herself, whether or not she wanted to involve the group in this matter. Judging by how the men performed, it seemed like the target was herself rather than the group.

Not only was it an instinctive guess, it was also based on the fact that they were so careful with their movements. As if it was all planned.

For her? In Alfheim? She was also shocked. How could her pursuers be here? Her true identity, that of a Duke's daughter, was already fading to nothing ever since her news was declared as missing. Although it was all a farce to begin with, the people believed in that statement and grieved.

"That's one," Estelle counted, lowering her hand down and lurching upwards to get the higher ground. She cracked her knuckles as she manifested her second bullet, pointing at a certain spot and shooting it.

She had mapped out all eight of the remaining men's positions, and it was very easy for her to shoot from this standpoint.

That was, if her enemies were as simple as the monsters she once fought. Since they were skilled, naturally they also had powers of flight.

Two approached her to get a closer distance, another launched an attack at her. Their tactics were very concise, yet effective.

To surround their enemy and leave no chances of movement to be made.

Estelle repelled the thrown attack, but the two figures who wanted to pin her down also launched attacks and left her with no chance to breathe.

Estelle had to release a defense mechanism in order to protect herself from one side, but the figures quickly intertwined with each other to launch attacks left and right.

With the distance they got to, Estelle was forced to retreat even higher and get away from the pursuers.

They started to chase.

Estelle clicked her tongue. They were all skilled, and the first enemy just seemed to be a tester for her powers. Like they were trying to gauge how far Estelle's powers were.

The black-clothed men followed closely behind her movements, throwing small weapons like enchanted daggers towards her way. Estelle dodged them all skillfully and twirled around before executing her own attacks.

She could not afford to just defend and run away. If she made one blunder, it would be the end of it all.

She would be entrapped in an unwanted cycle of defense and being a passive fighter. That would serve her no purpose.

She focused on one man each time, as she did not want them to survive and get their vitality back. Estelle noticed that the men were very trained and skilled, their resilience were also superb.

Estelle shot the men one by one  using her magic. She fired barrages of magic attacks at once, all aimed at each part of their bodies.

"Two," Estelle watched as another man fell down to the ground.

There were seven left. From her original estimation of nine people, it seemed like the guess was correct as she did not feel the presence of another one that went undetected.

Estelle cast her magic once more. In order to not make the scene too flashy and alert the masses, she kept it to just her magic bullets, which could be mass produced and would give out less damage if she aimed right.

Of course, her aim was impeccable as she traced the men's movements and trailed their steps.

One more man was downed. Then, another.

With Estelle's agile steps, the men were only capable of catching up to a distance where they could throw weapons to her, but they could no longer get to a distance for close combat- her weakness.

"Agh!" A man groaned as he got hit by the bullet. One hit would then be followed by two more, three, four, and so on. Basically, once they were hit and fell back, it was the perfect chance to take care of them in one go.

Within no time, all nine enemies were eradicated.

Estelle stood still in the air before lowering her stature down after confirming that the active chase had stopped. Her escape was actually made around the specific forest area where they started in the beginning, she didn't stretch farther than that.

"Too bad.. Unlike someone, you don't have enough preparation to fight me yet," Estelle maintained her flight as she regulated her breathing. Even after realizing that her physical abilities lacked in many parts, she hadn't gotten the chance to improve on it deeply yet. Her constitution was not the best.

She was reminded of those who had successfully put her through agony, ones that were fully competent in terms of planning and playing a game of waiting.

However, the trouble did not end there. Estelle celebrated too quickly, she said her words too fast.  The black-clothed men were clearly unconscious before, but something started to change the moment Estelle wanted to return to her group and report the incident.

They docked their head and twisted their bodies to get up once more.

That wasn't it, they also managed to immediately continue their onslaught of attacks.

"..?!" Estelle widened her eyes, her mouth gaped in shock as the previously 'dead' warriors came back alive and started launching attacks back at her.

"I see.. I was wrong to think that the only preparation made was this silly farce," Estelle wiped the thin layer of sweat that formed on her forehead as she jumped down once again, prepared to take down the group of enemies once more.

"Of course, that would not be the case, would it?" Estelle wanted to see how elaborate this plot was compared to the previous ones she had faced.

She cast defense magic over herself. Previously, she lacked the time and leisure to do so while keeping her focus up on the men's attacks, but now she fully blessed her whole body with enchantments and defensive properties in order to pay for her lack of physical quality.