Far in the distance, the ghost that had shattered Reverse Life was walking toward Haseol.
"Hey, over there~!"
The ghost in the dress shirt raised a hand toward Haseol.
"How do you do!"
Then it greeted him.
"I am an Agitator of Type: Division!"
The ghost introduced itself.
"My threat level is A, and my Nature makes what I say happen exactly as I say it!"
"Tch."
Haseol furrowed his brow.
He had heard from Dictatorship why ghosts explained their Natures.
It was to drive their abilities into their targets more accurately and powerfully.
"Now that I have explained my Nature, let us move on to the main point!"
Agitator shouted.
[Cover your ears.]
At Myun's words, Haseol immediately covered his ears.
"Give me the ability gear in your hand!"
It did not seem to make much difference.
Haseol threw the staff in his hand toward Agitator.
The staff flew through the air over the desert.
THUD!
It buried itself beside Agitator.
Agitator pulled the staff out.
"Now! You will remain standing right there without moving until I leave!"
Haseol's feet stopped.
"I cannot move."
Agitator was walking toward the wall of the Rootstream.
[You cannot move even if you use all your strength?]
"Yes. Ngh, nngh! I cannot."
[It seems similar to Dictatorship's Subjugation Enforcement.]
"It is not even a Nature used by something with an S+ threat level. Is there no way to deal with it?"
Haseol asked as he desperately tried to move his feet and body.
[There is a way, but it is not one you can use right now.]
Agitator grew farther and farther away.
It reached the wall of the Rootstream.
FWOOSH!
Loop.
Haseol was standing at the starting point of the Rootstream again.
"It failed."
[Yes. The Rootstream is growing darker.]
Haseol stood looking at the desert scenery that had returned to the beginning.
"Seriously."
Asha's voice sounded right beside him.
"I don't want to."
She spoke with a sniffle, then walked into the desert.
Haseol watched Asha's back, then turned around.
When he walked out of the Rootstream, Myun was sitting cross-legged on the sand, while Bisan stood upright with his arms crossed.
"I think we have figured out everything we can about this Rootstream, right?"
Haseol asked the two.
"Probably."
"There does not seem to be any more unusual information."
At their answers, Haseol nodded.
"Then."
He opened his mouth.
"Let us think of a way to kill Agitator and obtain both ability gears."
"Oh?"
Bisan sounded interested at Haseol's words.
"It would be even better if it could help us defeat Dictatorship."
Bisan did not have much of a reaction to Haseol's next words.
He simply looked steadily at Haseol.
"Tell me everything you need."
Myun rose from the ground and dusted off his backside.
"If my ears are completely blocked and I cannot hear any sound at all, can I stop Agitator's Nature?"
Haseol asked.
"I do not know. It may drive itself into you through vibration alone, it may work by its mouth movements alone, or you may not even need to hear it."
"So we do not know what will happen."
"Yeah. Even if it told us its ability, it only told us the effect."
Haseol nodded at Myun's words, then spoke again.
"Then is there any way to attack Agitator from far away before it notices us?"
"Like a bow or a gun?"
"Yes."
"A gun will not work."
Bisan shook his head.
"Why not?"
"The distance to Agitator is measured in kilometers. If we use a gun, the bullet may arrive later than the sound."
"If we enter through the entrance closest to Agitator...... Because of terrain like dunes, we would be too close again."
"That is likely. In that case, it is more likely that Agitator will react, and if the distance is great, it will also be difficult to find a gun that can cover it and retain its power."
"I see."
"I also lack knowledge of firearms."
"I do not know much about guns either."
"What about a bow?"
"I have one. I will take it out."
Myun raised a hand into the air.
Green light flashed beneath it, and a bow appeared.
It was a bow made of brown wood.
There was nothing particularly special about its form.
"This bow is called Lionheart."
"Can it shoot over a distance measured in kilometers?"
"Depending on how hard you draw it, it will automatically absorb the user's strength and fly farther."
"Ah, really?"
"I deliberately took out a bow you should be able to use."
"Then I can shoot it with this."
"There is a problem, though. The more strength you put in, the more the bow vibrates."
"It vibrates?"
"A vibration like a heartbeat. That is why it is called Lionheart."
"Does it vibrate a lot?"
"A lot."
"How much? Can I draw it once?"
"Here."
Haseol accepted the bow from Myun.
"What about arrows?"
"When you draw the bow, it makes one on its own."
"Ah~, okay."
"Do not shoot it. It is loud enough to be heard inside."
"Yes."
Haseol began drawing the bowstring slowly.
An arrow made of green light formed on the string and nocked itself.
Creeeak.
"Oh, oh. This feels......"
Haseol looked flustered as he drew the bowstring.
"It really feels as though I am gripping a heart."
Myun put a hand on the bow Haseol was drawing.
"At this level of heartbeat, you need to draw it farther. It cannot go a distance measured in kilometers like that."
"Farther than this?"
"Yeah."
Haseol pulled the string harder.
In time with the bow's beating, vibrations spread across the ground.
Sand scraped outward around Haseol.
"Put more strength into it."
"Yes!"
Haseol put more strength into the bow.
The sand touching his feet spread like waves.
"This much."
"This much?"
"At the very least, you need to draw it this far for it to fly straight to where Agitator was."
"I think I will miss if I shoot while enduring this heartbeat. Can I not shoot it in an arc?"
"Would Agitator let an arrow flying in an arc hit it? It would be slower too."
"Ah, damn it."
"Besides, it said it was threat level A, did it not? If you shoot carelessly, it will obviously evade it."
"Hiss. Then......"
Haseol slowly released the force he had put into the bowstring.
The green arrow disappeared.
"How is the Rootstream? How many more loops do you think are possible?"
"We have already looped twice, and it is nearly half black."
"If we take more time, it seems we might simply lose another loop. I will shoot once in this state for now."
Haseol picked up the bow and moved to enter the Rootstream.
"You will have one or two chances at most. If it does not work, be prepared to give up one of the two ability gears."
"Yes."
Haseol nodded and entered the Rootstream.
"Please think of a way to improve my accuracy."
[I am thinking, but how long could it possibly take to shoot a bow?]
"That is true."
Haseol snickered as he spoke.
"I will concentrate."
The smile vanished from his face.
He drew the bowstring.
Toward the distant Agitator.
Agitator already held one of the ability gears in its hand.
It was holding it as it walked toward the other ability gear.
The bow in Haseol's hands beat more and more fiercely.
The ripples spreading across the ground stretched farther and farther.
Haseol's feet burrowed into the sand.
The bow itself did not move much.
His arms were straight, his legs were straight, and his hands did not tremble.
The strength Haseol wielded was enough to control the bow perfectly.
However, the ground was weak.
The sand spread outward, and his body kept sinking lower.
If he sank deeper, he might eventually stop somewhere, but not yet.
It might be better if he planted his legs into the ground.
But where?
How deep?
Too many things were uncertain.
He gave up what he had to give up.
And aimed.
Holding the bowstring drawn, he held his breath.
Thump. Thump.
The sound spread outward.
Crunch. Crunch.
As the sand spread, it made a sound as though someone were walking.
His point of aim kept changing by minute degrees as his body shifted.
Haseol.
Released the bowstring.
The green arrow flew.
The sand piled around Haseol's feet burst in every direction at once.
Sand spilled beyond the Rootstream.
And the arrow flew straight toward Agitator.
Agitator had lifted one foot to move forward.
Before that foot had fully risen, the arrow reached it.
But.
FWOOSH!
It passed by.
Just over the front of Agitator's head.
The arrow had been faster than expected.
Haseol's feet had not dug into the sand as deeply as he had expected.
"Oh, aaah?!"
Agitator urgently ran up a sandy dune.
It was fast.
Not at the speed of an ordinary human.
It was not comparable to Haseol at full speed, but it was much faster than Bully and even much faster than cars.
"Ghk!"
Haseol drew the bowstring again.
Agitator rapidly climbed the dune.
Haseol hurriedly shot another arrow, but this time it missed by a wide margin.
There was no next shot.
Agitator lowered its stance and lay flat on the dune.
There was no angle from which he could hit it.
"I missed it."
[Yes. Now we know. You absolutely have to hit it with the first shot.]
"What about practicing before I shoot?"
[It will hear because of the sound.]
"What if I use a Slap Portal to go somewhere else, shoot a few times, and come back?"
[Going back and forth would take time. More importantly, the problem is shooting on sand. The ground keeps moving because of the vibration. To practice, we would need a place with sand this deep. When would we find one?]
"A beach will not be enough."
Haseol pulled his feet out of the sand, where they were buried quite deeply.
Shaking the sand from his shoes, he walked out of the Rootstream.
"Is there no way to control the vibration?"
Haseol asked.
"Haseol, would you try bringing out your wings?"
"Yes."
Haseol immediately brought bat wings out from his back.
The bat wings burst out, tearing through his clothes.
"Can you change the shape of your wings? Like this?"
Bisan brought out his own wings and showed Haseol.
The enormous bat wings became thin and sharp.
"Uh...... How do I do that?"
"By feel. Like clenching and opening your fist."
"Hmmm."
Haseol tried, but there was no change in his wings.
"Or could you move your wings directly and drive them into the ground like anchors?"
Bisan drove his wings deep into the ground.
"I do not think I can. But could that control the vibration?"
"If you drive them as deep as possible, it can."
"Hissssss. I cannot. I can move my wings, but I cannot change their shape yet."
"Then what can we use right now?"
"Flying would be fine for me, but Haseol would sway even more than he does on the sand."
"A usual way to use a technique more accurately and powerfully is to say its name aloud, but this is only shooting a bow. It is not even a technique, so we cannot use that either."
"I thought saying it aloud only made ghosts' Natures stronger."
"That is how supernatural abilities are in general. It is called the Imprinting Effect. You make the technique imprint more clearly on yourself, your enemy, and the world. If all you need is greater power, people use it often."
"I see. Why did you not tell me sooner?"
"You did not have any techniques anyway. And there was no time."
"I see."
Haseol immediately accepted that and nodded.
In the end, it was difficult to find a method because Haseol's proficiency was low.
Things Myun and Bisan could naturally do were impossible for Haseol, making it even harder to choose a method.
So.
If someone was going to come up with something, it had to be Haseol.
With a face that showed his sense of responsibility, he continued thinking.
The Rootstream changed.
The black area grew larger.
As the loop progressed, another opportunity had disappeared.
"What I have right now......"
Haseol went over everything one by one.
"What I can use......"
Then he looked at the two people standing before him.
"I have an idea."
"What?"
"Hold my wings and lift me up."
"How exactly?"
"Like this?"
Myun and Bisan went behind Haseol, grabbed his wings, and lifted him.
"While holding my wings, lift me up and push only my body into the Rootstream."
"All right."
"I understand."
Myun and Bisan remained outside the Rootstream, while Haseol's body was inside it.
Only his wings remained outside, held by the two of them.
With both feet floating in the air, Haseol raised the bow and drew the string.
"Please suppress the vibration!"
"Hey! Just concentrate!"
"Yes!"
As he put more strength into the hand drawing the bowstring.
"No, this! Both my feet are floating, so I cannot put any strength into it! Someone brace me!"
"Ah, human, honestly! Stick your foot out!"
At Myun's words, Haseol stretched his right foot backward.
THWACK!
"Hey?!"
Myun had been kicked in the stomach.
"I am sorry! Do I just need to lower myself a little?"
"Hey! Do not shuffle your foot around. Just lower it straight down!"
The tense atmosphere they had been concentrating in fell apart.
"My shoe is slipping! Brace me properly!"
"You have a damned lot of demands!"
Myun bent his foot and fixed Haseol's foot in midair as though he were holding it.
One foot stretched backward and the other forward, Haseol put strength into both.
With his whole body floating in the air like that, he drew the bowstring.
"You are not even Cupid."
Bisan chuckled.
"Do not laugh! The vibration carries over!"
Haseol urgently shouted and hardened his expression.
"I will aim!"
The arrow of green light shone brightly.
Haseol concentrated.
The bow's heartbeat grew louder and louder, yet Haseol's aim did not waver in the slightest.
The sand beneath Haseol shook from the vibration, but Haseol did not shake.
The vibration must have been reaching the two people behind him who held his wings, and the sand must have been shaking through them.
Yet somehow, Haseol's body did not move at all.
Haseol did not have confidence in his own abilities.
So he decided to trust the two behind him.
The bow's heartbeat grew louder.
In contrast, Haseol's own heartbeat grew quieter.
With more force than before.
Trusting the two behind him and the bow.
He aimed for the head.
And released the bowstring.