In the Ordinary Streets of Tokyo, I Awakened as a Player

Chapter 295: Hermit Powder

Chapter 295: Hermit Powder

"Get lost!"

The few Players who had managed to rush this far saw Asagiri blocking their path and immediately launched their attacks without hesitation.

"Fire Meteor!"

A flame shaped like a meteor hurtled toward him.

Asagiri simply raised his left hand. A void seemed to open on the surface of his black glove, directly absorbing the raging flames.

The next second, he looked at the melee Player charging at him with a heavy two-handed poleaxe and aimed his left hand at him.

"Flame."

"Boom!"

The moment Asagiri’s voice fell, a flame meteor surged from his palm and pierced straight through the Player’s chest, leaving a charred hole behind. At almost the same instant, the Rope Dart in his right hand shot out and buried itself deep into the opponent’s head.

"Clang..."

Amid the sound of chains sliding, the remaining three Players stopped in their tracks.

They watched Asagiri calmly pull out the Rope Dart and slowly retract it. From beginning to end, he had not moved a single step.

Fear appeared in their eyes.

They realized that the strength of this black-clothed Player before them was terrifying.

"What? Aren’t you going to continue?"

Asagiri looked at the three Players standing there and spoke in a calm tone.

"Although I don’t know which world you come from, do you not even have the resolve to gamble your lives? How laughable. How pathetic."

"Divine Speed!"

Before Asagiri could finish speaking, a Player wearing a white ghost face mask suddenly appeared in front of him from somewhere. Holding a weapon resembling a curved blade, he slashed toward Asagiri’s face.

Facing such a sudden attack, Asagiri showed no panic or confusion.

He directly raised his left arm, while the Rope Dart in his right hand had already stabbed toward the opponent’s brow.

The assassin Player wearing the white ghost face mask had not expected Asagiri’s reaction to be so fast. In their current positions, although his curved blade could cut Asagiri’s arm, the Rope Dart in Asagiri’s hand would pierce his brow at the same time.

"Divine Speed!"

With no other choice, the assassin Player abandoned his attack and cast the teleportation skill again, appearing more than ten meters away from Asagiri.

"Cold Frost Spear."

However, before he could even stand firmly, the Cold Frost Spear condensed by Asagiri had already been thrown at him. He had no chance to catch his breath and could only cast the skill named Divine Speed again, appearing in another location.

"So that’s how it is. That’s your ability."

Seeing the masked assassin complete three teleports in just two seconds, Asagiri spoke calmly.

"Your ability is to teleport to a location within your line of sight. That means as long as I pay attention to where you’re looking before you use your ability, I can predict where you’ll appear next."

Hearing Asagiri’s words, shock appeared in the masked assassin’s eyes.

The battle had just begun, yet his ability had already been seen through?

Did that mean that from the moment this black-clothed Player appeared, he had already begun analyzing his ability? That Cold Frost Spear was only used to verify his conjecture? And after he used his ability for the third time, the other party had already completed the information gathering and made an accurate judgment?

What kind of monster was this?

"Well then, let’s start the battle."

Asagiri took a step forward. Just as he was about to launch an attack on the four Players in front of him, he suddenly stopped again.

His gaze shifted to the left, and his eyes narrowed slightly. A golden light flickered in his black pupils.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

Asagiri began listening with full concentration.

His physical fitness, which had surpassed human limits, naturally included dynamic vision and hearing beyond ordinary people.

The trajectory of the dust floating up from the ground under the sunlight was somewhat abnormal, as if it were being blocked by something transparent.

And what he could hear was a faint but extremely nervous heartbeat.

"So it’s there..."

Asagiri raised his left hand, simultaneously condensing a Cold Frost Spear and a Holy Light Cross, then threw them toward the seemingly empty area.

"Boom!"

Amid the cloud of dust stirred into the air, more than a dozen Players revealed themselves.

Among them were members of the Black Watch whom Asagiri had previously encountered with Yuuki Asuna at the train station.

"We were actually discovered..."

The leading Black Watch Player gritted his teeth, completely not expecting the team he led to be exposed like this.

[Hermit Powder: One-time use item, Purple Quality. A powder that allows the user to enter an absolutely invisible state. The invisibility state will automatically be dispelled upon performing any attack action or being affected by any type of attack.]

Although it could only be used once, Hermit Powder was enough to make more than a dozen Players enter an absolutely invisible state. Despite its restrictions of being unable to attack or be affected by attacks, it was fully worthy of the system’s Purple Excellent quality rating.

The Black Watch Players’ original plan was to wait for those Players who did not know how terrifying Shadow was, the ones who had no idea they were courting death, to attack first. Then, under the effect of Hermit Powder, they would secretly infiltrate.

If they could snatch Kayaba Akihiko’s laptop and successfully reach the extraction point, bringing the research data back to headquarters, that would be ideal.

Even if they could not, they had to at least kill Kayaba Akihiko and prevent Shadow from obtaining that scientific technology.

Their plan was well thought out and thorough.

But there was one flaw.

They had not expected that although the effect of Hermit Powder was not mental in nature, and Asagiri indeed could not see them while they were invisible, he could still perceive their existence through his monstrous hearing and dynamic vision while facing attacks from other Players, at a moment when common sense said he should not be distracted.

This was simply ridiculously strong.

"Seventeen people..."

Asagiri looked at the team composed of thirteen Black Watch Players and the other four Players who had just attempted to ambush him, and he realized the seriousness of the situation.

Even at full strength, taking on seventeen people directly would be somewhat difficult. After all, these seventeen Players were not weak.

Moreover, because he had to guard this place, he could not use his best guerrilla tactics. And in order to let Human Asura guard Ashikaga Miwa and Kayaba Akihiko, he could not summon his Persona either.

However...

Asagiri was not fighting alone.

"More people are coming..."

The Black Watch Players and the four other Players saw a crimson afterimage appear beside Asagiri and immediately pulled back.

Yuuki Asuna came to a stop, flicked the blood off her rapier, Gleaming Light, and spoke softly to Asagiri.

"You’re not hurt, are you?"

"Don’t worry."

Asagiri waved his hand and replied with a smile.

"The enemies are mere grains of sand, not even half as good as me."

"You’re really going all out with the arrogance."

Yuuki Asuna answered with a slightly helpless smile.

Immediately after, another thirteen Players arrived at the location.

And right after them, Iwanaga Kotoko, Kato Megumi, Kaguya Shinomiya, Hayasaka Ai, and Fujiwara Chika also entered the battlefield.

"Seven against thirty..."

Facing such a vast disparity in numbers, Asagiri’s eyes shone with excitement.

"The advantage is mine."

For a time, the scene became silent and oppressive.

The Players looked at one another, first glancing at the Black Watch team not far away, then turning their gazes toward Asagiri and the others standing there.

Sweat had already begun dripping down some of their foreheads.

A layer of dark clouds gradually gathered in the sky, and a blinding flash of lightning lit up within them.

Amid that sudden lightning, Asagiri and the others launched their attack.

"Pierce him, Shinju!"

The blade in Kaguya Shinomiya’s hand rapidly extended, stabbing toward the location where the masked assassin stood.

"Divine Speed!"

Facing Shinju’s attack, the masked assassin subconsciously used his exclusive talent. However, the moment he appeared in another location, he found himself directly in front of a giant Pale Ghost Hand.

Iwanaga Kotoko’s outstretched left hand slowly clenched.

The Pale Ghost Hand crushed the masked assassin’s body.

There was not a trace of pity or hesitation in her dark purple eyes. Her voice was chillingly calm.

"One."

Seeing Asagiri rush alone toward the dozen or so Black Watch Players, Fujiwara Chika first took a deep breath. Then she opened her fair, tender palm.

A die appeared in her palm and began rolling on its own.

"Clatter, clatter, clatter..."

The moment the die stopped, the upward-facing side showed six dots.

"Six dots, Gravity Field!"

The moment Fujiwara Chika shouted those words, Asagiri and the dozen or so Black Watch members within that area all felt an inexplicable heaviness, as if lead weights had been forcibly placed on their limbs, shoulders, and heads.

The next second, however, Fujiwara Chika lightly tapped the die in her hand with her index finger. Then she raised her left hand, pointed at Asagiri, and quickly spoke.

"Invert!"

When Fujiwara Chika shouted that word of unclear meaning, the gravity pressing down on Asagiri suddenly disappeared.

His body even became lighter and smoother, as if he had received some kind of blessing.

"Very good."

With himself buffed and the enemies debuffed by gravity, Asagiri immediately began his slaughter.

The Rope Dart in his hand swept past, its terrifying force directly piercing through the neck of a Black Watch Player.

Immediately after, he used the chain connected to the Rope Dart to wrap around another enemy’s neck.

Crossing his hands, he tightened both ends of the chain and directly sliced off the opponent’s head.

"Restrain him! Restrain him!"

Hearing the Commander’s slightly panicked order, two Black Watch Players gritted their teeth and launched attacks while enduring the heavy pressure.

"Binding Spell Number Four: This Rope!"

"Root Bind!"

Ropes formed from spiritual power bound Asagiri’s body, while thick plant roots erupted from the ground and directly restrained his ankles.

Seeing Asagiri unable to move, the nearest Black Watch Player immediately took out a dagger emitting dark green mist and rushed forward, intending to stab it into his chest.

However, the next second...

"Bang."

First came the crisp sound of the spiritual ropes and plant roots snapping.

Immediately after, the Black Watch Player’s body was sent flying more than ten meters back, crashing heavily to the ground. His chest was completely caved in, and he had already lost his breath.

"Just messing with you."

Asagiri, who had easily broken free of the restraints, scanned the surrounding Black Watch Players and spoke in a calm tone.

"Are you ready to die?"

.....

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