Aku looked at the forest. Someone must be shooting.
He had to close the distance to have a chance in combat, but at the same time, he could be falling into a trap.
In the forest, an enemy attacking from a distance would have the advantage by having more places to hide.
In fact, there could even be traps in the forest, and that would be even more dangerous.
More shots were heard. Aku let his body move on its own, deflecting and splitting bullets with ease.
However, this time there were six shots, and two ended up grazing his cheek and shoulder.
It was getting harder.
"Maybe I should use armor, though I don't want to reveal all my tricks either," he said as a black mass covered his wounds. "No, it's not time to skimp on resources. I'll use [Behemoth]."
Upon saying those words, purple sparks covered his body, gradually materializing armor.
It was a large, thick breastplate, very heavy, three and a half meters tall.
It was metallic in color and covered the entire body.
A rounded helmet covered the head, leaving only a slit to see and breathe.
"Wow, it sure is heavy," Aku analyzed calmly as thousands of tons were subjected upon his body.
The ground itself was sinking under his feet, and he felt he couldn't move an inch.
It was like a prison of solid metal.
"How inconvenient," he said as more bullets were fired at him.
Several elemental explosions lashed the armor, however, it didn't move an inch.
Still, Aku was beginning to feel his shoulders and legs aching from carrying such weight.
That's when an idea occurred to him.
"I've got it, [Ring of Specters]," he said as purple sparks protruded from his finger, materializing a ring.
It was a silver ring with an embedded pale blue gem.
Aku began discharging azoth into the ring. As he did, he felt the weight on his body disappear.
He shot out of the armor, but no one could see him.
In fact, the armor remained motionless, standing, with his body still inside.
That ring allowed the user to employ astral projection. His consciousness left the material body, becoming an intangible and invisible specter.
More bullets were fired. This time the explosions were stronger, but the decoy remained motionless.
Aku nodded and then began accelerating toward the forest, still in his spectral form.
At tremendous speed he managed to reach his goal. There he could see a person hidden among the bushes.
"Damn it! What the hell is that guy? A tank or something? I'm going to run out of magic bullets," he said. It was a boy with black hair wearing square glasses.
He carried a sniper rifle with a steampunk style and a trench coat with military camouflage colors.
The boy was taking some cartridges from his belt and loading them into the rifle.
"Now you'll see. These are my best bullets. I didn't want to use them so soon but I have no choice," the hero grumbled as he looked through the scope and observed Aku's body. "This will teach you to underestimate me and just stand there taking hits."
Aku felt worried. That man looked very confident about his "special bullets."
He wasn't sure if his armor would be able to block a too massive attack.
He had to intervene somehow.
Aku couldn't use azoth or the subspace in that state, however, he could make use of his randomness manipulation.
But what was he going to do?
Manipulate the air to leave him without oxygen?
Or the opposite and crush him with air?
No, that wouldn't be effective.
It would take too long for him to be out of combat and would give him time to shoot, risking receiving the attack.
That's when it occurred to him.
That rifle was loaded with cartridges containing a kind of very unstable and energetic esoteric energy.
If he increased the chaos of the cartridge just when he was about to shoot, he could make his own attack hit him.
Yes, that was the best idea.
"Sayonara baby," the man then said, pulling the trigger.
Aku hadn't wasted time, making the esoteric energy cartridges even more unstable.
Upon pulling the trigger, no projectile was fired. Instead, the rifle exploded, releasing an explosion of purple energy.
The hero didn't even have time to scream when that purple energy release hit him full on, roasting his body.
The explosion was so large it even took some trees with it, leaving a large crater where the hero had been hiding.
Aku stared at that crater in silence, which still gave off a smoking column and was stained with remains of the hero's body.
A sudden emotion invaded him.
He had done it. That man had become his first victim.
And the massacre had just begun.