The Lone Sniper: I Was Just Minding My Own Business Sniping Players, and I Ended Up Becoming a Raid Boss

Chapter 31

Six large shields, each big enough to completely hide a Space Girl.

Every shield has thrusters attached, allowing them to accelerate and fly through the air just like a Space Girl.

"Who the hell—"

Boom!! One of the shields crashed down on the crown of the Space Girl who had been holding me. Her head split cleanly in half. If this had been a human instead of a mech, it would've been pure gore. Actually, even for a Space Girl it's pretty grotesque...

Right before the shield fell, I saw a laser blade extend from the tip. Looks like it's also loaded with a saber function.

Tsubasa-san lands in front of me. Five more shields follow her, dropping around us in a ring.

"Um, uh, er...!"

"I'm about to repay you for the plushie, okay♪"

Tsubasa-san smiles at me as I choke on my own nerves.

"Ha! I don't care if she used to be A-rank! Does she really think she can win ten-against-two?!"

The Konpeito open fire all at once. But Tsubasa-san blocks every single shot with her six shields and Shield Pieces. Neither the shields nor the Shield Pieces lose the slightest bit of durability.

"Tsubasa's a Gardner. She started with high base armor, then dumped every stat point into Step, and uses the Guardian Deity expansion part to transfer armor value to her shields. Plus, Tsubasa's level is 140. Those kids are maybe level 40 at best... At their level, they'll never break through this defense."

"But if we just stay like this, we can't attack..."

"We can counterattack!"

Tsubasa-san picks up one of the large shields and raises it where I can see.

"Tsubasa is the strongest idol, you know."

The armor plating on the shield in Tsubasa-san's right hand slides open, revealing a gun barrel.

"Target acquired."

She presses a button on the shield's grip and unleashes a barrage of laser fire from the barrel.

(What the heck is this shield!? It has thrusters, a blade on the tip, and now a gun too!?)

But the laser rounds are slow and the enemies manage to dodge direct hits.

"Not yet!"

Tsubasa-san grabs another shield in her left hand, extends the blade on the tip, and hurls it.

"Spin!!"

—Shield boomerang! Spinning along an erratic path, it slices the torso off an unsuspecting Space Girl.

"D-dammit!! Don't worry about friendly fire! Everyone, concentrate all firepower!!"

The enemy finally gets serious. Each of them pulls out secret weapons—rocket launchers, machine guns, you name it.

"Useless, useless. You'll never break Tsubasa's iron wall.—Here we go... 'C:Aegis'!!"

The thrown shield jets back to Tsubasa-san with its thrusters; all six shields are reunited.

"Fire!"

The enemy's simultaneous barrage. Every last shot is deflected as the six large shields whirl around us like a merry-go-round.

"A cute idol comes with the strongest bodyguard... which means, the cutest Tsubasa gets a flawless bodyguard. No one may lay a finger on her without Tsubasa's permission. That's 'C:Aegis'... Tsubasa's ultimate bodyguard!!!"

An iron wall. Not a single attack gets through.

"No way... This... This is...! It's gotta be cheating!!"

"Yep. Tsubasa is a cheat-level cute idol."

Tsubasa-san turns toward me.

"Shiki-chan, you're safe now. Nothing scary is left. Tsubasa will protect you from everything."

"Tsubasa-san..."

"So can I ask you to provide covering fire? I'm kinda busy defending."

I realize the tension has melted away from my body.

Tsubasa-san is drawing all the attention.

"Y-yes!"

These shields give me an incredible sense of security. They also block the enemy's line of sight, so I can pull the trigger calmly.

These are bandits—no need for mercy!

(Eat this storm of ricochets!!)

I fire my assault rifle at a crystal cluster and use the reflections to hit the enemies.

"To thread shots through Tsubasa's high-speed moving shields and still pick off targets... and with ricochets, no less...!"

"Ah, um... most snipers could probably do it, I think...?"

"Ahaha! Then introduce me to that sniper girl! That unconscious modesty is adorably hateful♪"

One after another, enemies fall to ricochets.

About four minutes later, every last enemy is wiped out.

"Finale. No encores, thank you."

The six shields, each equipped with both sabers and cannons, respond to Tsubasa-san's brainwaves. Their offensive power is impressive, but what's truly terrifying is their unbreakable defense. Even if you somehow breach the six shields, Shield Pieces provide an unbreakable second line.

Anyone who's used Shield Pieces knows how hard it is to control this many weapons at once. Especially the large shields—those take a huge amount of resources.

This person... is incredible.