Chapter 194: Critical Snipe and Untouchable
In Mock Town, [Critical Point], wearing a silver trench coat, stood in a blood-soaked tavern, his brows tightly furrowed.
He had lost contact with his [Stand]. No, to be precise, his [Untouchable] seemed to be enveloped by some special environment.
As a long-distance remote-operated Stand, it could be released up to 20km away. And after Critical Point obtained the immensely rare advancement trait [More-More Amplification], this distance reached a terrifying 200km.
This Stand, [Untouchable], was obtained in his initial trial world, a JoJo derivative world, after being struck by [The Arrow]. It felt like destiny.
It was a special Stand, extremely difficult to master. For a long time, Critical Point was a no-name, because his greatest windfall, his Stand, was uncontrollable.
But as he gradually mastered his Stand, Critical Point rapidly rose to become one of the Nexus's most notorious long-range assassins.
[Untouchable]
Stats: Destructive Power: E, Speed: C, Range: A, Durability: D, Precision: E, Potential: E
It had almost no direct offensive ability. For a time, Critical Point thought his Stand was unsuitable for combat. But during one incident, he accidentally discovered his Stand would deflect bullets that were unintentionally fired at it.
Not just bullets, but sword slashes, flames, and beams—the Stand could deflect them all, with the strength of the deflection tied to his Spirit stat.
From then on, he began to truly master his Stand. At first, he used it for defense, but he soon found a better use...
He would intentionally attack his own Stand. By finding the right angle, he could use [Untouchable]'s deflection to land an unpredictable, one-hit kill. At the same time, this special ability meant he was almost completely immune to taking damage himself when his Stand was hit.
Furthermore, because his target was always his own Stand, many Reincarnators' danger sense or killing intent perception abilities were useless against him.
In a way, it was the perfect Stand for him.
Critical Point became a marksman-type Reincarnator not because it was the easiest way to hurt others or kill other Reincarnators, but because he was... terrified of getting hurt.
Critical Point thus found his growth path. He focused his abilities on sniping power and his own Spirit stat, becoming a rare marksman-specialist Reincarnator with a Limit-Broken Spirit stat. Unlike those who relied on reflexes, kinetic vision, or prediction, Critical Point only needed to create enough distance and exploit the fact that non-Stand-users cannot see Stands to complete his uncanny assassinations.
He grew into the notorious hunter he was today. Even though a few people knew his secret, few could counter him. Because of [Untouchable]'s extreme range, his Stand could operate far from his body, making it impossible to find the Stand based on his position. Only another Stand User could even attempt to counter him.
"Captain Critical, Gild Tesoro really showed up, and Garp is also approaching. That sea area must have turned into a special large-scale event. Are we not getting involved?"
"Yeah, Cap. You failed to kill that Mercenary Tao earlier, right? Our points are still 0. This is risky. I heard Moon Fiend and Flame Fiend are both here. If one of us gets hunted, we'll lose Singularities at the end!"
The three Reincarnators with Critical Point. Two women were getting agitated. One had big, red, wavy hair, wore black gloves, and her pupils were an iridescent rainbow color.
The other had a high ponytail and a katana with a red-and-black-patterned scabbard at her waist. Her right hand's finger bones were long, much longer than a normal person's. The oversized hand didn't look slender, but was bizarre, like a withered branch.
The woman with the wavy hair was new to the team. She clearly cared about Singularities. As a solo player who had survived this long, she wasn't weak. She joined this team purely for [Critical Point]'s reputation. Being on a team with a killer of his caliber meant a much higher chance of both scoring kills and surviving.
But now, after sensing the world's anomaly, she wanted to get involved... At least, go to the periphery. With her and the Captain's long-range killing power, it would be easy to reap some rewards.
Before Critical Point could speak, the team's final cornerstone, a silent, large man, spoke up. He was nearly 2.5 meters tall and was as wide as a wall even sitting down. Codenamed [Obsidian], he was Critical Point's original teammate and the team's specialized defender.
"Don't interfere with Critical's judgment. Or else..."
"You'll die."
Obsidian's voice was deep. He sat, silently grabbing some sand and dirt, and squeezed. With a terrible crunch, the sand was compressed into a rock. He flicked the small rock, and it skipped several times on the sea before sinking.
Obsidian had seen teammates die of greed in past missions. He understood Critical Point best. He was nothing like the "cold, vicious sniper" of the rumors. He valued his life immensely.
Critical Point had used his Stand to see Skuld Island's situation, even the fight between Moon Fiend and Mercenary Tao. He cautiously avoided shooting Moon Fiend, worried he couldn't one-shot her; famous Reincarnators always had trump cards.
So he tried to kill Mercenary Tao, but failed to get the kill even after blowing his chest open.
Finally, during the chase between Flame Fiend, Moon Fiend, and Enel, he fired continuously, heavily wounding Moon Fiend. His Stand followed her, but after a 'whispering' sound, he lost his connection. He wasn't hurt, so his Stand wasn't hurt. It was just... blocked.
"We'll follow Gild Tesoro's group. But no one enters the target waters without my command. This world's Enel... is abnormally strong."
The wavy-haired woman, [Michelin], took out a capsule, walked to the shore, and threw it. After a puff of smoke, a small, almost cartoonish speedboat appeared.
The four of them followed the large fleet toward the Skuld Island sea. Mock Town was seeing countless ships arrive; people from all over were still heading for this region based on unconfirmed news.
The allure of [El Dorado] was far greater than Kaito Shirogane had anticipated.
Gild Tesoro's massive ship was in the lead, with the other factions' ships trailing. By silent agreement, no one communicated. Critical Point followed far behind, sensing for his Stand.
Less than thirty minutes later, the unhurried fleet finally arrived at a strange stretch of sea. The water here had turned black and was filled with floating corpses—some in Marine uniforms, some in civilian clothes. It seemed a terrible conflict had broken out.
Gild Tesoro's eyelids were low. He just waved his hand. "Keep moving."
He wanted to confirm the truth of [El Dorado] before the World Government did. He knew gold was his value, and if too much of it suddenly appeared, it would lose its worth. In the face of this, the lives of some commoners were nothing. If necessary, he would pay a high price to erase it all.
On Critical Point's boat, the wavy-haired woman's [Michelin] eyes turned white, her body floated slightly from the deck, and the atmosphere grew agitated as her mind spread out.
She passed over the floating corpses and finally saw Skuld Island, which was enveloped in something like a black fog.
"That island is covered by something... a black fog... I'm going in for a closer look."
She was a Spirit-specialized Reincarnator, skilled in sensing and casting. The black fog wasn't a barrier. It couldn't stop her.
Critical Point had already raised his rifle. The woman raised her hand, and a [Mental Link] activated. All her senses were shared with him. Their abilities combined could also achieve over-the-horizon sniping.
Obsidian moved to the bow, ready for battle. The only one who didn't move was the swordswoman, who just strangely held her katana's hilt between her index and middle fingers.
Whether it was Flame Fiend or Moon Fiend, the full [Critical Snipe] team didn't fear them. They were a complementary team, skilled at focus-fire assassination and kiting.
As their vision zoomed in, giant, mangled human faces appeared. The entire island seemed covered in a black substance... it was unclear if it was charcoal from a massive lightning strike or part of the fog itself.
Bang!
A huge impact drew Michelin's attention. She looked and saw a 100-meter-tall giant bird (Doflamingo) stamping on the ground, while another monster holding a black blade (Moon Fiend) swung it in a terrifying, lotus-like sword-light.
It's Moon Fiend...
Just as they had this thought, they heard a dragon's roar.
Roar!
They looked and saw a red dragon (Flame Fiend) in the sky, being knocked down by a [Crimson Lotus] (Kaito's attack).
"Ha~ Haha!"
A crazed laugh came from that human figure. Michelin focused and saw a tattered pink robe swaying amidst black lightning and purple-black (Satsui) fluctuations. The character for [Kill] on his back was incredibly clear.
As if sensing her gaze, the figure turned its head and looked at the sky.
It was Mercenary Tao!
Michelin's mind shook. She saw his red, twisted face, and then his left arm, which seemed to be burning like fire, and the black markings flowing over his body.
Vmmm!
Black lightning shot across the void, crossing dozens of nautical miles, and pierced Michelin's body.
Pff!
The mental link broke. Critical Point felt dizzy. He hadn't even fired a shot, and the black lightning had already injured Michelin.
Michelin suffered the backlash, blood pouring from her nose and mouth. She was trembling uncontrollably, her muscles still spasming as she collapsed onto the speedboat.
Her face was uncontrollably pale. "It's... it's Conqueror's... Haki..."
Conqueror's Haki?!
Critical Point couldn't believe it. Mercenary Tao possessed Haki of that intensity? To be able to attack Michelin so accurately from that far away... whether it was Observation or Conqueror's, that strength was on the level of an Emperor (Yonko)!
Whaooooo~
The long horn of a large ship sounded.
Obsidian immediately turned. He appeared in front of his team at the stern, but his pupils shrank at what he saw.
A warship, with a figurehead of a large dog holding a bone, was flying from the sky...
(End of Chapter)