Chapter 358: Gun Kata
"Miss Fubuki!"
[Lilith] was shocked. Raising her hands, a blue barrier condensed in front of Fubuki. [Locker] and [Short Hair], having gotten up from the ground, shouted:
"Careful!"
Bang!
Two bullets traced arcs through the air, trailing white cloud paths, and drilled into Lilith's chest.
Crack~ Squelch!
The two bullets arriving from left and right arcs accurately hit the same spot in front of Lilith. The first shot shattered her Ranged Attack Protection Talisman, and the second shot opened a hole directly in her chest.
The woman looked pale, astonishment lingering in her eyes. Then she slumped down, the smell of blood thickening instantly.
[Lily of the Three Section Staff] crawled out from the driver's seat. Not bothering to worry about Lilith, she rolled quickly to Fubuki and dragged her backward.
The man in the white suit was about 1.85 meters tall, with a slender but not robust build. However, his muscle lines were quite smooth, giving a sense of sleek capability.
A black-scabbarded katana hung at his waist. Lowering his finger and pushing up his black-rimmed glasses, he didn't continue attacking Fubuki.
"Mercenary Tao, you disappoint me, mingling with Reincarnators of this level."
His voice was cool. Clearly, he had no fear of Mercenary Tao's fierce reputation.
Kaito Shirogane shook his head, muscles and bones emitting creaking sounds.
He seemed not to see the woman who had helped him 'persuade' Saitama earlier fall after being shot. He merely blinked, and three figures were already marked by [Gaze of Pride].
The man in the suit attacking Fubuki with white lightning, a fat man holding silver-white pistols in both hands, and a red-robed woman with closed eyes, hands spread open as if using some ability.
"It's [Soul Sorcerer · Xelo]. They are [Squad 5569]!"
Locker knew much more comprehensive information about various Second Ladder squads in the Space than Kaito. While swiftly changing the submachine gun ammo to armor-piercing, explosive, and poisonous special rounds, he started running quickly, shooting at the person holding dual guns.
Intelligence on [Squad 5569] wasn't comprehensive. The only well-known fact was that their team had a Title Level Reincarnator using Soul-side spells—Xelo.
Other members changed frequently, so they were generally considered not strong.
Although Locker was angry about Lilith being attacked, he didn't lose his reason. Almost subconsciously, he chose to attack the seemingly weakest one.
Short Hair also focused his gaze simultaneously, launching a mental impact.
His locked target was the red-robed woman with closed eyes.
But in the next moment, Short Hair's head shook violently. Two trails of blood flowed from his nostrils. Opening his eyes, he looked stunned.
"Her mental power is far higher than mine..."
The red-robed woman also opened her eyes at this moment, meeting Short Hair's gaze. Short Hair's vision went black instantly, and he fell straight down.
Locker was distracted for a moment. In the next moment, ballistic trajectories danced by his ears.
His two submachine guns were actually suppressed by two pistols.
The opponent's bullets were imbued with some power. Each shot seemed to predict his position. In just a few shots, his Ranged Attack Protection was shattered.
Bang!
Suddenly, a cold shot rang out. Kaito's left hand seemed to disappear and suddenly appear outside his left cheek.
A spinning bullet stopped between his two fingers. Besides the propulsion of gunpowder, that bullet possessed some intense spinning force.
[Gun Kata]. A technique impossible in the real world, but naturally real in the Infinite Dimensional Space.
Kaito tilted his head. The somewhat chubby jacket man felt a palpitation in his heart. The corners of Mercenary Tao's mouth curled up in an extremely cruel smile.
"Careful!"
The red-robed woman spoke. The fat man codenamed [Hirano] contracted his pupils. Amidst his trembling gaze, he focused quickly. A figure elongated to nearly two meters appeared in front of him. That fist looked like a black snake, not resembling a human arm at all.
The Gun Kata Hirano enhanced was [Gun Kata β], a type specialized for short gun users. Although he was Shooting Specialization, his Taijutsu wasn't weak.
His heart beat faster, adrenaline secreting rapidly.
To deal with this type of high-speed rushing Reincarnator that shooters feared most, Hirano would always spend Singularities on specialized training in the Space's [Training Hall].
Just to adapt himself to this kind of high-speed close-quarters attack.
Hirano crossed his hands, pulling the triggers simultaneously while lowering his body.
Bang bang!
At the moment of firing, his wrists flicked, causing the bullets to spin violently immediately.
The [All-Seeing Eyes of God] between Kaito's eyebrows lit up. The spiral ballistic trajectories were clearly visible. Because of his excessive speed, the air dragged his hair completely backward.
At the same time, due to the existence of [Mantra] (Heart Net), Kaito knew the movements of these people clearly.
This was why he marked them with [Gaze of Pride] as soon as they met.
After witnessing the anomalies of Tornado and Saitama in Mantra, Kaito's logic for judging strength became simple and clear.
He believed the most basic point of a strong person was being unable to be captured or seen through by his Mantra.
A Reincarnator whose movements could be completely captured by his still immature Mantra, no matter how big their reputation, was just a weakling in his eyes.
Kaito tilted his head slightly. The bullet flew past grazing his temple. The distance was subtle—just enough to graze his body surface to trigger the effect of [Scales of the Flame Dragon], but not enough to suffer the impact of the bullet on his skull and brain.
Whiz~
The bullet deflected and flew out. Hirano's heart sank. He couldn't see such details, only feeling the sensation of this shot was very weird.
Whoosh!
In the next moment, [Brilliant Flame] ignited on his body.
Hirano's skin burned with pain. Panicking inside, he immediately slid backward. This was a special technique for gunmen. His slide distance exceeded twenty meters. With a tap of his foot, the distance had opened.
But in the next moment, he discovered in astonishment that the distance between Mercenary Tao and him hadn't changed at all. The opponent also raised his toes, sliding on the ground with only his heels.
Advancing and retreating in unison with him, the movements were completely identical, and the distance didn't change by a hair.
[Mental Impact]!
From Hirano suppressing Locker to suddenly firing a shot at Kaito, then Kaito closing in instantly—the transition between offense and defense happened in just a few breaths.
Only now did [Melisandre] react, eyes widening as she looked at Mercenary Tao.
Boom!
Kaito's figure paused. Hirano immediately leaped backward.
Bang!
Almost the moment he leaped up, a bullet struck the center of Mercenary Tao's forehead.
[Headshot]!
One of the abilities belonging to the Ranger class. This strike possessed the effect of guaranteed hitting vital points.
While Kaito's head tilted back, his left hand already pointed at the fat man in the air from a distance.
Hum~
A golden Dodon Ray pierced through the air in an instant.
[Xelo] remained standing in place, watching his two teammates fight. At this moment, he raised two fingers, chanting quickly.
[Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Bakudo #81 · Danku (Splitting Void)]
A white barrier lit up instantly. The golden Qi bombarded it, causing a violent explosion.
Amidst the diffuse smoke, the woman's terrified scream rang out.
"Ah!"
It only lasted half a sound, then disappeared accompanied by the terrible sound of flesh tearing.
Xelo's expression changed. Waving his hand to clear the smoke, he saw only [Melisandre]'s head with a terrified face, along with more than half of her body, being held in the hand of the blood-covered Mercenary Tao.
Melisandre was torn apart by hand without even deploying a defensive barrier?!
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