The young man raised his hands.
He shaped his right hand into a fist before slowly pressing his knuckles against the centre palm of his left hand.
He then bowed respectfully before speaking in the same manner.
"I am Jericko Von Blade. The next heir to the noble family of Bladesmiths in the Eastern region—"
Bang!
Jericko swiftly drew a sword with noteworthy sharpness and length out of thin air and slashed towards the bullet, cleaving the flying bit of metal into two.
He then raised his hand, manifesting his barrier again and stopping the halved bullet from making contact with his body.
Marionette tilted her head at this whilst still having her gun raised at him.
She found his act of slicing her bullet in two was severely unneeded. Did he do that to make himself look imposing?
Jericko stuck the tip of his sword into the ground, straightening his back and looking towards the black-haired woman with a slight frown, which soon curled up into a slight smile.
"Not one to wait are you, Miss?"
He watched as Marionette pushed out the cylinders of her handgun and tilted the barrel into the air.
Cling. Cling. Cling.
Five individual gold-coloured cartridges fell out of each chamber of the cylinders, clattering against the ground.
She then began to slowly reload it by retrieving the ammo from her spatial storage. All this under the eyes of Jericko, her enemy.
She then answered his earlier question.
"Why wait when I could've put a hole through your skull?"
She flicked her wrist, causing the cylinders to click back into the revolver, which gleamed menacingly bright under the sun's rays.
"Hmm..." Jericko hummed, understanding where she was coming from, "I suppose not everyone would like to engage in a leisure conversation..."
Pulling out the sword from the ground, he immediately dashed towards the woman. Raising it over his head, he swung it down before being met with a solid wall of darkness.
He instantly changed stance midair, blocking a swift strike from a dark tentacle that stretched out from the wall of darkness.
Marionette, having just prevented an attack from Jericko, felt her arm shake as something travelled through them. A look of confusion flashed through her eyes.
She narrowed her gaze, gripping the handle of her gun.
Perhaps there was something else in the restriction she needed to know.
Jericko, skidding back, straightened his robe before dashing back in again. He leapt into the air again, moving towards the dark wall.
Upon reaching the gap metre, he summoned a sword underneath his feet, stepping on its flat side and making another leapt, this time crossing over the top of the wall.
Marionette, looking up, flicked her wrist, controlling the part of the darkness that was nearest to the man. She stretched the darkness into a strike pike and sent it towards the man.
However, before it could even reach his side, which was already protected, Marionette felt something. A bruising feeling on the side of her ribcage.
She unconsciously held a hand over her side, feeling a tender, fresh pain throb in her side as though she had just endured a sudden blow.
Jericko, seeing that the pike had stopped in its tracks, dived down towards the black-haired woman with the tip of his sword stretched out in front of him, aiming to skewer the woman.
Marionette, recovering from the pain, cartwheeled back.
Thwoop! Bum-Crrrk!
Jericko landed on the ground with a crouch. His sword stabbed into the ground. He eventually pulled himself back up to his feet before looking onward towards Marionette.
"The ability to control darkness? Even in daylight? What a spectacular ability!"
He moved into a poised stance with his sword raised horizontally instead of above his head.
Marionette, moving her body into a stance, raised the barrel of her gun at him.
She then muttered before firing:
"I appreciate the compliment."
Bang!
Her rang out like a lightning strike...
A lightning strike struck twice as she quickly cocked the hammer and shot another in rapid succession.
Jericko, watching as the bullet shot towards him, raised his sword for a split second before lowering it. He tilted his body to the side, deciding to dodge instead of blocking.
And he succeeded.
"That firearm of yours is impressive. May I know how you acquired such an item?"
Marionette raised an eyebrow.
As she was about to answer, she immediately leaned far back, dodging as a broad blade passed over her, slicing through where her chest was originally.
She straightened herself, and upon returning back to a normal standing position, she found that Jericko had already made his way over to her.
Jericko firmly gripped the handle of his blade, the size of a longsword, and swung it with skilled elegance behind his swing. His magical polished blade passed through Marionette's waist and exited the other side.
But...
There was something off.
He didn't draw blood.
He widened his eyes. Had this woman before her already reached the 3rd Tier with her affinity?
Marionette quickly flashed out the barrel of her gun and fired while muttering:
"I got this as a gift. That's all you need to know."
Bang!
Jericko quickly raised his hand, forming his green translucent barrier. However, at this distance...
... He was too slow.
Marionette watched as her bullet created a hole through his skull with an indifferent look. She continued to watch as his body fell back, falling to the ground with a wet thud.
She gave a low hum.
'I expected more...'
Feeling that the man died too easily, she raised her gun and began shooting at his corpse.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After unloading her entire ammunition, she poured out the bullet cartridges into the ground while staring at the man's desecrated body, which had already disappeared.
'Perhaps he had underestimated me and didn't go all out... How foolish...'
She raised the revolver to her eyes, feeling something off about it.
She sensed... Vibrations coming from it upon killing Jericko.
Did this mean something?