The four combatants were positioned as follows: Pitohui to the north, Sinon to the east, Musketeer X to the west, and XeXeed to the south. Incidentally, Yamikaze was far off in the western distance.
The one most flustered by this encounter was Sinon. While the Hecate II might be fine for a one-on-one duel, it was ill-suited for a chaotic group encounter like this. There simply wasn't time to leisurely chamber the next round.
Fortunately, she had a Glock equipped on her waist as a sub-weapon, so she wasn't worried about combat itself. Since there was no risk of losing equipment in the BoB regardless of dropping weapons or dying, Sinon immediately decided to treat the Hecate II as disposable to take out at least one person, resolving to wait carefully for the opportunity to use it.
Sinon adopted a waiting stance, keeping the Hecate II ready. Naturally, the other three were aware of this; it was self-evident.
However, attacking Sinon first carried too high a risk.
Due to the mechanics of the Bullet Circle, attacks at close range were nearly guaranteed to hit for everyone. The problem was the power. Taking a hit from a weapon in the Hecate II's class meant almost certain death on the spot.
In other words, anyone who moved toward Sinon to attack her would see their probability of death skyrocket. Furthermore, even if the other three engaged each other, the one who exposed an opening to Sinon first was almost guaranteed to die first.
If one possessed speed on the level of Yamikaze, perhaps they could find a way to survive through evasion, but all four people here were STR types.
This fact created an eerie standoff between the four of them.
Naturally, the first one unable to endure this situation was Pitohui. But Pitohui wasn't an idiot; she understood the risks of moving first, so she seemingly decided to choose a battle of words instead. Naturally, her target was XeXeed.
"XeXeed. Despite being the only man here, you're quite the chicken, aren't you?"
"Don't screw with me. Anyone who moves first in this situation is basically dead."
"So you're just all talk, after all. If Shana were here, he would have gleefully taken us down one by one with a dagger, just like that Satellizer. As a fellow man, don't you find yourself pathetic?"
Since Pitohui was being broadcast at that exact moment, Shana, reading her lips, muttered to himself.
"Ooh, she's provoking him. But still, even XeXeed probably won't move right now."
Just as Shana surmised, XeXeed displayed a level of patience that made him seem like a different person, refusing to react to Pitohui's provocation at all.
"Heh. Like I'd fall for that."
But Pitohui was still Pitohui. She knew exactly what buttons to push.
"Even if an idiot like XeXeed pretends to be smart, an idiot is still an idiot, I think. How many times have you lost to Shana again?"
"Say whatever you want. For the sake of Yukko and Haruka, who worked hard for me, I cannot easily fall for such provocations."
Showing unexpected manliness, XeXeed managed to maintain a calm exterior, even though he was boiling inside.
Pitohui, seemingly deciding this route was a dead end, switched her target to Musketeer X.
"......"
(No good. I don't know what kind of person she is, so I can't think of anything...)
Even so, Pitohui racked her brain for something to say, eventually recalling that Musketeer X had participated in the main tournament of the 1st BoB.
"You. Just like XeXeed there, you participated in the main tournament last time too, right? XeXeed got cut in half by Shana, but how were you defeated by Satellizer?"
"My head was cut off in one second. What of it?"
"...Eh, really?"
Pitohui hadn't expected it to be that extreme and unintentionally asked back. The other two also lost focus for a split second at the unexpected words.
In that instant, as if she had been waiting for the timing, Musketeer X suddenly dropped prone and aimed her muzzle at the most dangerous target: Sinon.
"Crap!"
Sinon hurriedly tried to aim at Musketeer X, but perhaps due to her concentration being broken, her reaction was delayed for a split second.
Realizing belatedly that they weren't Musketeer X's target, Pitohui and XeXeed instinctively aimed at the remaining opponents... XeXeed aimed at Pitohui, and Pitohui aimed at XeXeed.
The next moment, a sound like an explosion was heard from the west. The two looked in that direction, wondering what had happened. Judging by the direction, Musketeer X had likely set a trap or something similar.
Musketeer X looked startled. She stopped aiming at Sinon, rolled to the side onto her back, pointed her gun toward the direction her back had been facing—toward her feet—and suddenly opened fire. Immediately after, Sinon pulled the trigger of the Hecate II, aiming at Musketeer X.
"Wh... What the?"
"Don't tell me... Yamikaze?"
XeXeed spoke in surprise, and Pitohui muttered the name.
"Yamikaze should have been quite far away... Does that mean he's been sprinting here full tilt ever since the scan?"
Just as Sinon said, the moment Yamikaze realized the remaining four were clustered together, he decided he couldn't let this chance slip away, even though his health had only recovered to about sixty percent. He had started running toward them at full speed.
However, in his haste, Yamikaze forgot the possibility of traps. Indeed, Musketeer X had set a booby trap, and Yamikaze triggered one. Fortunately, perhaps because he was running at full speed, the explosion occurred far behind him, allowing him to escape with his life.
Immediately after, spotting Musketeer X in front of him with her muzzle pointed his way, Yamikaze instinctively leaped to the right and fired at her.
A gunshot rang out, and a bullet passed to Yamikaze's left. Simultaneously, the bullet fired by Yamikaze sank into Musketeer X's body, turning her into a corpse on the spot. For Musketeer X, adopting a position that made movement difficult proved fatal.
But Yamikaze was equally unlucky. Immediately after, with a dull thud, a massive hole opened in his chest.
"Wha..."
Yamikaze muttered this as he, too, became a corpse on the spot.
The bullet that pierced Yamikaze's chest was fired by Sinon. Although Sinon had fired at Musketeer X, perhaps due to a slight panic, she had pulled the trigger the moment the Bullet Circle was describing a slightly larger circle. The bullet swerved slightly to the left, directly hitting Yamikaze, who had just evaded in that direction.
The remaining two, Pitohui and XeXeed, were stunned by the sheer speed of developments, but Pitohui was the first to recover.
Confirming that Sinon had used the Hecate II, Pitohui judged there would be a slight time lag before she could use her sub-weapon and fired at XeXeed as planned.
"Damn, I'm late!"
Pitohui's shot deviated slightly to the left, piercing XeXeed's right shoulder. While not a fatal wound, the impact caused XeXeed to drop the gun in his right hand. Panicking, he began fumbling inside the bag attached to his waist with his remaining left hand.
At that moment, a bullet fired by Sinon hit XeXeed's left shoulder. Something like a ball spilled out of XeXeed's left hand and rolled into the grass. Because the terrain behind him happened to be slightly sloped, XeXeed tumbled backward down the slope for several meters.
Sinon had hesitated over whether to target Pitohui or XeXeed, but she decided that even if she was at a disadvantage without the Hecate II, she should settle things with Pitohui one-on-one at this point. Thus, she chose to target XeXeed first.
"Ugh, I should have practiced with this more... But well, I missed the vitals, but the result is okay for now. Now then, the climax, Pito."
Since Sinon had been focusing solely on proficiency training with the Hecate II recently, it had been a long time since she used her sub-weapon, the Glock. As a result, her aim was off again; the bullet aimed at XeXeed's heart had hit his left shoulder instead.
Thus, the only players remaining on the field were Sinon and Pitohui. The two faced each other with their weapons ready.
Watching this on the screen, Shana's face paled as he muttered:
"What are those two doing without confirming XeXeed's death...? And didn't they realize what XeXeed dropped...?"
Shana's panic didn't reach the two of them. Wrapped in the exhilaration that this would end it all, they conversed with guns pointed at each other.
"The winner here takes everything—the championship and the right to date Shana."
"Simple and clear. I like it."
(Beep... Beep... Beep...)
"By the way, Sinonon, haven't you been hearing a weird sound for a while now?"
"Ah, I was thinking that too. But it's a sound I've heard somewhere before..."
(Beep... Beep... Beep...)
"Isn't the sound coming from that patch of grass?"
"That direction is where XeXeed was... Or rather, did you see where XeXeed disappeared to?"
(Beep Beep Beep)
"Ah, I might not have. Don't tell me... he's still alive?"
"Then this sound is..."
If XeXeed were dead, this sound wouldn't be happening. Because the moment he died, that item should have vanished along with its owner.
Immediately after, the item activated.
(Beeeeeeeeeeep!)
With that sound, Sinon and Pitohui were enveloped in a flash of light. When the light subsided, their figures had vanished from the spot, replaced only by two instances of the word "DEAD."
It seemed what XeXeed had dropped was a plasma grenade. Unfortunately for them, XeXeed appeared to have pressed the switch just before being blown away. It detonated now, blowing the two of them away without a trace.
And XeXeed, luckily due to the slope behind him, was not caught in the explosion and barely managed to survive.
It all happened in an instant. The spectators, unable to fully comprehend what had transpired, stared at the broadcast screen.
The image of XeXeed, still lying on the ground, was displayed. Immediately after, an announcement was made.
'The winner of the 2nd BoB has been determined: Player XeXeed.'
The moment they heard the announcement, the spectators understood what had happened and spoke up one after another.
"No way. A comeback from that?"
"That was a plasma grenade, right?"
"A souvenir grenade? Is this the same as the 1st North American tournament...?"
"No, that was just dumb luck!"
"XeXeed won purely on luck..."
"Is he going to get carried away again because of this...? Shana, we're counting on you for the next tournament, seriously!"
Yukko and Haruka, while feeling the result was somewhat dubious, welcomed the returning XeXeed, and the three rejoiced together for the time being.
"Yukko, Haruka. Honestly, I have mixed feelings too, but I won for now..."
"Umm... W-Well, all's well that ends well!"
"Yeah, yeah! I don't really know what to say either, but since you won in the end, there's no problem!"
"Y-Yeah, that's right. It's not like I broke the rules or anything, and my victory is certain. Alright, let's just be happy about this!"
"Right!"
"Congratulations!"
At first, XeXeed was humble like this, but as time passed, he would get more and more carried away. It should be said: as expected of XeXeed.
Meanwhile, Sinon and Pitohui, who had messed up big time, were currently being forced to kneel seiza-style by their comrades who had rushed to the waiting room, and were in the middle of receiving a massive lecture.
"Are you two idiots! Everything was going fine until halfway through, so why did you let your guard down right there!?"
"Sensei is right. I have nothing in particular to add. Well, a tie for second place is impressive, but neither of you won, and the content of the match was questionable, so the date is obviously off."
"Even I can't defend that... Sorry, you two."
"W-Well, good work anyway! Both of you!"
"Unsightliness."
""We're sorry...""
Thus, the 2nd Bullet of Bullets closed its curtains with a result that satisfied no one.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded over 40 chapters of this story on Patreon.
If you're enjoying it and want to read ahead, feel free to check them out here:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thanks a lot for your support, it really helps me keep going.
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"