....
"You should have fled the moment you missed your first shot."
Jin-Ho declared, his voice ringing with authority as he surveyed the room–
"Now you are dead meat."
Still enveloped in the golden glow of the Eight Inner Gates technique, Jin-Ho's skin shimmered with bright marks resembling glitter under the dim lighting.
His hair stood on end, as if charged with electricity, giving him a striking appearance.
Scanning the dimly lit room, Jin-Ho's eyes adjusted to the darkness.
He spotted a figure emerging from the shadows.
A broken window allowed a sliver of light to illuminate the room, revealing a glimpse of his opponent's eyes.
In that brief moment, Jin-Ho recognized a lifeless quality in those eyes, like someone who had already met death's embrace yet remained among the living.
"What the...
"Why do you look like you are already dead?"
His voice held a hint of confusion as he addressed the mysterious figure.
As the figure stepped further into the light, it became evident, a woman, still pointing a gun at him.
"...It was you, Lady Nagant, the Pro Hero." Jin-Ho muttered with a tinge of disappointment, though he didn't close the Eight Inner Gates technique.
The sixth gate remained open, its effects still coursing through him.
"So, should I consider that 'attack' just now as a test to check the capability of a junior by his lovely senior?" He quipped, his tone tinged with sarcasm.
If there was any doubt about Jin-Ho's prior connection with her, there should be none, this was their first close meeting.
But with his 'extra' knowledge, he knew her quite well.
Her real name was Kaina Tsutsumi. As of now, she was still a Pro Hero, Lady Nagant, seemingly in her mid-twenties.
She hadn't yet 'betrayed' the Hero Public Safety Commission, but according to his prediction, she soon would.
Alas, her eyes had already lost the light of a hero, holding only the last flickers of hope for Hero society, flickers that wouldn't last long.
She would soon fall into a depressive state upon 'accepting' that the Hero Commission maintained a fragile peace at the expense of others while hypocritically justifying their actions under the pretext of 'all for the greater good'.
Then she would be discarded as a 'prisoner' into Tartarus.
Returning to the present, despite Jin-Ho's banter, Lady Nagant moved closer, her grip firm on the gun aimed at him.
"No." she replied simply, then pulled the trigger from nearly point-blank range.
But the moment the bullet left the barrel, Jin-Ho vanished, propelled by his enhanced reflexes and the Gate of View's heightened perception.
"Too slo—"
His words abruptly cut off by the whistle of another bullet hurtling toward his new position.
Should I just end this quickly?
The thought flickered across his mind as he dodged another bullet with minimal effort–
"I will humor you for a while."
It had been far too long since he had engaged in such a thrilling reflex game.
And with that, the real spectacle unfolded.
The battle of speed and reflexes.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack…
Lady Nagant continued to fire without pause, her shots relentless and unyielding. Meanwhile, Jin-Ho moved with astonishing speed, his movements a blur as he shifted positions with uncanny agility.
Her quirk, Rifle, allowed her to transform her right arm into a rifle and use her hair as ammunition.
But more than that, it granted her exceptional eyesight and spatial awareness, the ability to see and hit targets up to three kilometers away with pinpoint accuracy.
Yet despite her extraordinary abilities, every shot missed its mark.
Her aim wasn't careless or random.
Every shot was calculated with deadly precision. Each bullet curved and adjusted mid-flight, guided by her quirk's mechanics.
Yet despite her best efforts, she couldn't land a single hit on Jin-Ho.
His movement pattern was deceptive, and with the Gate of View open, his physical capabilities had increased exponentially, his speed, strength, and reaction time were operating at levels far beyond human limits.
Combined with his telekinesis, he could change direction mid-movement, defying conventional physics.
Every time Lady Nagant predicted his trajectory and fired, Jin-Ho would sense the bullet's path through his enhanced perception and either use telekinesis or simply move away just enough to avoid the shot.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack…
The gunfire pounded through the room, smashing furniture, bursting windows, and turning the bed into a mess of holes.
Feathers from the pillows flew everywhere, like a snowstorm in chaos.
For a moment, Lady Nagant forgot everything, her mission, her goal. She lost herself in pure exhilaration, the rush surging through her blood.
She was in complete focus, entirely locked on the target at hand.
Her eyes grew tired from tracking the moving target, exhaustion and mental strain from years of service taking their toll. Yet she had no thought of stepping out of the battle.
With every passing moment, Jin-Ho's movements became more elaborate. He darted in zigzag patterns, leaving afterimages and whipping up gusts of wind as he traversed the room with unnatural agility.
The golden aura of the Gate of View flared brighter with each dodge, his body pushing closer to its limits.
But there was a cost.
His muscles screamed in protest.
The skin on his arms and legs began to tear from the internal pressure. Small rivulets of blood seeped through the golden glow.
The Gate of View wasn't meant to be maintained for extended periods, every second he kept it open, his body deteriorated further.
Yet he continued, matching her relentless assault with equal determination.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack…
The whole exchange lasted just thirty-five seconds.
Over 450 bullets fired turning the room into complete devastation.
And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the barrage ceased.
"...."
Lady Nagant dropped to the ground, though not completely.
She remained on her knees, one hand supporting her weight while the other pressed to her head as if nursing a concussion, utterly drained from the intense battle.
"Out of ammo…?" Jin-Ho surveyed the aftermath of their clash, finally allowing himself a moment to breathe.
The room was a complete ruin.
Every surface was marked with bullet traces, and some walls were riddled with holes large enough to see through.
Jin-Ho closed the Gate of View, his skin returning to its normal color as the golden aura dissipated.
His breathing was heavy, sweat dripping down his face. The technique had taken its toll, his muscles ached, and the torn skin stung fiercely.
"Sigh. Giran's got some extra work to do... Poor guy."
"...Gasp...Gasp..." Lady Nagant panted, trying to regain her footing, preparing for another round.
As she extended a rifle from her right elbow, it was clear the gun was different this time. The barrel expanded and bulged, indicating the next shot would dramatically increase the rifle's power output.
She plucked strands of her bi-colored hair, twisted and molded them like epoxy putty, and hardened them into bullets.
She loaded the bullets into the rifle through a hole in her palm, all while under the watchful eyes of her 'enemy.'
Finishing her preparation, she aimed the gun directly at Jin-Ho's head, who simply questioned–
"Senior, aren't you tired?"
"....?"
He wasn't mocking her. He wasn't even speaking about the current battle. What he meant was Lady Nagant's inner battle, the one she had been fighting constantly over the years.
For the first time, Lady Nagant truly looked at Jin-Ho, into his bright brown eyes shining in the darkness of the room, the light streaming through the newly formed bullet holes illuminating his face.
...And she was utterly disappointed in herself.
This young man, whom she had just met and who kept respectfully calling her Senior, had seen through her turmoil.
She felt she had disappointed him.
"I am tired." she spoke, her voice heavy with resignation.
"Then get some rest, Senior. I will take care of the rest."
For some reason, Lady Nagant felt an overwhelming wave of drowsiness wash over her.
She didn't understand why, but she trusted his words immediately.
There was something about him, some quality that made people instinctively believe him.
With a sense of relief flooding through her, Lady Nagant closed her eyes, finally allowing herself to drift into peaceful slumber after a long day of work.
….
.
[To be continued….]
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